Its a bit of a trueism-you never fall off when you think you,re going to
and vice versa;
Most spills seem to happen through a lack of concentration or a minor mistake.
Occasionally you are caught out by circumstance.
The following incidents happened outside my control.
(In a future post I,ll relate a couple of incidents where judgement was at fault.)
I lost control of my Honda 400 Four, on a cobbled street in Paris
I was on the way back from the 1976 BOL D,OR at Le Mans.
(heres a couple of photos from the pit lane
-Phil Read and Tony Rutter riding for Honda)
Dave“Crasher” Croxford-too many crashes to list
(seen here minus fairing-lost in a nightime spill!
was it a Norton-Iforget,)
but amazingly -NO broken bones in a distinguished career
ANYWAY I was overtaking a van ,
when I saw diesel sloshing out of his uncapped filler
-in a blink of an eye I was sliding across the cobbles into the opposite curb.
Fortunately I avoided hitting any cars as I slid,but gave my elbow a hell of a bash;
The bike had bent handlebars and a smashed pannier,
which had saved the rest of the bike from damage.
Needless to say,nobody stopped to help.
I found a Honda garage a few miles up the road,
who changed the bars for me.
Having lost several hours in Paris
I flogged the bike up to Boulogne,
only to see my prebooked Hovercraft
disappearing out to the open sea.
I managed to get a later crossing
and spent the night in London with an old mate.
The irony was that I,d left my pal Roger Harvey and his girlfriend
asleep in a friends flat in Paris
-disgruntled cos I was anxious to make a start-
they wanted breakfast and a lie- in.
Guess who arrived home in the UK at the planned time?
Out on the trail in France,
I was leading a group of clients,on a Green Mountain tour
We were passing slowly through a farmyard,
At the exit the trail continued down a rocky track between the trees.
Leaving the road ,I dived onto the trail,
BANG
Flat on my back,instantaneously!
I hadnt seen the neck-high baling twine spanning the track,
presumably left there by the farmer
who had obviously been moving his cows.
Fortunately I was unhurt,but the incident shook everyone up
It could have been nasty.
An error of judgement or unavoidable?
The twine was thin and dark,undetectable in the shadowy lane.
Could I have foreseen the danger?
What do you think?
I must admit I am VERY observant in similar situations these days.:P
Posted by Peter 
Posted by Peter 
Posted by Peter 
