Help me get the message out please!!

As I write this it is a wonderful fall day. Clear, warm, sunny and no wind. Perfect for a ride only I have no ridable bike and if I did I am unable to throw a leg over one in my condition.
Last Saturday, Sept 18/10 on the last leg of this season's portion of The Planet Tour, after crossing the entire country of Canada solo, to spread the message of sharing the road, an inattentive driver nailed me.

She did a sudden turn in front of me which then turned into be a badly executed U-turn. After slowing and moving over to avoid her, the car suddenly careened left over to where I had moved. It was like it had bounced off the curb or something. The only place left was to glance off the side of the car.
"Oh shit this is going to hurt!" was my second thought; "This cannot be happening again!!" was my first as I heard the crunch of Suzy's parts as they shattered against the car and I was thrown.
I has ridden the whole country of Candad, solo and this happens during the last week?!? Why are people so reluctant to see motorcycles? I ride with my high beam on all the time yet am invisible?

One of the main purposes of The Planet Tour is to promote sharing the road while raising the image of the motorcycling community. Sometimes I wonder if it is the bad apples of biking that help give all riders a bad image which may just be part of the reason people refuse to accept what their eyes see. Maybe we don't matter to them.

Its just a theory.    

I missed my headline spot at The Laughshop in Sherwood Park, because, as we all know, emergency wards don't move with speed. 4 1/2 hours on a spine board caused the wrenched muscles in my back lock up and spasm. It took good old morphine to the rescue. Its the only fun part of being hit. Man that stuff works but I was still in pain.

I was in no shape to do a headline spot but went down to see the crowd. The manager was kind enough to give me a few minutes on stage so I could feel the laughter and mention my cause.  Move over morphine because there is nothing like the sound of an audience laughing at my words (and I have no idea what those words were being on morphine) to make me feel better. I was still whacked on morphine but everyone said I did well for my few minutes up there.  I would have loved to do my full 45 minutes but after limping back to my chair I could tell I would have run out of steam rather quickly. The effects of the drug were wearing off and I was dizzy and tired.

I've included some pics of my injuries and I apologize to the squeamish (they are a bit graphic) but I believe people need to see what can happen when a driver does  something unsafe.


While there are no broken bones (thankfully) I do have a swollen right ankle, some massive bruising on my right hip along with some road rash on my shin and some wrenched back muscles that spasm every now and then. I suppose this might be what one of those electric abdominal zappers, you see on late night TV,would feel like if I hooked it up to my back...and cranked the voltage up! I should try and get a spasm on video as it is humorous when it happens mid-speech.

Bruise on Day 3

The world is filled with drivers not paying attention so wear your gear or you could be asking for a world of hurt. I am grateful I had my Draggin Jeans on, my Joe Rocket riding jacket, Alpinestar boots, riding gloves, helmet. ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time) always. I cringe when I see a rider with only a t-shirt or worse- shorts! Things can happen so quickly it is not worth the risk of going sans safety gear.

So what's next? 

Healing of course and dealing with insurance. I'll know in a few days what is happening with Suzy. Parts aren't cheap so here's hoping its not a write off. She's a good bike, only one repair in over 60,000km plus, of course the regular maintenance stuff.

I still have 12 weeks of webisodes to edit that I will add a safety message to along with showing you the stuff I encountered in my travels. I am not quitting riding or The Planet Tour show, if anything I am more motivated to get this message out, teach people to share the road and wear your gear and of course to deliver it through my comedy. I will need your help though. More people need to see the webisodes so share this link and get more people to subscribe together we can help spread the message.

Get involved!

I would like to promote your company in the videos and am seeking sponsorship to pay for the editing costs in return for exposure on the show. If you have a service or product that I can promote, as long as it meets the guidelines, lets work together. I can place your company ad or product in the video and get you some exposure for a very affordable fee and, unlike print advertising these videos will be up online indefinitely! Let me promote you and your company.

The media is starting to help get the message out. This story ran in all the Sun newspapers across the nation.
Story Link
I am in the process of releasing a video about the crash and my injuries which will be out soon. I do hope it makes a few people drive with more caution.
Please spread the word and share the links. We need to reach more people so they start to see motorcycles out there. To all riders please invest in the proper riding gear to minimize any injury should something go wrong.
Some may be saying I am crazy to talk about getting back on the bike, to even continue riding. Its my passion and if I quit now before getting my message out there then the bad drivers win. I can't let that happen

Daryl