A Member Looks at Racing.....Again!

[Matt Braley]

Thank you guys so much for the support. Prayer had a lot to do with it. I really thought I was in for much worse after the opinions of the first two Doctor's but I got the best possible news I could have hoped for.

Yeah I'm looking forward to more family water time. I have a bunch of cool skis to put together and we'll go play with Dolphins and whatnot.

Last year I had to run against the four stroke naturally aspirated skis. It was a six lap race on the same coarse and the leader never got close to coming around and lapping me in all three motos, even took third of five on one. This time it was only a five lap race and I was only three or four laps in when the leader ran through me before I knew what hit me.

In one of those weird oddities of life, that leader happened to be a little skinny blond girl from South Africa. She looked more like a high school cheer leader to me than a racer but she was sponsered by Rockstar energy drink and obviously very talented cause she was in front. Just wish she would have turned or let off or made that left around the buoy like my little GSX did. Her name was Chantra or something.

 

[Minnetonka4me]

That's really too bad man... So sad for your ski too! F'in bs you had to run with skis like that. Hope you heal up fast.

If you want to race x4s after you heal up I'll put you on a boat up here. Not only will you only race xps, but it's much more laid back and the bar/restaurant on site is pretty sweet too.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[manolocross]

Holy chit!!!! Matt I'm sorry to hear about what happened! That's terrible... Hope you heal fast... I can't believe they lined up an x4 with a supercharged ski and an idiot rider. Here's to a speedy recovery!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jhjesse]

Sorry to hear about your mishap Matt. I hope you have a speedy recovery and get back to enjoying ski time with friends and family.

Prayers!

 

[macedonia64]

Matt im really sorry to hear this. Even though its not the outcome you wanted I still think its awesome that you went out and gave it a shot. Your passion for the sport shows in all your posts. Did the race officials have anything to say about it afterwards? And most importantly do they make water proof casts these days?!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Tapatalk

 

[Minnetonka4me]

Yes casts are waterproof but itch like a mofo. The officials wouldn't say anything due to liability I would imagine

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[racerxxx]

Dang Matty, that blows bro. Would have been best had it never happened. Looks like the deck suffered some damage from your leg. Hang tough the bones will heal.

 

[Jetskigoodies]

That is a horrible way to start off the summer but it could have been much worse. Glad to hear you will be back in the saddle soon. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[blairwill4]

This whole thing sucks. Glad to hear that youre getting some decent news. I hope this isnt a size of whats to come for the days of the x4

 

[Matt Braley]

Thanks again guys for all the support. I love the kitten photo....left leg too.

I think X4's will be fine in future racing. Like Minne said it can be done right at a regional level. If enough show up to a national tour stop then they might get their own race.

I don't think Seadoo wants 18 year old skis out there blowing the new Spark away. I don't know if I would have been faster at all with all the four stroke performance improvements. There was a Spark in the pits being tuned via laptop so that was pretty cool. If you have a stock 717 you can ride with them. In hindsight that would have been a better way to go.

 

[Krispy]

Heal up man! I broke my leg a couple of years ago and it really sucked. At least you have a pretty badazz story to go along with the cast. Because there will be questions, lots of questions.

I commend you for going out and getting on the course. It takes some major courage. Do you have any pics of you and the ski before the race? I would have liked to see your racing helmet and all the goodies.

 

[skewba98z28]

Dude that sucks! Glad you okay! Could have been a lot worse!

 

[Rampage]

Very sorry to hear this Matt. As the promoter for the Hydro-X series I am kinda shocked that a X4 would be on the line with any 4 stroke ski.
I would have put you with the sport spec skis, or with the Sparks. Anyone looking to race region 7 please do not be afraid that you will be lined up with skis like that. If your class is short and we have to put you on the line with another class we will match you up with the ski's that are the next closest thing to yours.
I attached a couple of pics of how I lined them up at our championship last year. As you can see the x4 and sport spec are on the same line. made for some great and safe racing. I really hope you do not give up on racing, but I do understand. I made the same decision when it came to the new 80mph 1,000 lb race skis. So that being said I decided to go with the spark. Allot less dangerous and allot more fun.

 

[kicker]

Wow Matt, that is no way to get a "Sticky". ............Just Kidding.

Hope all goes well with the healing process. Wish you and your family all the best during these tough times, its always traumatic for family members to see another family member get hurt.

 

[Vindoo]

Thats a rough deal...

Hope you heal up soon.

 

[Matt Braley]

Yeah I'm doing OK. I feel like a character in the old Looney Tunes where they have there leg held up wrapped in white(lol). I'm getting ready to accomplish something, just anything. I've never been down before like this and I'm a "hand's on" guy.

I really like Rampage's approach and am bummed that I'm gonna miss his races this year cause I was looking forward to it.

 

[falklandsx]

Matt, really sorry to hear about your accident. I was in a bad dirt bike accident about 8 years ago which shattered the top of my left tibia. After a 13 hour surgery and 7 months in bed watching reruns of “how it’s made” and “rides,” and tons of physical therapy, I was finally back at work. I saw a couple of docs prior picking my surgeon… ended up going with the guy that handles the local major sports teams.

My advice - see as many docs as you can. I saw a couple of docs that wanted to scrap my knee completely and go with a replacement… would have been a huge mistake… Glad I found the surgeon I did. I was a bit refreshed when my surgeon told me he had no idea what to do with my knee, but was confident he could figure it out.

All these years later, I treat the bike I was on (2000 wr400f) with a tremendous amount of respect—she is a wonderful machine, and I’ll never question whether or not she can get me out of a bind. I will NEVER get rid of her, as she is a constant reminder of how dangerous the sport can be. To be clear, I’m not a motocross rider, I ride trails (love technical single-track riding,) but the stakes are as high as MX… if you screw up, it can be a 500’ drop off of a sheer cliff… e.g. death. It’s easy to underestimate the stakes when you’re looking at gorgeous country where the nearest human is 75 miles away…. Absolutely serene.

Now, full disclosure, when my accident happened, I had a couple of buddies over helping me put an epoxy coating on my garage floor. We had a couple of beers, and even though it was only a couple, I had no business being on ANY machine of that caliber… you don’t get in an f1 car after a beer…

Bottom line, get back on that wonderful beast as soon as soon as your body is ready, and realize that she is capable of taking your life. It will be a wonderful relationship. Seeing parts of the world that will never be seen by the rest of humanity (speaking in terms of trail riding/racing) is a powerful thing. I can imagine PWC racing is the same.

I wish you the best, and sincerely hope that you heal soon. BTW – if you need some good TV to watch, ping me and I’ll send you a hard drive.

Cheers,

Ben

 

[Matt Braley]

Thanks man. Luckily my leg is not as bad as yours. I like the "How It's Made" shows. There is a pwc one that features the building of an XPL by the way.

My Wife and I like the "Restaurant Impossible" and Chopped" programs as well.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Oh man ! What a serious bummer...

I leave for 10 days, see the sticky and got excited because I was thinking of heading to Mt Dora next weekend, just hadn't realized it was coming up so close !

Hope you heal up sir, I've broken my leg a couple of times and its no fun at all. Its hard for a wife to see that kind of thing as well, I know mine would freak out !

Keep in touch with me for some rec riding when you heal up, the local boys have been talking to me about road trips up towards the panhandle, miami, and orlando just to get away from the same old ride spots so when we settle on something that's up north, i'll be in touch. Rest up !

 

[Matt Braley]

That sounds great Spim. I think Dennis may race his 951HX over there. I was gonna but now I'll look forward to that rec riding.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

hey.. and trust me, things could have been a LOT worse, if you heal up you'll have nothing more than a memory of it and no lasting trauma. Something like this could have easily ended up with long term disability and serious financial hardships.

I know its hard to think of it this way right now but consider yourself very lucky.

And in a couple of years we can always get you into a big couch and you can try Aqua X !

edit: nevermind, pretty easy to get banged up on that too.

Lets just explore some rivers at half throttle

 

[eddie708]

sorry to hear that, wishing you the best and a fast recovery.

 

[Matt Braley]

One thing I need to make good on is pics of my old Seadoo brand accessories. I pulled some stuff out to show off. I'm feeling noticeably better and am looking forward to a good weekend of starting to hop around a bit.

 

[racerxxx]

Matt, in that first pic does that jacket have a neck roll? I have that same jacket, before I got my pull over which is similar to your pull over but black and yellow. Just to funny.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

 

[Matt Braley]

Yes it does. This one is kid sized but I would rock it if it were a large. Pretty sure that's from around 94