Pavement Surfing

[canuckamuck]

They say most accidents happen near or at your home. This is where you spend most of your time, and this is the place you let your guard down. Getting comfortable, or careless, is what got me into a fix that I really would rather not be dealing with at this time.

A couple of days ago I was riding my motorcycle on a back road to my house. Wearing just sandals, shorts and a T-shirt, I allowed my mind to wander as gazed at a train rolling up the track parallel to the road.

This 2Km stretch of country road would be no problem to drive except that the engineers have devised a clever trap. Just about half way along this arrow straight road there is a little intersection where a dirt road crosses and joins a paved road that emerges under a small bridge on the railroad track. There are no houses along this stretch of road, it is quiet and has very little traffic. When you look down this road it appears you can drive the length of it at highway speed without any risk. What you don’t see is just on the other side of a small hill at the midway point, just before that little intersection, some evil genius has added a speed bump. The speed bump is the same color as the road and is completely out of sight until you crest that hill. There are no warning signs about the bump or the intersection, just this sneaky little speed bump. Despite the fact I have ridden this road several times, occasionally I forget about the bump.

The reason for the bump is obvious, Thai people like to merge onto roads without looking, and because the intersection is on the other side of a hill, it is likely a dangerous spot. But this is where the logic begins to fail. A speed bump in the middle of what looks to be a clear stretch of open road is a hazard. Especially, when it is not painted and is on the far side of a hill. When there is an intersection, there should be some signs, at least one indicating the speed bump. Even the oncoming road has no warning about this intersection.

So there I was the other day cruising down this stretch of road looking the train rolling up the track towards me. I saw a truck emerge from under the bridge. I squeezed my front and back brakes a touch, just in case he decided to cross, and then wham! I hit that bump.

The jolt caused me to squeeze my front brake even harder which was all it took to send me flying, then body surfing, down the blacktop with my motorcycle landing on my leg.

My first clear thought was that my helmet was working, as my chin guard bounced off the pavement. The second thing to occur to me was to kick my bike off of my leg as my foot was being ground into the road.

When I skidded to a stop, I stood up and checked to see if my parts were still there. An older Thai lady pulled up behind me and helped get my bike off the road. She asked me if it hurt. “Jeb mahk” I said with a smile. When she saw my bike still worked she left and I made my way to a first aid kit. My injuries included a shredded foot, matching skinned-off knees, a gouged up left hand, and nearly the entire length of my right arm in heavy road rash. There were also some other assorted bruises and scrapes. My bike faired pretty well, it will need a few new parts and a paint job.

The next day I hurt all over, but worse than that: by evening infection was setting in. I knew I had to go to the hospital. I chose the public hospital; I know they get motorcycle accidents all day long. They have to be experts at cleaning wounds right? So why pay private hospital prices?

I was right, they knew exactly what do, and it cost about 200 baht including antibiotics. What I didn’t expect was the full out attack on my wounds as the nurse scrubbed down every inch of injured flesh with a variety of tools. Wow, that nearly sent me through the roof. My wife was watching my face and she knew what I was going through. The nurse was unconcerned as she scrubbed away. When she was done, I said to my wife as a joke: “tell her I never felt a thing” I was going for dramatic understatement but she took it at face value as a compliment. Whatever! She did her best so I guess she can keep the compliment.

I had to return there the next day. This time there was a new crew, and they went right to work. First thing they had to do was tear off the old bandages that were completely stuck on. Apparently the nurse from the night before was not so talented after all. If the tearing of my flesh wasn’t enough, they decided to scrub it again to remove the bandage fragments. The machinations of one nurse the night before seemed a lot to handle, but it was nothing compared to having three nurses working on separate parts of my body at the same time. You can block pain from a general area, but from three, forget it. I just about went insane. I think I know now what it feels like to be devoured by tiny animals.

My wife wasn’t there for this performance they sent her away to buy bandages from a room down the hall. Yeah I am serious, we hadn’t paid for enough and she had to go back and get more, bizarre.

Anyhow, I have had enough of that place now, I had to redo their bandages anyways and I did a much better job myself. I will just stick around the house for a while and get healed up. No more pavement surfing for me.

[WaiWai]

Ouch .

Hope you heal up & feel better soon.

[lazeeboy]

Ouch .

Hope you heal up & feel better soon.

same thing happened to me a couple of years ago ,whole left side of my body was totally without top layer of skin ,went to the hospital for a clean and a check up ,must have had your nurses sister ,hurt so much that i passed out ,when icame round all the nurses were lauthing ,has got to be the worse pain i've ever been in ,now stick to driving the car ,took ages for the wounds to heal up as well ,good luck with your recouperation..

[canuckamuck]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind regards, I am sure I will be up and about in no time

[jasreeve17]

Get well soon, and drive carefully.

Let's hope that you've had your one obligatory accident, and that's your lot for a good while.

[Etrigan]

Glad to hear it's one you walked away from.

Lots of cotton wool and saline solution will help you keep the road rash clean.

[peter991]

Ouch! I felt every bit of the OP's pain as I read his post. Just as well he was wearing a helmet - or things could have been MUCH worse.

Hope you get better soon. I admit I was getting lazy in Issan - riding around the same way - T shirt, shorts and thongs - and no helmet. I am a bit more safety-conscious now, after my one accident.

Peter

[kmart]

Hope you heal up ok, m8. My 2 wheel days are long behind me in Thailand. Principally due to the random stupidity of stuff like canuckamuck just described.

[tuky]

The description of the road sounds exactly the same as a road near my house, I have often wondered how many people come off their bikes there or get hit by cars cutting the corner coming out from under the bridge.

It must be the same road because surely there could not be two dangerous roads in Thailand?

Hope you get better soon mate.

[toptuan]

As you all know, if you've been on a motorbike, Thailand gets the blue ribbon for deep chuck-holes, which can be fatal to the unsuspecting motorcyclist. Especially when it rains heavily--you just can't see them--they look like the average mud puddle, until the front half of your bike disappears and you go flying into the next puddle. (Now THAT'S surfing!).

Even in good weather, looking away from an unfamiliar road for just an instant can land you in one of those holes that trucks and cars can hit without nothing more than a few bent tie-rods and damaged wheels. But you on a motorcycle? You'll bite the Big One in them if you're not careful.

Safe motorbiking to everyone out there!