[fnfalman]

My first "real" crash was with the BMW. I had a gentle lowside back in 1992 on the EX500 but it wasn't significant enough to call a crash and I didn't learn squat on that lay down. But I digress. Anyway, my first "real" crash was with the Beemer back in April 2006. It happened so fast that I didn't realize what happened until I was on the ground sliding. The first thing that went through my mind was, "Dammit, I'm gonna trash my brand stankin' new Arai helmet." No shit, that was my first thought. And when the slide turned into tumble, I said to myself, "Damn glad I'm wearing full leathers." And when I'm still rolling toward the cliff, I said to myself, "I hope that there are a lot of grass and trees that padded my fault."

The second crash was about two months later when I broke my 2005 Aprilia in half. I saw that one coming and it was, "Oh shit, this gonna hurt!!!" and then when I was sliding face first on the pavement, "Man, I'm glad that I wear a full face helmet."