Either way, you stand to learn important skills that could come in awfully handy one day on the street. The third lesson is to wear proper protective equipment. When I low-sided, I landed square on my hip. Then when I went over the handlebars, I landed on the side of my face, my shoulder, my elbow, my kidney, my hip, my knee and twisted my ankle. It doesn't seem like much of a coincidence, therefore, that many serious riders wear a full-face helmet, tall boots with ankle support, a kidney belt plus padding on their knees, hips, elbows and shoulders.
Racers take it one step further by wearing a spine protector.
And back to the full-face helmet. The Hurt Report, regarded as the premier study on motorcycle accidents, noted that a high percentage of strikes to the head occur just left or right of the chin. Each helmet worn in Calvin's three career crashes incurred damage on the chin and visor. Finally, use the upcoming winter months to read up. Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist books are well respected.