Might be missing a match or two...

[Bob259]

Tried shooting my first matches since the crash yesterday. First 40-shot standard rifle match in the morning wasn't too bad. I shot decently well (32/40) and rib pain started creeping in about halfway through the match. For the 40-shot hunter match, I was hurting from the start and it got really bad by the 4th animal. I ended on chickens and couldn't even breathe deeply. The odd thing, though, is that the worse I hurt the better I shot. I was visibly steadier as the pain increased, and I ended up with a 34/40. Anyone else had something like that happen? Any guesses as to what caused it? My only idea is that the pain was pushing all the other crap out of my head and I was just concentrating on shooting to get it overwith.

Seems like a heck of a thing to have to do to shoot better

[Jason]

Yeah, really. I don't want to go through it again, and if I hadn't started shooting so well I would have stopped. I'm trying to figure out how to get the steadiness that I had then without all that pesky pain that went along with it.

[BlauBear]

Hey, when you hurt that bad for fun it's good to have something to show for it!

Pain does focus the mind. Not a preferred method, but definitely effective.

[Jason]

Continued bad luck on the bike. On my third ride since getting the doc's OK to start doing whatever I want (including riding) again, I was almost a hood ornament for a truck that pulled out in front of me. It pulled out from a side road at an intersection (He had stop sign. I didn't.) and turned right into my lane, covering more than half of it. I'm not sure how in the world I pulled off not hitting him head-on, but in dodging him I ran off the side of the road onto some uneven grassy area. Thankfully I was only going 30 or less when he pulled out so I got it slowed down to 15 or so before my front tire hit a hole and pulled the front tire right. That put me down on the same left shoulder and re-broke my collarbone, this time worse than before. I think someone's trying to tell me that I need to spend my time shooting instead of riding. This will almost surely make me miss the state highpower match in three weeks, though. I can't imagine that 160 shots plus sight-in from a highpower rifle would be a pleasant two days.

[BlauBear]

Sell the bike and order the really nice high power of your choice. By the time it's ready, you should be too. Kind of like an egg timer...

[Jason]

It might be emotion and being tired of being hurt talking, but I really am considering replacing the broken mirror (only damaged part) and buffing out the light scratches from falling in the grass so I can sell the bike. I was so close to hitting that truck that my elbow brushed the corner of it as I dodged it. I am still stunned that the bike could even turn fast enough to miss it. I think I'm more scared now than I was then, because it happened so fast. Now that I think about it, I was a few inches away from hitting an immovable object at a combined 35-40mph speed. Even though I wear full gear head-to-toe, that doesn't change physics. It would have crunched me and the bike. I have a wife and three little kids to love and provide for.

I pretty much won what's two, maybe three, steps away from my dream highpower rifle. I can shoot it pretty well, when I'm not hurt. I'm planning to change to a Jackson 2-stage trigger and possibly go to an RTS stock to set it up like my smallbore rifle, though. I think selling the bike and all the gear, stands, tools, etc. would probably net me about 8-10 times the cost of those two upgrades. I might even cut a deal with the wife, who isn't a fan of me using the bike to bounce myself off the asphalt, that I go to nationals every year if I get rid of the bike and accompanying crap.

[Bob259]

I agree with BB... glad you were not hurt more seriously.

[BlauBear]

I might even cut a deal with the wife, who isn't a fan of me using the bike to bounce myself off the asphalt, that I go to nationals every year if I get rid of the bike and accompanying crap.

No that is a plan! Close calls focus the mind like nothing else, and I'd rather congratulate you on making Master than donate to the flowers.

My wife's cousin lost a leg in a car/motorcycle accident last spring, about the same time a very good friend turned in front of a motorcycle and almost took his leg off. Both accidents were driver (not rider) error, happened at modest speeds, and really messed up the riders.