Big Offs

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