Not Shown: Stunt Rider David Hansen

Before this story takes on a life of its own I wanted to give a bit of fact and insight into "the event" and hopefully clarify from my perspective what happened. By the second moto of race six I had come to feel comfortable with the layout of the track and was ready to improve my standings. The start was uneventful and after blasting down the long first straight I found myself again riding behind Nancy Richards through the woods. Nancy is a good rider, very smooth and consistent. I have found in previous races if I follow her line and pace I eliminate a lot of potential for drama and I was content to learn a bit from her style. The white flag came out and we had one lap to go and I had only a few chances left to get past Nancy before the finish. I had watched Nancy take the big left hand berm high every lap thus far and expected her to do the same. In my mind I had planned to do a "tactical turn" coming from the outside and hugging the inside of the corner tight. This would put me in good position to take the inside line and potentially pass Nancy without getting in her line. Here is where things start to go awry –

I about half way down the short straight heading toward the big left hander and my brain is telling my hand to close the throttle and slow down more than I had in earlier laps in preparation to take the inside line of the corner.
I attempt to close the throttle – then the alarm bell starts going off in my head as the throttle does not seem to be responding and I am now approaching the corner too fast. At this point I begin to pogo-stick down the right hand side which by this time pretty much full of small whoops. I am square in the middle of the power band and my tire has hooked up – I am now scrambling to grab any brakes I can to slow my progress. With every second Nancy is growing larger in my goggles. I am now concerned that I do not wish to hurt anyone either on or off the track and I am considering my options to pilot the Angry Silver Yamaha to a safe stop. Much of the next part of this is in flashes of memory as I am quickly approaching the big berm. Stabbing at the rear brake – pogo sticking – avoiding Nancy – all of this came pretty quickly as I continued to accelerate toward the corner. Learning to Fly - My next recollection is as I hit the berm - I make a conscious decision to separate myself from the Angry Silver Yamaha as I know the landing is not going to be good one. Interestingly my next memory is not so much visual as it is audible – one of a sighing sound as I crash through the trees and blackberry thicket. I next find myself looking up at the sky though the tree tops and blackberry thicket – a quick thought of cervical collars and back
boards comes to mind so I pause to breathe and start to take a mental inventory of my parts. I am very internally focused at this point as I begin to wiggle my fingers and toes and concentrate on my back and neck wondering if I have really hurt myself badly. After running this internal diagnostic check it is only now I hear the Angry Silver Yamaha up and above me in the thicket – throttle still stuck way above idle crying out in an angry protest until the carburetor runs dry from being upside own.

I start to play a game of "Marco Polo" with the first responder who has to create his own path through the blackberry thicket to get to me as I have managed to jump in to the middle without touching ground. He asks me if I am all right and we talk for a minute or so – I ask for help up as my arms and legs are pointed to the sky and I am unable to wriggle out of my nest on my own. The EMT quickly arrived on scene and asked me if I was ok – I took
off my helmet and goggles and told him that indeed I was ok. He gave me the most incredulous look and asked me again if I was hurt – figuring I was in shock I am certain- and I relented and let him give me a quick once over to be followed by a more thorough check once I had managed to extricate myself from the thicket. Thoughts on safety -

I had all the standard protective gear - knee and elbow pads, chest protector, appropriate riding pants, good boots etc. I gave the site a good survey before I left the scene I recall seeing a freshly broken tree limb at least 2 inches in diameter and other than biting my tongue and nice bruise on my forearm I somehow walked away unhurt. I will give luck a bit of credit here but I am certain without appropriate gear things could have been a lot different. My bike has a period correct push button kill switch which works well for shutting the motor down when waiting for your moto to start. I wonder aloud here if I had installed a more modern style kill switch with a positive "run/stop" position on it if I could have arrested my progress and prevented this get off. I am going to install one as soon as it arrives just to be safe.

Many thanks - Thank you to the four good Samaritans who risked their flesh to go down and somehow get my Angry Silver Yamaha out of the thicket. I don't know who you are but I appreciate it greatly and good karma will come to you for you kindness. Thanks to the EMT staff who did a good job of checking me out and reaffirming to me why we invite theses folks to our events – nice job. I have considered the term "defying gravity" in a more abstract sense until now. I now think it a bit more like defying a running bull in Pamplona. Gravity has a number of lessons and she is a patient teacher and I feel quite lucky to have walked away unhurt. After I got home my wife and I were talking that we are all "lucky" whenever we go out but the risks in this case are worth it because while I am out riding I feel alive. So thanks to all of you crazy wonderful people with whom I share this sport – may you never take an unintended flight.

Until Goldendale!!
Dave Hansen – 710 – Angry Silver Yamaha