some bad news....(chico tonto/silly boy)

[agentpineapple]

as some of you might know, I've had a few guests visiting me in spain.
and for the last week we've been making lots of v-twin noise's around catalunya and Andorra.
sadly I have to announce that on Tuesday the 8th of sept, a good friend of ours was hurt in a serious accident.
CK.....chris kennedy
we had spent the previous night in Andorra, and we were travelling back to my house on some of the most glorious roads we have ever seen, when as chris entered a small tunnel that had a right hand bend in it, that tightened up without warning, chris had a head on collision with a 4x4 pick up.
the following moments those of us on the trip will never forget, thankfully monkeymatt had enough first aid training to make a massive difference.
chris was taken by ambulance to a hospital some 50kms from the crash site. we were all allowed to follow on our bikes.
we then spent several nervous hours waiting for information regarding chris's condition.
finally we received the news we'd all wanted to hear, chris was going to be ok.
I can't stress enough how lucky he was.
here is a picture of the car he collided with.

and here's a picture of what's left of the bike he was riding at the time of the accident. as some of you might notice, this isn't chris's bike, it's a friends bike, that he'd been riding for the previous 15 or so minutes. as you can see it's a total wreck.


it's hard to believe, but chris has managed to hobble away from this with a badly broken right wrist, a concussion and lots of bruises and soreness, not to mention a pair of swollen plums.
he has definitely used up one of his nine lives.
he was released from hospital this evening, and will be re-patriated to the uk tomorrow. where he will under go surgery on his wrist.
his wife imogen was not riding with him at the time of the accident (because of illness). she has been his rock since the accident, showing great courage.
I wish chris a safe trip home and speedy recovery

[Watty]

Feck me mate he's used up more than 1 of his 9 lives! Chris you are one very very lucky man, and thank Christ you are still with us and thank God immogen was too ill to pilly! Get well soon buddy

[Varastorm]

Glad to hear your ok Chris.

Very lucky to get away with a broken wrist & bruises looking at the mess on the bike.

My friend's lad had a head on with a 4x4 6 months back, he wasn't so lucky & lost his life.

Hope you get better soon

[sirch345]

I'm very relived to hear that Chris is going to be okay in time. Wishing you a speedy recovery Chris.
I also (as A/P, Watty and Varastorm said) think you were extremely lucky. A miracle Imogen was not riding pillion this time.

Thanks Marty for letting us know,

Chris.

[lloydie]

I recon thats 8 used up now .
Lucky to be with us still , if you ever scare me like that again I'll take the last one form you ,you nob .
You better treat the wife to some very good times for putting up with you .
Glad your still with us x

[macdee]

Just in from the pub and seen this heading feared the worst as i read down the news
glad to here you made it out alive you BUCK EEJIT
GOOD job you had Marty and Matt to help ,


Sláinte

[TheGingerBeardMan]

Whilst I hope CK makes a quick recovery, I can't help but suggest this was a result of a young rider, not a lot of experience riding on the right side, thumping down foreign roads, going a bit fast and entering a tunnel. The bike pulls over to the opposite side and as he's riding on "the wrong side", instinct kicks in, and the brain makes a mistake as to which side to pull back onto.

The top photo show the impact on the 4x4s right side. If the 4x4 was in it's correct lane (the right side), then that means CK crossed the road, and was between the wall on his left, and the oncoming 4x4, which he then smacked into. I'm sitting here shaking my head in disbelief that he actually survived this.

I've ridden countless thousands of miles on foreign roads over the years, and the amount of Brit riders that enter a corner on the "opposite side", and not know how to deal with it when approaching like the clappers, usually panic a bit and shoot into "their usual UK side".

Corners in tunnels just don't "tighten up without warning"! They are long (yes) but with good lighting. The description reads "he was caught out", and that points to speed and lack of concentration - a fatal combination on foreign roads.

People have commented here (tongue in cheek) "Buck eejit" and "nob". Yup, both. Big time. He's lucky he didn't kill himself or the person in the 4x4.

Whilst it's great to ride like a speed demon possessed and forget about the cares back in the UK, out in the sun with other bike mates...you have to remember - there are too many dead heroes in the cemetery.

I'm sorry to hear of the accident (it's never good to see someone down), but if I was riding with him, then the hospital would have him in yet, as they'd still be trying to remove my boot from his butt.



Y'all better stay alive, cos I don't do hospital visits, and I don't do funerals.

[NZSpokes]

Feck me he was lucky to get through that. All the best CK, heal quickly. See that I would not have expected a good outcome for the rider.

Dibs on the racks.

[mwkeats]

Ouch CK! Go buy a lottery ticket! I wouldn't be as hard on you as TGBM but I would say given the RHS circumstances, riding someone else's bike just adds to the risk. But, no matter how well lit tunnels are, they'll always seem dark after being out in brilliant sunshine. That's the excuse I'd use ;)

[Jamoi]

You lucky son of a witch! My heart was freakin' pounding while reading the start of that AP.

Hope you make a swift and full recovery CK & I hope everyone else can move on and enjoy the rest of the trip.

Well done AP, immy and the gang for getting him to safety. Spook must be gutted about his bike!

Most important thing is, you survived a potentially fatal collision. Glad you're still here bro.





Here for a good time, not a long time.

[alanfjones1411]

Glad to hear you are on the road to recovery. You are one lucky man. Heal quickly.

[agentpineapple]

I understand where you are coming from GBM, but I can assure you in this case the bend in the tunnel was not properly signed, and as it's been said, although the tunnel was well lit, coming from bright sunshine into the tunnel makes it difficult to see.
I think we had all become to trusting of the road signs, as they seem extremely accurate, but every now and then they aren't.
this accident has nothing to do with riding on the lhs/rhs, it's purely down to chris crossing the centre line whilst inside the tunnel, the driver of the pick up was the innocent party, he was in shock and can be seen in one of the pictures sitting on the curb, I would also point out, from the moment chris was receiving help from matt to the moment he was put into the ambulance, the driver of the pick up never took his eyes off of chris, he showed nothing but concern.
lets give chris some encouragement, as he has a painful recovery ahead of him, the last 4 days have been incredibly stressful for all of us, I will add that chris and Imogen took out what seemed to be a good travel insurance policy with a company called top dog.
they have been useless, steer well clear of them, for what it's worth if your planning on a biking holiday abroad, do your research and find a good company that will take care of you.
go to go now and get the silly sod into a taxi and off to the airport....

[Pete.L]

Feck me CK!
Don't even think about asking for a ride on the SP ever again!

Really glad you are still here to shout at. I guess you have gained a little more experience the hard way. Thank God, not fatally.

Safe trip home buddy

Pete.l

[StuartWags]

nasty

good to see you're okish

[Ckennedy]

Thanks for the replies guys. I asked marty to post this up as I can't remember the crash. I can't remember anything from entering the tunnel up till the day after.

What caused it is an educated guess to an extent. No doubt on some aspects of it but I have several thousand miles riding on the wrong side and up till now a few people will say that while being quick I'm generally safe. I won't make defence as I can't remember any of it.

A massive thank you to the group of lads around me for probably saving my life and being there as support for both me and my wife. Really shows what good friends can do and will do when required. Just sorry I put you all through it

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