Wet mountain top road, very cold, down hill, going too fast coming to the corner, stepped on brake, back sliding slipping, front brake is useless since the repair, it barely works.
It s annoying that I crashed in a similar condition as last time. Thinking about getting a raincoat to keep my body warm. Also need to decide how long and how far I Wil travel.
Revised in jan 2013
I can still see the vivid motion pictures of cold, raining, dark mountain roads, seeing a bright sky far away near my destination, dreading every second to descend the mountain, finally reached the peak of the mountain, passing by semi trucks, seeing a slight left turn corner, braking, rear wheel wiggling left and right, losing control, rear going left sliding, letting go of the brake, seeing the concrete guard rail...'shit I'm gonna hit it...'
I open my eyes, feel the pain in my right thighs and right knee. Touching and feeling my body to see if I broke any bone. I am sitting on grass, ground level is much higher than the road. To my right there is a cliff but covered by branches of the tree, i cant see the cliff. Behind me, Motorcycle still running, resting on its side. It also went over the guard rail.Pain is rushing over, its difficult to breath, this is my second motorcycle accident in less than a month. This time I am angry.
"shit, fuck, shit, god damn it" I screamed.
Ok. Breathe, get moving, it raining, bike is still running. Aww it hurts. Can't get up. Definitely hurt myself a lot worse than last crash. Wheeeew, let me breathe a bit. Thinking about all the things and decisions to avoid this from happening. Well it's too late.
I hear footsteps and voices. Truckers who I passed by came by to help. It's a surprise. Because my first crash, the guy who I passed just drove by.
Check! Check! Hello! Notice something here. What a exact same situation.
Cold raining curvy mountain road, impatient to get off the mountain, speeding and passing a vehicle, ends up crashing at a corner. Stupid at that time, alive and have a cool story now.
Now that I own a another motorcycle, I realized that I had a crapy front brake. I damaged it from my first crash and never really healed it right. Had mechanic fixed it but I was not satisfied then mechanic told me this is supposed to be that way and that I should rely on rear brake more.
Three truckers showed. They asked if I was alright. I didn't want their help. But these are mid aged colombianos. They insisted. I was not ready to get up, but in the process of one of them trying to help me up, he was stepping on the mirror. So I followed. Other guy turned off the moto that was still running. They picked it up, put it on the ground.
Fortunately, there is a little house, truck stop, in walking distance that sells cookies and candies.
Truckers didn't have to explain about me because ladies in the house gasped when they saw my completely ripped jeans from thigh to mid knee, bare skin covered in blood. Truckers advised me to call police because they can help me bring the bike down the mountain for free.
"estoy bien, yo voy a manejar la moto" i said
"creo que no!" one guy replied,
I was fed with hot agua de panella and arepa. I rested for awhile, then I stood, I asked for price, they refused to accept my money. I got o the bike, saw its condition. Large scratch in the front, off alignment, broken signal light, overall damage to the bike is less severe than last time but more damage on my body.
I ride, slow and steady I descended the mountain. I ride through Armenia the famous coffee town, temperature is warm, road is straight, I'm going fast, moisture is my body is drying off, taking body heat along with. By the time I reached my destination Pereira, it has taken me 10 hours to get there. I'm in downtown, I make a call to my CS friend, she says I'm in dangerous district, yet it is locals staring my bloody leg from far away keeping their distance.
Finally I get some help, watching blood being washed off by the hot shower.
I stay in pereira for three days, spending majority of the time shopping for new pants, bike parts, mechanic, rain gear for future prevention. Talking to people about price for selling my bike, in exchange for bigger bike. Meeting cool people, drinking aguardiente and smoking cigarette.
On my way back to bogota, I stopped by the shop, thanked them for warming my body with agua de panella and I bought many cookies and candies along with arepa con queso. Once I reached bogota, it started thunder storming and massive rain, I put on my rain gear that I purchased, stayed dried and regretted that I didn't buy it sooner.
