9:00 a.m., 07.02.05
Dirty big motorcycle crash

I can't believe my luck.

I'm coming round the hard left hand turn at the Mt. Defiance lookout on the Great Ocean Road heading back towards Lorne (a fantastic 600k's of weekend riding behind me). I'm running wideish in my lane and underestimate the curve on the blind corner. Coming the other way is a tour bus, which is taking up every inch of margin for error.

Somehow I dip in harder to miss the nasty looking square front of the bus, but there's no avoiding it altogether. Panic takes over, the bike comes back up to vertical and I slam into the side of the bus.

The next bit is a bit hazy, but I hit the road on my right side, bike on top, and go for a bit of a slide with my foot jammed underneath.

The bus driver was crying when he got out, and his load of japanese tourists took the oportunity to get snapshots while I yanked the bike off myself and started checking my damage.

Far as I can tell, it's:
1) Slightly grazed elbow (thanks, dirty big leather jacket)
2) Shallow cut in front of knee (thanks, motodry cordura/kevlar "gay fisher" pants which are now torn to bits)
3) Badly sprained ankle and compressed foot (thanks to my rossi boots that it's not an amputation case)

I'll be crutching around pretty sore and sorry for a couple weeks. The bike will need new cables and levers on the right hand side (plus maybe some other bits, haven't given it a good look) - and it's no longer going to be its sexy shiny self... But my god i feel like the luckiest bastard on the road today to have come out alive and with such minor damage.

Here's the weirdest thing - I might have gone into that corner quicker if a mate of mine didn't pop into my head a few seconds beforehand. His name was Andrew Jackson and he died on a bike about 15 years ago. I hadn't thought of him for years and years.

That shit is freaky. Thanks Jacko...

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