OneSizeFitsAll
Wizard
On Sunday Sept. 16, I met Dustin (yes our resident bike whore Dustin) in Oregon along the Columbia river for dinner and route planning of next days ride to Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainer in Washington state. After a good meal and conversation we retired to our rooms with a 8am launch time Monday morning.
Dustin was all ready to go when I loaded up the FJR for a great day of riding. It was a cool morning but riding along the Columbia river is always scenic. Sorry for the large pictures, my photobucket is not very happy and won't let me resize.
Once we reached Carson, Wa. it was time to turn north toward Mt. St. Helens on Wind River Rd. Climbing up out of the river gorge was twisty and fun but soon straightened out in the forest.
Here's my beloved steed in full tour mode, owned the Feejeer for 8 years and was about to pass the 90k mile mark on this day.
About 30 miles up the road turned to gravel. Dustin said his GPS indicated we missed a turn a few miles back so I told Dustin to lead with his GPS and off we got to find our turn. I had been leading with speeds around 60-65 but Dustin was riding about 55-good thing because all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see a yearling in full speed less than a foot from the front of the bike. BAM I nailed that forest rat full on, it all happened is less than a second with no time to react. The bike's front end was washed out from the deer's momentum and both the bike and I went down on the left side. I remember every part of the crash in milliseconds -amazing how fast our brain can work.
After the initial impact I am sliding down the road feet first and thought I'd better go loose like a drunk. I know this helped reduce the injuries and at that point I did tumble a bit before coming to rest on the road.
If you look above the bike you can see my helmet and glove, this is where I stopped sliding on the road. As I stopped I remember seeing a huge cloud of dust from the front tire as it dragged along the edge of the pavement. By this time Dustin had seen the dust in his mirror and came back to assist me. I laid there a few minutes and could move toes and fingers so with his help I was on my feet. Thank you God!
At this point Dustin rode over the hill to see if we had cell reception and I hobbled around to take some pictures. This picture shows that it may have been best that I didn't have time to react as I may have caused the bike and me to slide into the rocks on the right- that would not have been very good for me.
Hunting without a license.
A self portrait, the look of adrenaline and sheer joy to be alive.
If you look close you can see the dent in the front rim on the right side. Both front and back had dents on the right sides of the rims but the bike only slid on it's left side so I must conclude these dents came from the impact with the forest rats bones-wow.
At this point Dustin returns but no cell signal when a couple from Canada (Cannucks are the nicest people) stopped and insisted on driving me to the nearest hospital. Dustin helped them load my gear into their pickup and he followed me into town. We stopped at a market to ask where the nearest medical clinic was when a cute off duty emt came out. She started to give me a check when the local ambulance and sheriff arrived. It was determined I was only bruised and sore but no broken bones or head injuries, just very sore ribs on my left side and swollen ankles. Thank God again! Plus I am sure the outcome would have been much worse with out my Kevlar ZIP together jacket and pants along with a Schubreth helmet, racer glovers and BMW boots. ATGATT folks-it will save you butt!
The Skamania County sheriff with Dustin following took me to a really nice lodge where they helped me to my room. Walking was really tough with two beat up ankles but I made it. At this point I was doing ok and needed to start making calls (the one to my wife was the hardest) to secure a way home.
I forgot to mention a guy on a BMW RT had come upon my wreck and followed us to town to be sure I was taken care of. He also offered to help in anyway so I contacted him later that day and he agreed to pick me up the next morning and run me by the towing yard to get a few things off the bike. He also gave me a ride to the Portland airport where I rented a car to haul all my stuff home. People are so good!
Here's my beloved steed showing the real damage from the impact and slide. I had to take a moment to thank Yamaha for such a great machine, it never failed me through 8 years, 10 states and almost 90k miles. It was sad to see it like this but I don't want it back.
Again I must say THANK YOU to Dustin. He was cool and calm when I needed it the most.
Dustin, you will always be a true friend! Oh ya, nice 919 you have too
I drove home Tuesday and after a long embrace with my loving wife I was very sore but so thankful to be where I was due to good quality gear and some help from above.
Dustin was all ready to go when I loaded up the FJR for a great day of riding. It was a cool morning but riding along the Columbia river is always scenic. Sorry for the large pictures, my photobucket is not very happy and won't let me resize.
Once we reached Carson, Wa. it was time to turn north toward Mt. St. Helens on Wind River Rd. Climbing up out of the river gorge was twisty and fun but soon straightened out in the forest.
Here's my beloved steed in full tour mode, owned the Feejeer for 8 years and was about to pass the 90k mile mark on this day.
About 30 miles up the road turned to gravel. Dustin said his GPS indicated we missed a turn a few miles back so I told Dustin to lead with his GPS and off we got to find our turn. I had been leading with speeds around 60-65 but Dustin was riding about 55-good thing because all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see a yearling in full speed less than a foot from the front of the bike. BAM I nailed that forest rat full on, it all happened is less than a second with no time to react. The bike's front end was washed out from the deer's momentum and both the bike and I went down on the left side. I remember every part of the crash in milliseconds -amazing how fast our brain can work.
After the initial impact I am sliding down the road feet first and thought I'd better go loose like a drunk. I know this helped reduce the injuries and at that point I did tumble a bit before coming to rest on the road.
If you look above the bike you can see my helmet and glove, this is where I stopped sliding on the road. As I stopped I remember seeing a huge cloud of dust from the front tire as it dragged along the edge of the pavement. By this time Dustin had seen the dust in his mirror and came back to assist me. I laid there a few minutes and could move toes and fingers so with his help I was on my feet. Thank you God!
At this point Dustin rode over the hill to see if we had cell reception and I hobbled around to take some pictures. This picture shows that it may have been best that I didn't have time to react as I may have caused the bike and me to slide into the rocks on the right- that would not have been very good for me.
Hunting without a license.
A self portrait, the look of adrenaline and sheer joy to be alive.
If you look close you can see the dent in the front rim on the right side. Both front and back had dents on the right sides of the rims but the bike only slid on it's left side so I must conclude these dents came from the impact with the forest rats bones-wow.
At this point Dustin returns but no cell signal when a couple from Canada (Cannucks are the nicest people) stopped and insisted on driving me to the nearest hospital. Dustin helped them load my gear into their pickup and he followed me into town. We stopped at a market to ask where the nearest medical clinic was when a cute off duty emt came out. She started to give me a check when the local ambulance and sheriff arrived. It was determined I was only bruised and sore but no broken bones or head injuries, just very sore ribs on my left side and swollen ankles. Thank God again! Plus I am sure the outcome would have been much worse with out my Kevlar ZIP together jacket and pants along with a Schubreth helmet, racer glovers and BMW boots. ATGATT folks-it will save you butt!
The Skamania County sheriff with Dustin following took me to a really nice lodge where they helped me to my room. Walking was really tough with two beat up ankles but I made it. At this point I was doing ok and needed to start making calls (the one to my wife was the hardest) to secure a way home.
I forgot to mention a guy on a BMW RT had come upon my wreck and followed us to town to be sure I was taken care of. He also offered to help in anyway so I contacted him later that day and he agreed to pick me up the next morning and run me by the towing yard to get a few things off the bike. He also gave me a ride to the Portland airport where I rented a car to haul all my stuff home. People are so good!
Here's my beloved steed showing the real damage from the impact and slide. I had to take a moment to thank Yamaha for such a great machine, it never failed me through 8 years, 10 states and almost 90k miles. It was sad to see it like this but I don't want it back.
Again I must say THANK YOU to Dustin. He was cool and calm when I needed it the most.
Dustin, you will always be a true friend! Oh ya, nice 919 you have too
I drove home Tuesday and after a long embrace with my loving wife I was very sore but so thankful to be where I was due to good quality gear and some help from above.
