Get Well Soon Frong

[weasel]

Thanks faz,

 

[ForsakenReality]

first, I hope fr0ng heals up without much permanent damage.

now, it doesn't really matter how zealous track workers are or how many crashes happen at Thunderhill per year.

ONE accident is ONE too many. This doesn't happen at world class tracks. This track has terrible run off. If you've ever gone off roading you'll discover 1-2 feet dips covered in grass, a rather bumpy ride. There's no levelled gravel that you can slide on. Not even flat ground. That means your simply LOW SIDE can end up flipping the bike and you a few times, causing a lot more damage than if you just slid.

With proper angled gravel run off not noticing a bike would've been literally impossible.

As far as I understand the THill guy in the tower would be responsible for noticing an accident in turn one, but obviously he can't do everything at once and it's amazing no one notized from the building.

I certainly hope this IS taken to court and makes the tracks safer.

I don't see how this is "ruining" the sport or the fun of it. Someone fucked up here and they need to take responsibility. For the sport it might mean SAFER tracks in the future. I would rather pay $5-10 extra per track day if that means nice even gravel run off.

Perhaps you've never ridden off track at THill. I am much less likely to get hurt by falling/sliding in gravel than going through a bumpy ride that ends up flipping me and the bike.

Ever slide on rocky surface? Maybe not. What about pebbles of gravel? Now think which one would hurt you more or less.

Carlitos = thumbs up.

60 posts and now you're God's gift to track safety and civil litigation?

I've ridden thousands of miles at Thunderhill and seen, literally, hundreds of crashes. This is the first and only time I've heard of anyone crashing and nobody noticing. In fact, the turn workers are usually a bit over-zealous about waiving flags and shutting the track down if something happens! This is, most likely, not a failure of Thunderhill or the people who work there!

If you want to point fingers, start looking at the track day participants and, perhaps, the organizers. Every time I see someone go down (or a cloud of dust), I'll stop by the tower to let somebody know about it! How come nobody did this for frOng? Was the track that empty? Didn't the event organizer have people circulating the track looking for problems that the corner workers might have missed? Hard for me to imagine that frOng was able to fly off the track and go down so quickly that nobody noticed...



Jesus H.! If I hear anyone else begging for gravel traps, I think I'm going to puke!

Think about the last time you rode your DOT-shod streetbike across gravel: was it a fun experience? Doubt it. Now, imagine running into a sea of gravel at 100+mph. Think you're going to keep it upright? Again, I doubt it. Gravel traps might be great for cars, but for motorcycles they're a bit less attractive.

Personally, I'd be happy if they'd just grade some of the more rutted run-off areas. Then again, T-hill is already better than Laguna and Sears!

 

[Melissa]

Frong I am so sorry that you not only dumped but that you were alone after your get off in the hot sun and leathers. I hope you heal up well and get back on your next bike of choice and continue to do what you love-ride.
Please do let us know if there's anything you need during the upcoming days, weeks and months and I'm sure there will be a large group of us who will lend assistance.
Melissa

 

[FourDoor]

I just read the entire thread. This could have easily been a RIP thread.

Glad to see frong was able to survive the crash. Heal up quick man...

 

[slydrite]

can't we all get a bong?

uhhhh, I mean, get along, I think.

seriously, I'm sure everbody's upset at this type of thing happening, and everybody has different ways of expressing their upsetness, but let's not forget two important things.

A) the track (any track) is still FAR safer than public roads and really the only place where modern sportbikes can have their potential exploited

B) this is about a fellow rider who got hurt doing what he loved to do.......and this thread is about the barf communtiy wishing him the best recovery possible.

my .02

p.s. the pankake head bunny is fuckin histerical, I'll send ya royalties every time I use from now on!!!!!!!!!

 

[ForsakenReality]

Well it's my understanding corner workers and most safety related procedures are handled by THill, not the organizer. It's basically up to the buddies to alert the organizers if their friend is missing...

thump: it was pacific track time or PTT, so you can avoid them as you wish.

and to whoever said michael earnest (owner of PTT) feels the worst about this situation, well he can come on this board and spam the shit out of it but i don't see him wishing sami well up on here.

i agree that we do not need lawyers involved with our sport, but this is an EXTREME incident, and someone needs to get a serious slap so that it doesn't happen again!!!!

 

[Grlzrd2]

Heal up Sami

I am SO sorry you had such a horrific getoff! It's such a sad thought ....you laying out there in the heat, with everybody else wondering where the hec you went! geez! I feel for your family and close friends. I know you'll heal up and be back again for next season. You're tough, kid!

-Summer

P.S. Can't help but laugh at Kimchee's :boobies offer. Now that's one cool GF! .....and all I could think up was "maybe we should help pay FrOng's parking ticket he just got" ....

 

[nine]

Get well soon.

 

[spdt509]

get well soon,frong,frong......

 

[sKy27R1]

I wonder if the unjustified parking ticket he got the day before was a factor, when i get ready for a ride I make sure its with a clear head. That way I can make sure I get a good night rest the day before and nothing on the back of my mind while executing a turn....or maybe its just me.
take care Frong, maybe we'll get a chance meet one day.

 

[kt157]

damn that sucks, show him the :boobies , so he gets better.

 

[ForsakenReality]

If you're close to fr0ng and the time is appropriate, please pm me any sort of contact information.

 

[cvlighthouse]

Here is a picture of turns 1 & 2 @ T-hill. Fr0ng, you must have gone off somewhere on the right.
Sorry to hear about your crash.
I hope you have a speedy recovery and can ride again soon!
-Luke-

A highschool friend describes the track:
http://www.thunderhill.com/tracklap.html

edit: my bad, I'm lost

 

[JeffKoch]

first, I hope fr0ng heals up without much permanent damage.

You should have stopped right here.

(blah blah) I certainly hope this IS taken to court and makes the tracks safer.

I don't see how this is "ruining" the sport or the fun of it. Someone fucked up here and they need to take responsibility. For the sport it might mean SAFER tracks in the future. I would rather pay $5-10 extra per track day if that means nice even gravel run off. (blah blah)

Please take your ligitation to another sport, the rest of us enjoy riding racetracks and don't want to see that disappear. You're crazy if you think an extra $5-10 per track day will cover a complete razing of all runoff areas and staffing to watch every bike at every moment, never mind the lawyer's fees and insurance.

Track days are dangerous, that's why you sign a waiver. If that bothers you then please take up shuffleboard and stay away from racetracks. From everything I hear, this was a feak accident, simple as that.

Hope you heal well, Sammi.

 

[slydrite]

uhhh, I'm sure you meant turn one......that's the entry to turn one, not two

 

[Baptistro]

Hey Sammi, it sucks that you had to go through such a horrfic experience. Please follow doctor's orders adn take care of yourself as best you can. Hope to see you out there soon kiddo.

 

[R6Elmo]

Any updates on sami's location? I just called stanford hospital asking specifically for his name and they said they had no one there by his name. Could be that the dude on the phone just had a major attitude problem too.

 

[RichK]

You should have stopped right here.



Please take your ligitation to another sport, the rest of us enjoy riding racetracks and don't want to see that disappear. You're crazy if you think an extra $5-10 per track day will cover a complete razing of all runoff areas and staffing to watch every bike at every moment, never mind the lawyer's fees and insurance.

Track days are dangerous, that's why you sign a waiver. If that bothers you then please take up shuffleboard and stay away from racetracks. From everything I hear, this was a feak accident, simple as that.

Hope you heal well, Sammi.

Great post, Jeff. I don't think a lot of people here realize how precariously our racetracks survive.

 

[banditjon]

Get well brother. You've got plenty more squidin to do!

I'm willing to pay extra to have at least all the corner worker stations manned. I hope it doesn't take someone to give their life to solve this very easily solved problem.

 

[ForsakenReality]

So you propose for the tracks to stay sub-standard and not improve run off or safety features?

From my understanding, paving costs millions. Taking a tractor and falttening out couple of turn run offs and maybe putting down gravel wouldn't run a huge bill.

And yes, I would rather pay a few extra bucks to enjoy higher level of safety.

I personally hope instead of litigation all the run off is improved, but is that's what it takes to push THill to do upgrades so be it.

Your last paragraph is useless. If track safety doesn't bother you then you're probably not telling the truth. I love going to the track and sign off a waiver every single time without a second thought.

"Track days are dangerous" -- big news. There's obviously implied danger at any track day. They can't be held accountable for your mistakes, and that's why the waiver exists. However, I prefer that the track I go to be least dangerous and that the track organizers are itnerested in the safety of the riders BEYOND bare minimum.

You should have stopped right here.



Please take your ligitation to another sport, the rest of us enjoy riding racetracks and don't want to see that disappear. You're crazy if you think an extra $5-10 per track day will cover a complete razing of all runoff areas and staffing to watch every bike at every moment, never mind the lawyer's fees and insurance.

Track days are dangerous, that's why you sign a waiver. If that bothers you then please take up shuffleboard and stay away from racetracks. From everything I hear, this was a feak accident, simple as that.

Hope you heal well, Sammi.