CRASHED! Daines Laguna Seca Pro Estiva... incredible
I just wanted to say, as far as safety goes, this suit is out of this world. Phenomenal.
I'm virtually unscathed after 90-100mph crash, through a 20' hardwood shrub/tree (didnt hit the main trunk, but tore off a whole bunch of branches thicker than my arm.
One of these branches caught me in the shoulder, broke my shoulder, but remember this is HARDWOOD, and at that speed, I feel like other suits would have had my arm ripped off.
The second amazing thing is, after smashing through the tree, sliding about 80 to 100 yards with the bike on top of my leg, I only have minor bruises on my leg, and the SUIT HARDLY LOOKS LIKE IT WAS CRASHED!!!! It has one quarter sized hole, and the metal shoulder plate is dinged bad, as well as the shoulder leather armor, but the sliding.... just looks a little bit roughed up... nothing a bit of cleaner/conditioner can't take care of.
I will never use any other suit other than Dainese.... But I'm not some kind of elitist.. I'm sure there are other brands that are also incredible.. just wanted to let you know how happy I am with my suit.
How it happened: Just realized I hadn't really explained how this happened. It was pretty much the classic "came into the corner too hot, went off the road, lost control etc etc crash" but with a twist. That particular corner is one I'm very familiar with, and I've gotten a bit silly more than a few times coming into it, but always been able to just extend a bit more lean out off the bike, tighten my line and keep going. And that's exactly what I started to do this time.. except the instant I started to try to lean lower, (and I guess I leaned forward more too) I felt this sharp intense pain in my right side just under my collarbone in my rib. My broken rib. Yep, that's right... I should not have been riding that night at all. About a week prior, I'd broken my rib while kitesurfing. (in case you don't know what kitesurfing is, here's a clip of me doing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dA-kuJkzVo&feature=plcp )
So I knew there was a relatively clear runoff at this corner (it was pitch dark, but I know the road) and I knew there was one tree there. I couldn't hold the line with the pain in my rib so I decided to try to just straighten up and slow down. Unfortunately as luck would have it, I was headed directly at the tree. These Ironwood trees get their name exactly as you'd imagine them to. They're unbelievably tough trees. I knew if I collided with the tree, I'd probably die. It's funny how instincts kick in during a situation like this. Time almost stands still as soon as you realize you might die.. I just remember knowing that my bike needed to hit the tree instead of me. It had to be my shield. Not really sure how I did it, but I ended up lowsiding before the tree and just trying to stay behind the bike.
A branch caught my shoulder, but the rest of me must have been protected by my bike I guess, unless it was just a lucky gap in the branches.
Either way, I slid with the bike another 100 yards or so, and stopped. My good friend Shawn was riding behind me when it happened. He shone his lights back up toward the road and pulled my bike off my leg. I stood up feeling dazed but lucky. There was a trail of branches all the way back to the tree that had been ripped off. It looked like a small plane had crashed there.
:dizzy
I just wanted to say, as far as safety goes, this suit is out of this world. Phenomenal.
I'm virtually unscathed after 90-100mph crash, through a 20' hardwood shrub/tree (didnt hit the main trunk, but tore off a whole bunch of branches thicker than my arm.
One of these branches caught me in the shoulder, broke my shoulder, but remember this is HARDWOOD, and at that speed, I feel like other suits would have had my arm ripped off.
The second amazing thing is, after smashing through the tree, sliding about 80 to 100 yards with the bike on top of my leg, I only have minor bruises on my leg, and the SUIT HARDLY LOOKS LIKE IT WAS CRASHED!!!! It has one quarter sized hole, and the metal shoulder plate is dinged bad, as well as the shoulder leather armor, but the sliding.... just looks a little bit roughed up... nothing a bit of cleaner/conditioner can't take care of.
I will never use any other suit other than Dainese.... But I'm not some kind of elitist.. I'm sure there are other brands that are also incredible.. just wanted to let you know how happy I am with my suit.
How it happened: Just realized I hadn't really explained how this happened. It was pretty much the classic "came into the corner too hot, went off the road, lost control etc etc crash" but with a twist. That particular corner is one I'm very familiar with, and I've gotten a bit silly more than a few times coming into it, but always been able to just extend a bit more lean out off the bike, tighten my line and keep going. And that's exactly what I started to do this time.. except the instant I started to try to lean lower, (and I guess I leaned forward more too) I felt this sharp intense pain in my right side just under my collarbone in my rib. My broken rib. Yep, that's right... I should not have been riding that night at all. About a week prior, I'd broken my rib while kitesurfing. (in case you don't know what kitesurfing is, here's a clip of me doing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dA-kuJkzVo&feature=plcp )
So I knew there was a relatively clear runoff at this corner (it was pitch dark, but I know the road) and I knew there was one tree there. I couldn't hold the line with the pain in my rib so I decided to try to just straighten up and slow down. Unfortunately as luck would have it, I was headed directly at the tree. These Ironwood trees get their name exactly as you'd imagine them to. They're unbelievably tough trees. I knew if I collided with the tree, I'd probably die. It's funny how instincts kick in during a situation like this. Time almost stands still as soon as you realize you might die.. I just remember knowing that my bike needed to hit the tree instead of me. It had to be my shield. Not really sure how I did it, but I ended up lowsiding before the tree and just trying to stay behind the bike.
A branch caught my shoulder, but the rest of me must have been protected by my bike I guess, unless it was just a lucky gap in the branches.
Either way, I slid with the bike another 100 yards or so, and stopped. My good friend Shawn was riding behind me when it happened. He shone his lights back up toward the road and pulled my bike off my leg. I stood up feeling dazed but lucky. There was a trail of branches all the way back to the tree that had been ripped off. It looked like a small plane had crashed there.
:dizzy