Sean Alexander took a tumble at Buttonwillow this weekend. They rolled the ambulance for him but could not see if he (you) took a ride. Hope all is well.
Oh Yeah.. I'm Fan F'n Tastic! ::)
At the start of the race, you and Brian took off, from row one. I had to work my way through a few guys from row 3 (I REALLY need to pre-enter), during the first half of lap 1. I wanted to reel you guys in, so I could catch a draft at the end of lap 1 and sort of hang with you guys down the straight. I never got there, because I dug in my new (non-folding) right side footpeg in the long right sweeper, WFO at the top of 6th gear. I had been going through there wide open, and folding up the old peg.... looks like the new footpeg levered me right into the hospital. I had passed Tom Gentry for 3rd place about 2 turns before I crashed. He said there were sparks for 100', before I lowsided. I slid over 100 yards on the pavement, totally fine. Then, I hit the edge of the track and started the washing machine tumble through the gravel, still going about 75MPH, breaking the base knuckle (5th Metacarpal) of the pinky on my left hand and getting 3 hairline fractures in the bottom of my right ankle. Nothing is displaced and no surgery is required. I should be walking without crutches in a couple weeks and plan to be back up to race-pace by Thunderhill Park, in August. The bike is in good shape, just needs a new rearset, exhaust collector, exhaust hanger and muffler. I was pretty bummed, because of the races that I had to miss yesterday. I was trying to get down into the 1:57s with Brian and get something more than the $125 that I got from the last Suzuki Cup race. I assume that your weekend went better than mine?
P.S. I have a fantastic mid tumble photo that Buttonwillow's track photog snapped, shortly after I left the pavement. I will try to size it down to 640x480 so that it is managable to view, then post it here.
My buddy who was at the track said you slid forever!!
57's and you would have had me. I could only muster low 59's and by the end of the day I couldn't even come close to matching Brian's pace. It was too much.
Heal up my friend!
This was taken after sliding around 75yards on the asphalt, just after I transitioned to the gravel and started tumbling. I was still hauling a$$ at this point. Can you read "Alpinestars" on my left boot?
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fhometown.aol.com%2Fseanalexander%2Fsvcrash.jpg&hash=efd29a925202627aee5aa221036a472c56fc61d9)
This is a photo from Saturday. The bike probably won't look this clean from now on.
(https://www.ccsforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.aol.com%2Fseanalexander%2Fsvcorner.jpg&hash=a60b24e847abefe25052ebab560f226551167bc6)
If you scraped your foot peg in that corner, I have but one question, where is there room for your b*lls in your leathers?
My jewels are the same size as yours. I just use a lot of lean angle. Both of my stock pegs and both of my Woodcraft rearsets are beveled and worn down about 30 percent from dragging through corners. Don's ask me why, I'm just comfortable with the horizon sharply tilted. I AM however going back to FOLDING footpegs.
Talking about Leathers, THOSE are some NASTY looking leathers. Looks like you learned about lean angle the hard way.. Man, you rock! Get well soon.
Some advice: Don't lean so much! ;D Yes, you can go as fast without leaning so much.
Thanks for the advice guys.... True the leathers are nasty, but actually this was the first roadracing crash I've had in 16 months. The leathers got screwed up from SuperTT (Supermotard) racing. I HAVE crashed more than once in THAT series :-) As for lean angle and speed.... I am one of two people to get below 1:59 at Buttonwillow on a Supersport legal SV. I have 69H.P. and weigh 230LBS.. Without the extra corner speed, I'd be toast.
Sean, with those numbers, I wouldn't listen to anybody. I weigh a little more (250) but on an absolutely screaming F3, the best I could do was a 2:09, and I thought I was going to bite it, and I did. I should have gotten a little more experience with the track before going for it. In Florida, we don't have no stinking hills, even artificial ones!
I Just got back from the Ortho/trauma specialist this morning..... Suprise! I've been hobbling around with a broken Tibia since Sunday. The E.R. Doc missed two fractures. The total stands at six (Four in the right leg/foot and two in the left hand) I now have pretty, black, lightweight, fiberglass casts on both. I should be walking in about 3 more weeks and am still planning on making Thunderhill.
Are you going to go through any operations for any of the bones.(pinning, etc.?) Be Careful with the hands,sometimes after an operation on the hand bones you are left not being able to work the clutch lever. Possibly permanently....
Nah... No surguries on the horizon... everything is supposed to be ok, with a little immobilization and light duties.
when i look at that picture i can't help but wonder: did you end up with a mouthfull of gravel? :P
corien
LOL, Yes. I had dirt, sand, gravel and flecks of grass everywhere..... EVERYWHERE