NorCal - 11/4 - Ice House - Wentworth - 193, Leisurely twisty ride with breaks....

At 1200 PM I split from the group @ Georgetown (skipping lunch) to go home & sleep before nightshift tonight. 2 miles west of Georgetown on Marshall Grade Road I was following an SUV and a little Red Kia. I was NOT going pass them by going over the double yellow line. They pulled to the right of the road and stopped, I rolled up to them at 5 mph and thought they were being nice and letting the motorcycle go by. Just as I eased on the throttle, going about 15 mph, the little red Kia turned left into a driveway and plowed into me. My Right side Bag hit the driver’s door, front fender and ripped off his front bumper.

I went down head first on my right side and my right knee now has a hemotoma (SP) so the knee is about 3 times the size of the left one. Also the chin strap pulled hard on my Adams apple so it hurts to swallow.

The guy that pulled over into me left the scene and went to Georgetown to call 911. I got a nice ambulance ride to Marshall Hospital in Placerville where they took very good care of me. LOTS of x-rays poking and prodding. Result was no broken bones, very minor road rash, just a messed up knee which is now wrapped in an ACE bandage and I'm wearing a immobilizer when I'm trying to move about my 3 story house with 15 stair steps.

That gear I had on saved my life - everyone please learn from my incident it is ATGATT.

Thanks all of you for a great ride today - loon lake was very pretty. Also thanks to those of you who took pics at the scene (even though I was en route to the hospital) and thanks to those of you who stopped by to say hello and offer assistance - what a great group. If you didn't come by the hospital please do not feel any guilt, I know the feeling and I do exactly the same thing - I just don't like hospitals a seeing someone who was fine a few hours ago AFU. Time for some painkillers, wine and bed.

BB III

Damn, BB! Glad you're mostly OK! It could have been a lot worse. I assume your knee is going to recover? And, tell us more about the gear you were wearing that you said saved your life.

Damn, BB, that's been some run of bad luck. Hopefully it's going to subside now. Glad to hear you're okay and able to still post. How's the bike? So now the score is one deer and one Kia? Dog will hunt!

Hey bikes can be replaced, bodies can't....glad your not seriously hurt....get well soon (but not sooner than the doctors says).....hope the bike survives too....Mike

This was my last picture of Bill as he left Georgetown and I went to eat pizza.



Then I heard of the incident and found this.



I was glad to find this: Bill alive, well and with a wound that will heal.



Take care Bill...I'll post a ride report once I get everything uploaded. Man my heart stopped for quite some time. All I was told was that an FJR went down on Marshall Road and on the way there I was so damn scared...I didn't know you were okay until the CHP Officer let me know you were gonna be fine. Seeing you conscious and not covered in blood was so good!

This past summer has been great and for riders in Northern California the Sierra are about to be shut down by snow. Pretty soon we won't see any recent reports from Monitor Pass, Carson Pass, Ebbets Pass, Sonora Pass, Ice House, Lassen, Downieville, Wentworth Springs road and many more. These roads will be covered in deep snow and we'd have to rely on someone with a 4x4, or snowmobile to cover these beautiful rides for us if we wanted to see them throughout the winter.

Wanting to give tribute to the changing of seasons, and wanting to meet up with some friends I scheduled a ride that would take us here (Starting point is Placerville, California for those from outside the area)



Highlights: Sly Park Road, Ice House Road, Loon Lake, Wentworth Springs Road, Georgetown, 193, some really nice guys and really nice bikes.

The weather a few days before the ride gave my ride more credence. We got rain down in Orangevale (Sacramento Area) that left snow in the higher climbs. Wind blew pine needles and leaves about and dew and fog covered the roads with wetness. Indeed, it is close the the time that these roads will be unaccessible for bikes.

The early morning meeting was fun for me. I got to talk to people with bikes that truly get my piqued interest. There was a late 90's R1100S that just seemed like a great bike to me. It is fast enough, handles well, and is lightweight and nimble compared to my FJR. I came to my FJR via BMW and I would love to have a naked or near naked opposed twin in my stable. There were Vstrom 1000's. There was a Honda CBR XX 1100 and there were a bunch-o-FJR's.

We had:

Kurt on his Strom

Steve with Cindy, Bluestreek (FJR)

Joe (beemerbum) on his R1100S

John (fast_far) on his FJR

Alan on his Strom (that has previously rode from Cabo San Lucas to Prudhoe Bay...WOW)

RenoJohn on his Strom

Barry on his Strom

Uberkul on his FJR

Bill BBIII (FJR)

me (FJR)

Rich (Exskibum) on his CBRXX Blackbird

is that it (I may edit this later :idea2 )

Here is everyone except me:



Rich



Kurth, Joe, Rich



Uberkul (brad) and Bluestreeks (Steve and Cindy)



Joe and his Beemer of beemerbum



Fast_far filling up



Bikes lined up and ready to go



More to follow...

Ominous warnings preceeded the ride. There had been two fatalities and a serious bike wreck recently on Wentworth Springs Road and that combined with wet roads inspired me to conduct a safety meeting. "Ride the "Pace". [[someone please provide a link for this if you have it handy.]], keep good distance, this is NOT A RACE, the ones that make it back safely win." I wanted to keep this ride as safe as I could and I lead the pace at nothing over 10mph over speed limit and usually 5. I went slowly around the wet turns laden with pine needles.

Bikes were right on my tail and in my blind spot. It was okay. I was going slowly, knew it was boring for those that wanted to sprint, knew I was holding some back, yet the conditions made me want to.

I lead the ride through Sly Park Road and up US 50 to Ice House. Then, the people that were following me closely made me want to pull over to get out of their way. I could tell they wanted their steeds to open their lungs in Ice House Road and as the trees there are all young, the roads were more dry. I pulled over to let them by, and also to adjust my fork rebound dampening as it was too sloppy.

I followed Joe up Ice House after that and he set a good pace. You can tell he's used to his oilhead and he rides it well. We came to the Ice House break area (Universal) and got some nice pics:

Some bike coming in and photograpers at work :rolleyes



Snow capped peaks in the distance



Notice the short trees...was this clear cut as I thought, or was it fire? I think I might have given Joe the wrong answer!



Bike and people shots:





Fast_Far taking pics













Well, everyone has to pee sometimes. I had to pee here...nice bathroom :funny



Here's the view from behind the toilet



I slay me.:whistle

If you look closely, you can see the remaining frost



I brought snacks



We then cooked up Ice House to Loon Lake. This was a nice ride and the road conditions were improving for the most part. Some of the ride was dry and some very wet. At times I think riders pushed the limits, but I was no longer leading so don't blame me :fly

We got to Loon Lake. This place is gorgeous.



It made us all happy as clowns :laugh



UberKul playing Astaire across the road



The group



Riders coming across the dam to join us





Fast Far telling stories



Strom in a suitable setting





I like this place







After Loon Lake we took off down Wentworth Springs Road. Fast_Far lives in Georgetown, which is at the other end of Wentworth and I followed him. He knows how to ride and he knows the road. For me, this meant a REALLY FUN RIDE down Wentworth :rad :hail :wink

We got to Georgetown and talked a bunch in the middle of the road (where parking is set up)







The Birthday Boy



I went and had pizza with Uber Kul. When we came out, I had to stop and take a picture of this for TC:



Here are some pics from Georgetown

4 wheels suck



Uber Kul with beemerbum



Bluestreeks, fast_far, exskibum



Then as we approached the bikes after lunch, the Bluestreeks and exskibum seemed in a hurry. Uber Kul and I came up and learned that some guys on beemers informed them of an FJR down on Marshall Road. I knew Bill was going that way and my first thought was of his health. I didn;t learn that he was okay until I got to the scene. Bill was gone, but the CHP officer let me know he was okay.

My last pic of Bill until later on:



What I found at the scene







Bike scractches





****



Glad to find Bill conscious, and relatively okay!!!



His helmet is done, his face and head are fine



The pants where he slammed his knee



Bluestreek surveys the scene





This was not a planned stop, but a necessary one







Ouch



I'm so glad Bill is okay...let me know if I can help!!

Notice his clean socks. Your Mom would be proud!!

Here ya go, Andrew, "The Pace" per your request:

https://www.fjrowners.ws/pace.html

Great pics and story telling, as usual. Thanks for organizing the ride, and you already know my thoughts on the need to post "The Pace" again.

On a completely different note, I'm glad Bill is not badly hurt (though that knee looks painful and he's bound to be sore tomorrow). I hope his bike isn't too badly hurt either (seems that it's probably about a half mile down the road from me right now). That helmet pic sure backs up his testimonial at the start of the thread. Full face helmet or extensive plastic surgery and dental work -- not much question in my book.

Get better BB. I am glad your injuries are too too bad. Listen to the Doctors! Dont try to over due it before your healed up!

O'Vale

Great ride report! :clapping:

I would like to do one sometime as well! Maybe this spring! :yahoo:

Dang Bill, I really hate to hear this, but sure am glad your doing ok as in alive! Thank God for the gear you were wearing! This seems to be the main theme around here lately when someone bites it is that the gear really worked! That chin strap was doing its job though and kept your helmet on as painful as it is now which saved your life. Just looking at that helmet makes me hurt and the knee could really have been worse. But guess thats easy for me to say uh? All I can really say is get well soon and if you need any assistance in any way bro, please, let me know. Your in our prayers...PM. <><

Good to see your gonna be fine BB...Keep the faith man...

Cheers

Thug said:

Good to see your gonna be fine BB...Keep the faith man...
Cheers

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+1

GalaxyBlue said:

I am glad your injuries are too too bad.

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Blue, that's brutal! What you got against BB? :lol:
"Hey, if a car comes around this corner quick enough, you guys can see how good my cool riding apparel works!"



Might wanna flip that helmet down there, pard.

Andrew, great report, as always. You need to go sign up at the new STN. You'd be a tremendous asset there as well. I think there might be another PGR mission soon, unfortunately. We could use one of your excellent reports from that part of our service as well. Leave the flag, bring the digericam. There'll be plenty of flags.

Sorry about the down there, Bill, but thanks for reminding us how careful we need to be. I sure hope no more of us get to play "crash test dummy" anytime soon.

Glad to see everyone had a good ride and made it back safely, except one minor casualty.

BB2 that incident could have been a lot worse, nice to hear the injuries were minor and you will be ready to ride in the spring after rehab.

As for the bike you may want to try out a new 07, the old will never be the same, and as far as the helmet now you will be able to get a new one and have a custom paint of your choice.

Andrew kudos for your pic taking. Where are you getting your instructions?

weekend rider

weekend rider said:

and as far as the helmet now you will be able to get a new one and have a custom paint of your choice.

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JMHO, but my next helmet will be non-snell for my tired old brain and all white, for safety's sake. Function over form. The FJR does both!

Weekend Rider...I get my instructions from little grey guys in big space ships.

BB2 is BBIII (three)

TC...get a strobe light for the top of your helmet. Great vis, and you'll turn traffic lights green

OrangevaleFJR said:

TC...get a strobe light for the top of your helmet. Great vis, and you'll turn traffic lights green

Click to expand...

And I'll turn on those red & blue ones on top of the cop cars as well. There is such a thing as too visible. :lol:

I think I need to spend some $$ and get more serious riding gear. Geesh guys. Good to hear no loss of life.. That knee will bother you though, forever. It's simply a fact of life.. BB, being a warrior you will have to pay some dues. By playing, we all owe. The amount of dues is really the only item negotiated. If I should get killed some day on any one of my bikes... then it's all good, I went out really loving my sport. For this instance, I'm so very glad you are OK... Take some time, heal up, do PT if needed, and go back to being a warrior and living life fully. Once again, very glad to hear you OK; sore, but healable... dcarver. should I post this?? yes.

Heal fast and I hope the Mrs doesn't go to hard on you.

I am going to ask the obvious question because as to how the police (chp ) reacted to the accident.

And that would be, did the chp site the at fault driver yet or is it still being investigated by them.

Just curious as to how they come to the conclusion as who was negilect in this incident..

From reading BBIII (got it rite this time Andrew ) report I think she should get ticketed.

BBIII you will be healed in no time and on the road again take care.

weekend rider