An hour earlier, I hated my dispatcher for calling to tell me my work plans had to be changed. He'd done that to me twice now in the last week. A few weeks earlier, I hated to hear it would be a few days to get that new tire mounted. The one my Harley had honestly needed the last two riding seasons, and it was finally getting done.


Funny how little things can get us so upset, isn't it?
How priorities get changed, lives are altered, and hate seems so trivial in the scheme of things. Just an hour or so after that Saturday phone call, I had the biggest reason to hate someone that had ever come over me........but it didn't.
It's the damnedest thing I've ever experienced. I had cussed drivers, made gestures, hollered and honked for far less than this. Yet, suddenly I'm face down on the ground, starting to sort out the details of what had just happened to me. Hate was the farthest thing from my mind.


My bike..... the blood on the ground in front of my face....... hell, I was hit! Who's that screaming in the distance? Oh my God! She thinks I'm dead! She must have been the person who hit me! She's frantic. I wish I could tell he I'm OK. I...Think I'm OK.
Some guy is telling me to keep still. Yea, let my wife know what happened. She's at home....I just left there a little bit ago. Our phone number is.... Wow, them sirens are loud! Oh, they're coming here. I hate all this attention. They are taking good care of me though.


Hey, how's my bike? No wait, screw the bike, how bad am I hurt? Why didn't I just drive my truck to work? The first damn time I ride to work this year and this has to happen. Jeeze, the pain is getting worse. How did I get in the ER so fast?
OH,man my wife and kids look horrified. I hate doing this to them. Wait, I can tell them I'll be OK! They're all crying and reaching out to me. I must look terrible to them right now.


He must be the Dr. OK, I know I'm lucky. When can I go home? What? A broken neck? No, I can move everything,...see? Five places? My foot is what hurts. Oh, the ankle, but not seriously? It hurts seriously I'm tellin ya! And my shoulder? That's why my arms and hands are tingling? What do you mean that's from the neck injury? Well, how long do I have to deal with this crap? A year, maybe a year and a half? You gotta be kidding me. I don't feel that bad. I'll be OK, just give me a little time to adjust, I can bounce back.


I hate myself for being so stupid, and stubborn. All that took place on May 12th, 2007. Just let me say, they knew what they were talking about. I was hurt seriously, and it would be a long time coming back to closely resembling who I was before.
Originally, I took six months healing and going through therapy. The neck was touchy, but it had fortunately fractured in five places, all envolving the little bones that protect the main artery going to the brain. Becoming paralyzed was not in the picture. I would have bled out internally though, if I wasn't kept still. Any of the five should have done it already. Yea, I was lucky. God, how I got tired of hearing that phrase. I hated it.


I hated sitting on my rear, going to therapy, and watching the summer slip away. Then I got to go back to work in Nov., 2007. But I struggled. I put on the game face and fought the problems till Jan. My feet were screwed up and getting worse. A foot specialist saw me a few times, planning a course of action that would include surgery on both of them, one at a time.Then he gave me reason to hate again. I was taken off work for a second time, knowing it would be for a few months again.


The first one went well. I was getting through therapy
with ease. Then suddenly, it didn't look right. In just two days, it was obviously infected, and in need of being seen. In two more days, I was hospitalized, and an all out attack was being waged to save my foot.
A couple of weeks later, the worst was behind me, but the other foot had been put on hold. The time line was lengthening, and man, I really hated that.


Finally, on May 7th,(five days shy of a year after the fact) the second foot underwent surgery. Was this whole thing going to be behind me finally?
More setting around, and more therapy. More time spent getting back whatever I was to get back to. I grew to hate uncertainty too. On August 4th, I went back to work again. I've lost over a year that I can't get back. I've lost a bike that meant a lot to me. Two summers of riding, and I'm not getting any younger!


I've just taken you down the last 15 months of my life. You want to know the craziest thing about it? After all that, all the times hate came into it, I never hated the young lady who brought it about. I know her name. Where she lives. Even how bad her driving record has been. I've written a few times now that I can forgive her for an accident she caused. Even though it almost killed me. I've developed the theory that I forgive the person, she has her own guilt to deal with. What I can't (and won't) forgive is the actions or act that caused it.


Failure to yield was the cause of two thirds of all fatal bike wrecks in 2006 when a second vehicle was involved, and the bike was not at fault. I hate the fact that we ride for our pleasure, for charity, to work, or for any other reason, and the majority of the time, somebody we don't even know usually is successful at killing us. We're not hurting anyone. Usually, we're not even breaking any laws. Don't you hate that too?


And all those people who had to ask,"were you wearing a helmet"? (I live in Ohio where "those who ride DO decide", after you've met their conditions). Don't they get it, that if you take the other person's inexcusable driving habits out of the picture, my not wearing a helmet is meaningless. That's not to say other accidents may not be the same, but we knew the risk when we climbed on. Leave me alone in my elements
and I promise to do my best not to hit you. It hurts too much.


In closing, let me admit that I hate the way I get carried away with this writing stuff. All who know me know I'm never short of words. That I'll talk to anyone about anything for God only knows how long. The passion that comes out of me since an event I hate more than probably any other event in my life, is aimed at ending all future accidents of the same cause. I don't want anyone to go through this and certainly want the killing to stop. I hope to do all I can to see this through.


So, you may wounder what I hate the most?
It's knowing I can't make it stop. It takes everyone.
Will you help me? We can do anything if we put our minds to it. Don't settle for less. Every event you attend, just talk about it. If you attend club meetings,bring it up. While you're sharing time with friends, mention the riders lost to the tragic act of failure to yield drivers. Don't let the subject rest, it kills people like us..... AND I HATE THAT
Jeff :)



I can't end without saying God Bless all of you for knowing how important this website is.The compassion shown by strangers to strangers is unbelievable. I've certainly never seen anything like it elseware.

Garry, you've called me a brother from the start. It's hard to believe it's only been just over four months. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all the help and support you've forwarded me and all the others here. I know my sainity was kept in check in large part because you were there, and you cared enough to make all this possible.

Thank You Brother, and I hope and pray all is well with you! We'll be in touch, I'm sure. I hope the day comes that I can thank you in person, and shake the hand of one hell of a man! With any luck, I'll be riding up to you on my new scooter. I'd be honored to ride with you, anywhere, anytime.