Alex Locker???

[supercarl]

Hey Alex glad to see you're alive! How was the helicopter ride? I snapped a few pics of it if you want em  ::)

I heard there was oil on the track but am curious what the situation really was; did anyone see me go down?

I was the 2nd bike behind you when you crashed and saw the whole thing. Luckily I was far eneough back that I had time to check up and avoid all the carnage. Your crash was the worst one I've ever seen.

The low down: Someone (not sure who) blew there bike up in turn 7 and trailed oil all the way until the first left hander before 5, after the bus stop. And it was on the race line pretty much the whole way.  I didnt even know there was oil on the track until I pulled into the pits on the red flag and someone told me.

Anyway, theres nothing you could have done to prevent the crash. You hit the oil in 2 and lost it. There was also a red R6 directly behind you that lost it a sec or two after you did in the same spot. You went down and it looked like the bike hit the wall first ,then you. It threw the fence padding way up in the air and created a huge dust cloud. Crap was flying everywhere. You and the bike bounced off pretty hard and you kinda spun back towards the outside of the track. The red R6 hit the wall 10 feet behind where you hit. His bike was TOTALED. Luckily he wasnt injured too badly from what I was told. Just a forearm gash. After turn 2 there were a few more bikes that went down as well, though not as seriously. They threw the red flag by the time I entered 3.

I need to start running my Go-pro during practice haha! Speaking of I heard yours might have been on your bike...did you get video? If so, post!

But I'm alive and having a yard sale soon!

You already had a yard sale in turn 2! Having another already?? lol

Heal up quick dude!!! 

[DanO966]

This also works good
https://ethicalnutrients.mymetagenics.com/store/view/product/608

[Jiggyfly]

Ah, whadda YOU know about broken bones, Dan!? :P

[tadgralewski]

Anyway, theres nothing you could have done to prevent the crash. You hit the oil in 2 and lost it. There was also a red R6 directly behind you that lost it a sec or two after you did in the same spot. You went down and it looked like the bike hit the wall first ,then you. It threw the fence padding way up in the air and created a huge dust cloud. Crap was flying everywhere. You and the bike bounced off pretty hard and you kinda spun back towards the outside of the track. The red R6 hit the wall 10 feet behind where you hit. His bike was TOTALED. Luckily he wasnt injured too badly from what I was told. Just a forearm gash. After turn 2 there were a few more bikes that went down as well, though not as seriously. They threw the red flag by the time I entered 3.

SuperCarl - I'm Tad - Red R6 #818 - or least what's left of it. 

I appreciate the detail you provided, but I'll ask, are you certain?  Although I wasn't looking at the air fence as I went into turn 2, I thought/think I was the first bike to go down.  I could be wrong based on what you just wrote though.  My bike and I ended up on the turn 3 side of the air fence - I didn't think that either me or my bike hit the fence.  Alex's bike was actually in the fence about mid-way lengthwise.  I didn't lose consciousness at all and remember tumbling and finally coming to a stop in the middle of the field past the air fence.  When I looked back to the corner, I saw a GSX-R  heading right towards me - the bike/rider were both upright and I assume they hit the oil, saved it, and rode it out through the grass towards the turn 3 cornerworker.  When I saw the bike heading in my direction, I stood up, and hurdled the armco barrier to get the hell out of the way.  I remember seeing at least 2 more bikes go down as I looked back.

Help me piece this together if you can - are you certain that I went down after Alex?  Did I or my bike hit the air fence?

I will say one thing - the EMTs were fantastic.  It felt like they were on site seconds later.  They came right over to me, and I pointed them back to Alex as I was up and walking around.  Overall, they did a great job and my thanks goes out to them. 

I saw Alex's wife in the ER later that evening, as well as Don (316).  I couldn't have been happier to hear that Alex was OK.  My injuries are pretty minor - big gash, and a few bone fragments broke off my elbow but were surgically removed yesterday.  You won't hear me complain about this one.

Tad  #818

[alocker]

SuperCarl - I'm Tad - Red R6 #818 - or least what's left of it. 

I appreciate the detail you provided, but I'll ask, are you certain?  Although I wasn't looking at the air fence as I went into turn 2, I thought/think I was the first bike to go down.  I could be wrong based on what you just wrote though.  My bike and I ended up on the turn 3 side of the air fence - I didn't think that either me or my bike hit the fence.  Alex's bike was actually in the fence about mid-way lengthwise.  I didn't lose consciousness at all and remember tumbling and finally coming to a stop in the middle of the field past the air fence.  When I looked back to the corner, I saw a GSX-R  heading right towards me - the bike/rider were both upright and I assume they hit the oil, saved it, and rode it out through the grass towards the turn 3 cornerworker.  When I saw the bike heading in my direction, I stood up, and hurdled the armco barrier to get the hell out of the way.  I remember seeing at least 2 more bikes go down as I looked back.

Help me piece this together if you can - are you certain that I went down after Alex?  Did I or my bike hit the air fence?

I will say one thing - the EMTs were fantastic.  It felt like they were on site seconds later.  They came right over to me, and I pointed them back to Alex as I was up and walking around.  Overall, they did a great job and my thanks goes out to them. 

I saw Alex's wife in the ER later that evening, as well as Don (316).  I couldn't have been happier to hear that Alex was OK.  My injuries are pretty minor - big gash, and a few bone fragments broke off my elbow but were surgically removed yesterday.  You won't hear me complain about this one.

Tad  #818

Wow dude! I appreciate your selflessness when it came down to getting help from the EMT's.  Good to hear you got fixed up and are healing ok.  I am off to the orthopedic surgeon today to see how bad my shoulder really is.  I think it might have been under diagnosed as I still have pretty much zero mobility. 

Shout out to Don who was chatting with me in the ER.  It was very comforting knowing that I did not cause harm to other riders and the oil on the track was the likely cause for my crash.  This really helped my attitude and Don should be commended for his charity. 

[tadgralewski]

Wow dude! I appreciate your selflessness when it came down to getting help from the EMT's.  Good to hear you got fixed up and are healing ok.  I am off to the orthopedic surgeon today to see how bad my shoulder really is.  I think it might have been under diagnosed as I still have pretty much zero mobility. 

You wouldn't remember, but I came over and sat on the armco with you for a couple minutes as the EMTs checked you out.  I did point them towards you, but that wasn't selflessness, it was just common sense.  I was up and walking around - you weren't.  When the second ambulance arrived, they pulled me away to take care of me.  Again, I think they did a fantastic job, and I'm glad that you are relatively OK, even though it sounds like a long recovery in front of you.  Heal quick, and take care.

Tad

[blueracerX]

So Tad, you had bone fragments and gravel in your arm? crazy.

Alex, thanks for the update. It all sounds horrible really. I haven't looked yet, but I was running my Gopro when I passed through the crash zone. You sure blew the wall apart! I'll take a look and post up a clip if it's worth anything. I sure hope you have some good pain pills and start feeling better soon. I wouldn't be surprised by zero mobility right now considering what happened. Be patient and take care of yourself!

Kurt

[alocker]

Ortho said no surgery.  Yay! 

I have decent meds but night time sucks.  I can only sleep maybe 2.5 hours before I have to get up and move around since I can really only lie in one position.  I would be interested in the video if you could find it.  I don't remember shit and I'm kinda glad for it but a little curious now.

Recovery is going better than expected.  I am officially retired from road racing.  I know some of you guys know my setup.  If there is anything you are interested in purchasing, PM me.  It will probably be a few weeks before I break everything down into a sale ad. 

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Alex, if you want to stay involved with racing, try cornerworking. We all know they could use more people.

[tadgralewski]

So Tad, you had bone fragments and gravel in your arm? crazy.

Kurt - no, what they thought might be stones/pebbles turned out to be bone fragments - very small ones from the back of the elbow.  Now that the othopedic doc removed them, the arm feels much better.

And thanks again for hooking up my trailer for me late Saturday night - I really appreciated the help.

Tad

[supercarl]

SuperCarl - I'm Tad - Red R6 #818 - or least what's left of it. 
I appreciate the detail you provided, but I'll ask, are you certain?  Although I wasn't looking at the air fence as I went into turn 2, I thought/think I was the first bike to go down.  I could be wrong based on what you just wrote though.  My bike and I ended up on the turn 3 side of the air fence - I didn't think that either me or my bike hit the fence.  Alex's bike was actually in the fence about mid-way lengthwise.  I didn't lose consciousness at all and remember tumbling and finally coming to a stop in the middle of the field past the air fence.  When I looked back to the corner, I saw a GSX-R  heading right towards me - the bike/rider were both upright and I assume they hit the oil, saved it, and rode it out through the grass towards the turn 3 cornerworker.  When I saw the bike heading in my direction, I stood up, and hurdled the armco barrier to get the hell out of the way.  I remember seeing at least 2 more bikes go down as I looked back.

Hey Tad- After hearing your description, I may have remembered the crash wrong afterall.  ::)  I cant say for certain. I was kind of far away (just had exited one and was straight up heading to 2) so I may have just seen it wrong too. I seem to remember that there were only two bikes directly in front of me. One of which was alex. Saw his huge crash into the wall for sure. Thought he went down first but I could be wrong. Its hard to remember without my groPro on    Maybe some bike crashed after me too? I'm not sure. Everything happened so fast.

If you dont think you hit the fence, did another bike hit the fence maybe? I couldve just mistaken you for someone else. I was pretty focused on Locker since it was a huge crash and I didnt see the other rider too well. I just assumed it was you based on what others told me in the pits and how messed up your bike was. After I came out of two I saw two more riders off in the grass on the right of the track and one towards the left side of the track. One of the riders on the right proceeded to crash in the grass and slide into the middle of 3. That was RIGHT in front of me. Just missed him. Luckily he got up quick and ran out of danger.

So to answer your question...I can't really say for certain. I remember a bike going down behind alex, but I'm not sure if it was you or not. I also remember that bike hitting the airfence. Again, not sure if it was you or someone else though. And this is all from my memory, which has never been to accurate to begin with lol.

Glad to hear confirmation that you not in too bad of shape though! Couldve been much worse for sure. Just ask your bike lol. Hope you can get it fixed/replaced and you heal up soon!

And yes, anyone with footage of the accident or aftermath should post it. I'd love to see some more detail.

Alex- Sorry to hear you are retired, but I hope to see you out at the track spectating or corner working sometime :) Will you be heading to the banquet this year? I think you have eneough points to place and maybe even win a couple classes still. Could be wrong tho.

[alocker]

Alex- Sorry to hear you are retired, but I hope to see you out at the track spectating or corner working sometime :) Will you be heading to the banquet this year? I think you have eneough points to place and maybe even win a couple classes still. Could be wrong tho.

A few days back I wasn't interested in seeing video of the crash, but after hearing more about it I want to see it.  I think Kurt is trying to dig some up. 

I hope they have a banquet because I will attend.  The only way I would win class is if Erdmann does not race the last 2 SS races and I certainly don't expect nor want him to do that.  He has proven that this in not a game of just outright speed and has been very consistent. 

Thanks for the pics too.  My 3 yr old instantly said "I want to go on that".  I decided not to explain how to get a ride on one. 

Now my words of advice. 

Bite the bullet and spend the dough on gear.  One Ortho Dr. could not believe my Tibia was fractured without totally destroying my ankle.  He said in almost all cases where my fracture was they go together.  Alpinestars Supertech R likely saved me a bunch of pain and cash. 

If you remove any single component from the equation it could have resulted in much more serious injuries.

Finally, good old Blackhawk Farms Turn 2.  We all think about it and we all say "won't happen to me".  At least that's what I though until the oil which seems to be the number one cause for crashes there.  I purpose a ramp built right before the armco that shoots the rider and bike into a giant safety net then they fall into one of those gymnastics pits filled with foam blocks.  This would not disturb any of the wetlands and would make for some great flying action shots.