I was having a blast, right up to the point of impact....

Back on April 8, 2006, I had my first serious street accident on a motorcycle. Bottom line, I shattered my right leg, both bones, and am still unable to walk without a leg brace or crutches. I've had two surgeries so far, the initial repair on the day of the accident that put 2 steel plates and 23 screws into my leg, and a bone graft in August due to non-healing fractures. You can read all about my recovery at mybrokenleg.com/mark_w2

But guess what? I can't wait to get back on a bike. Some people say I'm crazy, but it's in my blood; it's my passion. People who are passionate about an activity do not give it up after an injury. Ask anyone who's really into something dangerous like mountain climbing, mountain biking, skydiving, skiing, etc. if he/she would quit after an injury suffered while participating in that activity. The majority of those people would say "absolutely not". That's what being passionate about something means - dangerous or not, it's what exhilarates the soul. Give it up and you've lost a big source of joy in your life. I'm not ready to do that. Almost every avid motorcyclist I know has had some sort of injury along the way, but riding is still a huge part of each one's life. I don't think I'll quit riding until I'm permanently physically unable to get on a bike.

Why am I here?

Well, in short, I am a fanatic about motorcycles, especially Italian sport bikes. This becomes quite clear when you walk into my garage and see 7 motorcycles, 6 of them Italian. My current collection includes: 1997 Suzuki RF900R, 1997 Bimota 500 V-Due, 1998 Ducati 748, 1999 Bimota DB4, 2000 Aprilia RSV Mille-R, 2004 MV Agusta F4 Brutale, and 2005 Benelli Tornado 900 Tre (I waited 4 years for this one!). It seems that I can't ever part with a bike, I just add to my collection.

I love riding on the street, on the track, and in the dirt. I raced with AFM from 2001 through 2005, then had to take this year off due to an injury (see my next blog entry). In May, I sold my race bike, a 2000 Suzuki SV650, as I knew I wouldn't be racing for at least another year, and a friend just had his race bike stolen. The timing was perfect for me to help him out. I also sold my old dirt bike, a 1993 Honda XR200R, to a kid in the neighborhood. I figure when I'm ready to start dirt-riding again it will be time to buy a new state-of-the-art dirt bike, like a Honda CRF250X or a maybe one of the new Aprilia V-twin dirt bikes that are coming out (there's that Italian thing again).

I also usually go on a motorcycle trip in Europe every summer, with Edelweiss Bike Travel out of Austria. I've gone on five of these trips, each one highlighted by attending a MotoGP race. I've been to the races at LeMans, Catalunya (twice), Jerez, and Brno. Riding in Europe ROCKS! I was scheduled to go to Mugello last summer but again the injury kept me from going. Grrrrrr......