Nerobro
Forum Mentor
Well... I have a morbid story of sorts.
Today started off wonderfully. The weather wasn't bad, the sun was to our backs. The bikes all ran well. I must congratulate Joe Nardy on picking a wonderfull route.
I'm city folk, so the concept of curves is a little foriegn to me. The roads we were riding on were of the sort that keep your attention, but didn't require much in the words of downshifting.
The plan had 80 miles before lunch, and 80 miles after lunch. We gathered at the gas station at 10 am like planned. We got pictures of everyone and their bikes. We even got individual pictures of each person with their bike, so we'll finally have few pictures to match people to bikes.
We had Thirteen bikes with us this morning. It was a fun sight when we all backed the bikes up against the curb at a senic overlook in indiana. The next fourty miles were uneventfull. The line of bikes streching out as the fast guys made time, and the slow guys took their time. If it weren't for enjoying the curves so much I might have enjoyed the scenery ;-) What I did gather in was absolutely stunning.
We stopped for lunch at huckleberrys family resturant. Lunch was decent... about what you'd expect at a faimly joint. We got gas.. My bike was making some funny noises from the chain so I doused it in oil. After gathering gas we took off. Our ride deviated from the plan. And we went down a wonderfull set of roller coasters.
This led to a somewhat challenging set of twistys and hills combined. I was enjoying myself.. probally to much. I didn't notice the lack of riders behind me. I was with Joe, First Timer, and.... I can't remember the other few guys names. We got to a stop sign, and as per protocall we waited. And waited. Then.. a car came. And another car. There was no way more than one car got between us and the rest of the riders. We sent our brittish contingent back to check for the rest of the group.
Shortly thereafter, we decided to follow him. We returned to see two thirds of our group parked on the side of the road, and blender in the ditch by the side of the road.
Blender had been looking around. Between feeling pressure to go faster, and a moment of inattention. (I had taken off following the fast group...) He looked the wrong direction, and as we all know, bikes follow where you look. Before he knew it, he was at the edge of the road and had a decision to make, try to save the turn or ride the bike off the side of the road.
Short of having a nice wide runoff aera, blender lucked out and picked just about the best place to exit the road. The side of the road did drop off quickly, but it had 8" of soft thick grass. And beyond the grass, a cornfield. Blenders rode the bike off the side of the road, and tried to ride it out, but the slope was to great and the shoulder to soft to handle the weight of the bike, and the bike slid out from underneath him. The bike dug in, and he rolled over the top of the bike.
In his own words. "It was earth, sky, earth, sky, earth, sky, earth, sky." We kept him still, we made sure he didn't move. within minutes we had a first responder on scene. And within an hour blender was packed up and on his way to the hospital.
He was very lucky. The bike needs new bits on the front of the bike. But the bike is in amazingly good shape. As for Blender himself, he has a bruized knee. Beyond a superficial abrazion on his knee there was no bleeding. And... from what we see, there's just a little bit of bruising on his chest. It's not even as impressive as the welt on my arm from last sunday.
I pray we never have to deal with another incident like this on a ride again. But this is the "best" way it could have happened.
On another note... this is a guy who rode armor and helmetless up untill two months ago. I'm having him buy me lottery tickets tomorow.
Today started off wonderfully. The weather wasn't bad, the sun was to our backs. The bikes all ran well. I must congratulate Joe Nardy on picking a wonderfull route.
I'm city folk, so the concept of curves is a little foriegn to me. The roads we were riding on were of the sort that keep your attention, but didn't require much in the words of downshifting.
The plan had 80 miles before lunch, and 80 miles after lunch. We gathered at the gas station at 10 am like planned. We got pictures of everyone and their bikes. We even got individual pictures of each person with their bike, so we'll finally have few pictures to match people to bikes.
We had Thirteen bikes with us this morning. It was a fun sight when we all backed the bikes up against the curb at a senic overlook in indiana. The next fourty miles were uneventfull. The line of bikes streching out as the fast guys made time, and the slow guys took their time. If it weren't for enjoying the curves so much I might have enjoyed the scenery ;-) What I did gather in was absolutely stunning.
We stopped for lunch at huckleberrys family resturant. Lunch was decent... about what you'd expect at a faimly joint. We got gas.. My bike was making some funny noises from the chain so I doused it in oil. After gathering gas we took off. Our ride deviated from the plan. And we went down a wonderfull set of roller coasters.
This led to a somewhat challenging set of twistys and hills combined. I was enjoying myself.. probally to much. I didn't notice the lack of riders behind me. I was with Joe, First Timer, and.... I can't remember the other few guys names. We got to a stop sign, and as per protocall we waited. And waited. Then.. a car came. And another car. There was no way more than one car got between us and the rest of the riders. We sent our brittish contingent back to check for the rest of the group.
Shortly thereafter, we decided to follow him. We returned to see two thirds of our group parked on the side of the road, and blender in the ditch by the side of the road.
Blender had been looking around. Between feeling pressure to go faster, and a moment of inattention. (I had taken off following the fast group...) He looked the wrong direction, and as we all know, bikes follow where you look. Before he knew it, he was at the edge of the road and had a decision to make, try to save the turn or ride the bike off the side of the road.
Short of having a nice wide runoff aera, blender lucked out and picked just about the best place to exit the road. The side of the road did drop off quickly, but it had 8" of soft thick grass. And beyond the grass, a cornfield. Blenders rode the bike off the side of the road, and tried to ride it out, but the slope was to great and the shoulder to soft to handle the weight of the bike, and the bike slid out from underneath him. The bike dug in, and he rolled over the top of the bike.
In his own words. "It was earth, sky, earth, sky, earth, sky, earth, sky." We kept him still, we made sure he didn't move. within minutes we had a first responder on scene. And within an hour blender was packed up and on his way to the hospital.
He was very lucky. The bike needs new bits on the front of the bike. But the bike is in amazingly good shape. As for Blender himself, he has a bruized knee. Beyond a superficial abrazion on his knee there was no bleeding. And... from what we see, there's just a little bit of bruising on his chest. It's not even as impressive as the welt on my arm from last sunday.
I pray we never have to deal with another incident like this on a ride again. But this is the "best" way it could have happened.
On another note... this is a guy who rode armor and helmetless up untill two months ago. I'm having him buy me lottery tickets tomorow.
...........Before the incidents I felt that everybody was doing a fine job of riding and never would have predicted 2 crashes. Take care fellas, you both slipped one by the reaper. I got away with one of those a year ago, not a wreck but blew a stop sign which could have been fatal to me and friends. I cherish my freebie and will never forget it! 
