Another blast from the past!

[Fastlikehell]

Frits van Straten from the Netherlands here, that is Frits with s on the end, not a z, because that is the German version. Had quite a lot of motorcycles, but at present I'm down to two. A BMW K1, and a Bimota YB8.
in the past years I retired from working, became grandfather of a grandson and a granddaughter (7 and 3).
Now I have enough time to ride my bike, but covid keeps me home.
Hope to contribute to the site and look forward to connecting with many of the old gang as well as new friends.

kind regards,
Frits

[Capnrip]

Glad you found us! Congratulations on retirement and looking forward to your contributions.

[Kneedragger]

Welcome, Frits... I'm glad to see you here!!

[cabnfvr]

Welcome Frits !!!

[cjs350]

Nice to hear from you Frits. Great news on the Grandkids! Hopefully as the vaccine becomes more available the world will return to some sense of normalcy and we can all put more miles on the bikes and get to ride with old friends!

[EricM]

Welcome to the new nut house Frits!

[aviator]

Welcome Frits. Glad you found us.
You know we need you to take a covid test before joining here, right?
Ha ha JK!

[955i]

A hearty welcome from Oklahoma, Frits!

[Pete_Tallahassee]

Howdy Frits, Glad you found us.

[justjoe]

Welcome, Frits!

[Victory]

Big welcome Frits

[cabnfvr]

Frits van Straten from the Netherlands here,....

Frits, is this you and the Misses?

[Fastlikehell]

Frits, is this you and the Misses?

Yup, that was during the visit to Bryson City where we met many of the usual suspects.

[Fastlikehell]

It has been a very long time since I posted/participated , but I do have an explanation.

First: everything is fine. Now it is - but it has been quite a ride over the past years. A couple of years ago I was painting the woodwork on my house - being a cheapskate and not willing to fork out a lot of money for a professional. Long story short: standing on a scaffold I decided to go a little bit higher and add added a stepladder to the scaffold. Recipe for disaster, I know. The disaster happened and I fell some 20feet on a concrete floor. I have had motorcycles all my life, had some minor accidents, never broke a bone. Now this fall was different. Broke 6 ribs, one in two places, my shoulder, cheekbone and eye socket. That's 10 in one go. Well my wife and neighbour got into gear and within 10 minutes there were an ambulance, two policemen on motorcycles and a helicopter with an emergency surgeon on my driveway (the chopper was on the nearby soccer pitch). Went to hospital and learned the use of many different painkillers. Because I fell on my left side all fillings in my upper and lower jaw on the left side had to be replaced.
Lived through it and got on with my life. Eight months later i was diagnosed with cancer in the large intestine. Had surgery where about two thirds of my large intestine were removed. Lucky me: I didn't need chemo or radiation. Took some time to get into gear again. I found it is the fastest way to loose some weight - some 6 to 7 pounds in a couple of hours, but I do advise against it: if you can avoid surgery, just use Ozempic or start weightlifting.
Everything got quiet for some time, but alas: it became clear that I needed bypass surgery. It happened in covid time, so there were some difficulties in scheduling surgery - all IC beds were taken by covid patients. Because there was some room in Germany I went to a specialised heart clinic and had a bypass there. As most people (men) underestimated the severity of the surgery (I did too), I had a hard time afterwards. As if I had been hit by an 18 wheeler...
That was two years ago, and now I've bought an other motorcycle, a BMW R1150R. I still have my BMW K1, but to be honest it is becoming very heavy and it was never a bike to throw from left to right. Narrow handlebar, heavy, me being 72 now, you know know it adds up, hence the R.

Hope I haven't frightened you, and as I said: everything is fine now.
I'll post some pictures in the near future!

Regards, Frits van Straten, aka fastlikehell

[allikanbe]

I'm glad there was a good ending to all that misery. Ladders are probably the worst thing invented for men. Be safe riding.

[EricM]

Good to see you back here and glad things turned fore the better.

[Susan]

Dang, I guess rainy days don't bother you! That was quite alot to go through for you and your family. It is so good to see you here posting up. Mebbe post a pic of the new bike!

[Pete_Tallahassee]

Damn Frits, That's quite a story. Glad to see you've come out the other end and have purchased another motorcycle. I'll be 76 in another month so I know how that healing thing goes. Nice hearing from you!