Written by Ken Good, Mon, 29 Sep 2008 

On Any Thursday

         The actual movie title is “On any Sunday” which is an older motorcycle race/crash movie that my friend Ben Chassen just brought over...Perfect!

         As some of you are aware, I decided not to turn left on the road when it was prudent to do so.  We were in a relatively inaccessible canyon area, East of San Diego.  It was totally makeable, I was just stupid.

         Unfortunately I didn’t have a helmet camera on my motorcycle for do*****entation when I left the mountain to test the validity of my gravity theories in the local area. If there is any lingering doubt, I am here to say that gravity works quite well in this particular canyon....In fact, even without proper do*****entation, in my mind it’s beyond theory at this point, and I’m leaning toward it’s a scientific law at this point....At the very least, gravity is exceptionally consistent in this area....I also confirmed that granite boulders generally win when your back hits them at normally back-breaking velocities.

         I do remember flying through the air after my bike impacted the first set of boulders, thinking “relax and breathe” ala Systema principles, (which I did) like I have told countless people in our combatives training, but I did not expect to be having to tap that bit of knowledge for such a moment as this.  I was wearing full protection during my reunion with terra firma.
See: http://www.motostrano.com/bionicjacket1.html  Note the back protection on this system.

        When I hit the next set of rocks, I was actually surprised that I lived, then I was even more surprised that I could move my extremities.  Based on the scientific “thrash index”, I was thrashed on the upper end of the scale and thought for certain I broke my back.
        My best word picture to describe the wonderful sensation was it was like getting hit with a free swinging 2-ton steel girder concentrated in one area of your body but you are trapped against something hard when it makes contact.
       Granted, some of you on my email list can punch extremely hard, but I am here to tell you, ya got nothing on Mother Nature!

       My friends later told me later, that they had never seen such ash white and dark green on a human face before....I attribute it to the secret chameleon training I went through in the Navy...The ability to change colors on demand can be useful in stressful situations...But I digress.
       Although I almost lost consciousness several times over a 2-hour period on the ground, I kept control of my breathing as best as I could.

I remember kinda snapping back into reality and looking up and admiring the blueness of the sky, the beauty of the clouds.  Then my son walked by.  I thought, “Man he is a good looking kid....He looks like his mother...” I was chuckling at the ridiculousness of the entire scene... I remember hearing Molly pray from me and the first responders.  Regardless of your beliefs, this is good stuff in times like these. The clarity of the moment was pure.  I am actually quite grateful for it.

        Alas, all I have to chronicle the adventure is the helicopter lift out of the area taken from a cell phone camera (mine)....They were already re-allocating my belongings! In the 1st video you can hear me say, I am getting claustrophobic.  What happened was I was on the hot ground for a quite some time.  De-hydrated and in a bit of pain.  These guys bundle me up on back board, belt me in, tape everything down, neck brace, head brace.....I can’t move anything but my hands...It takes time....Not a fun feeling even in the best of cir*****stances. Then they spend about 10 minutes wrapping this lift bag around the whole thing....It’s thick....I immediately got exceptionally HOT inside that bag...Several times the material is draped over my face and mouth.   The neck brace is constricting my blood flow to my head, because it was too tight around my neck.  Think mummy sack, but you now know you cannot move.....Then 3 guys step over me....I had an immediate, powerful psychological reaction to it.  I calmly state, I am getting claustic....My friend Ben tells me to hang in there....I breathe and try to put my mind somewhere else...Then I ask my friends if they can pour some water over my head....They did.  As soon as the cold water hit my head and chest, I was fine.....

           In the 3rd video, in what appears to be the sun is me actually taking the opportunity to show the power of our HID lights during an emergency situation. You don’t always run across marketing opportunities like this and I wanted maximize time on target while the resources were there.

           Overall damage report:  Cracked Sacrum that should heal in 6-weeks and slightly beat up YZ250...I am walking on my own power today with no pain meds.

           In the final analysis:  I am exceptionally grateful to be alive, not in a wheel chair for the rest of my daze, and the my wife Francine is not real happy with me right now!!!  Yahoo Honey! - I am sorry Honey....

           I thank my son who found me, my friends who comforted me and prayed for me on-scene, the emergency response folks, and for Rick who managed to let me know he was personally grateful it wasn’t his $12K KTM stuck upside in the tree with smashed parts (which I was riding earlier).

As on “Oh by the way”, the 1st helicopter that showed up on scene, over-torqued during a low-level hover and almost crashed into the mountain....It was exceptionally close in terms of a another catastrophic event.  I talked to the crewman, when he did end up near me and he was visibly shaken from what just almost happened to them.
          What a day! The humor index was exceptionally high when you step away from being in the middle. I am also now thinking if I had a faster bike, I might have cleared the section....

Respectfully,