Cdogman
Bad Boy
WE ARE OK.. My wife has a small bruise on her elbow, impact through armor.. gear probably saved her a broken elbow/arm. No road rash, no sore spots (except pride) Gear is toast, but that is its job
Yesterday I had a business meeting in Huntington Utah, Couple hours south of me. My wife took the day off to ride with me that day. I went through the bike the previous evening and did routine maintenance. The bike was five by five.
The plan consisted of basically slabbing it down, taking the meeting, and doing a leisurely ride back up "Huntington Canyon" Hwy 31 between Huntington Utah and Fairview. Having never been on that road I was expecting a nice ride and nice scenery.
The weather was ****** and we were ready for it. We had been at or mostly below the posted limit (yes, I do that sometimes). Meeting went well. I can see the entrance to Huntington Canyon from the meeting place and it looks like patches of Sunshine and torrential rain all the way up the side we can see. COOL! We had the gear and were not in a hurry. So we donned ALL of our gear.. I don't mean ATGATT, I mean ATGATT and ATRAINGEAR too.. We will be in downpour #1 (of this leg) in about 7-8 Minutes from the looks of things.. Locals said the pass is a wonderful ride and open
I tell wifey, Hey, we are just going to take it easy, She says, "That's Fine" (she says that a lot to me and I think it is a good thing)
About 4-5 miles the rain starts. Locals (at the crash scene) tell me the posted speed was 50, I was either at that or just below on a fairly straight section of road, slight right hand sweep to it. Something that even in the rain did not really register.. it was not even really a curve in a biker brain. Not at 45MPH anyway. This curve would take well into triple digits on a dry day
Then I change my gaze from ahead to down in front briefly as my eyes shift and alarms went off in my head.. Just as I started to think "That looks slippery" and was rolling off gradually.. Instead it went.
"That looks….. ****,, I just lost both ends of the bike….. we are going down.. where is my wife…. Ahh right next to me sliding… are we EVER going to stop sliding… **** I am glad I have gear on..GET UP…"
As we are going down I am waiting for my body to make a response.. It was slow motion because we were only going 45 or so-ish.. I had no response. I did not know how to pull it out.. I lost the front and the back simultaneously, I felt it happen.. I went "I don't have an input response for this..I don't know what the right answer is"
Kenra and I stopped sliding in the oncoming lane.. the bike stopped next to us in the correct lane. This road is medium busy,, and no one was coming at that instant.. Two oncoming vehicles saw our slide, but not the getoff. So by the time we had stopped, stood up, and looked around, we had three cars = 5 people coming to our aid.
Now, This road is a road that leads up to the coal Mines and a few other mines in the area..
The truck turning in the background is turning up the road to the mine.. This section of road is where the coal mining trucks are decelerating to make this turn.. They were coming at a rate of around 1 every 3-4 minutes.. So what is wrong with the road.. I know it was a slippery sunofabitch.. I am not a god on a bike by any means.. But I am crystal clear I did not **** up and just fall the hell off the bike.. By now,, the rain had stopped-ish..
Local Sheriff showed up in short order.. Called Troopers as it was their jurisdiction.. He measured from the bikes first touchdown.. to the stopping point.. 273 feet… We slid 273 feet… from a 45-ish MPH getoff.. Trooper was extremely cool.. and I was adamant ( and evidently convincing ) "I do haul *** at times officer.. I have squid in me.. but not this time.. Not even close.." He wrote the report as 45 in a 50 and oil on the road.. No fault, no citation
As another gully-washer comes overhead while waiting for the tow truck.. I am walking around.. trying to figure WTF happened.. then I look down as the rain hits harder right at the getoff point.. Sonofabitch!!!
That is a mixture (I am guessing here) of coal dust and oil from the big trucks braking for the turn up ahead over the years.. The stuff is BUBBLING up from below the asphalt as the rain saturates the road..
I tossed my sharpie down for perspective. You can see bubble above and left of the pen.. and just below the pen as this crap comes up out of the road..
I try to learn from everything on a bike.. good and bad.. I was running at 3/10ths, even for conditions (well give me a break for not knowing about the **** seeping up from the road) It was not "Just starting to rain" it had been raining on and off all day/week
The thing that gets me the most is.. I drew a blank when I felt both ends of the bike go away.. I had no response.. I am glad I was at or below posted.. Faster would have just made it worse..
If there is anything I could have done different.. to save that bike when it let go.. I would love input from those who have more experience.
A gallery of pics here.. Bike is a total loss…. I would be VERY surprised if the Ins co fixes it.. There is much wrong and it traded sides a couple times.. and went over the nose at least once Gallery https://picasaweb.google.com/CdogMan/June09Crash02#
Yesterday I had a business meeting in Huntington Utah, Couple hours south of me. My wife took the day off to ride with me that day. I went through the bike the previous evening and did routine maintenance. The bike was five by five.
The plan consisted of basically slabbing it down, taking the meeting, and doing a leisurely ride back up "Huntington Canyon" Hwy 31 between Huntington Utah and Fairview. Having never been on that road I was expecting a nice ride and nice scenery.
The weather was ****** and we were ready for it. We had been at or mostly below the posted limit (yes, I do that sometimes). Meeting went well. I can see the entrance to Huntington Canyon from the meeting place and it looks like patches of Sunshine and torrential rain all the way up the side we can see. COOL! We had the gear and were not in a hurry. So we donned ALL of our gear.. I don't mean ATGATT, I mean ATGATT and ATRAINGEAR too.. We will be in downpour #1 (of this leg) in about 7-8 Minutes from the looks of things.. Locals said the pass is a wonderful ride and open
I tell wifey, Hey, we are just going to take it easy, She says, "That's Fine" (she says that a lot to me and I think it is a good thing)
About 4-5 miles the rain starts. Locals (at the crash scene) tell me the posted speed was 50, I was either at that or just below on a fairly straight section of road, slight right hand sweep to it. Something that even in the rain did not really register.. it was not even really a curve in a biker brain. Not at 45MPH anyway. This curve would take well into triple digits on a dry day
Then I change my gaze from ahead to down in front briefly as my eyes shift and alarms went off in my head.. Just as I started to think "That looks slippery" and was rolling off gradually.. Instead it went.
"That looks….. ****,, I just lost both ends of the bike….. we are going down.. where is my wife…. Ahh right next to me sliding… are we EVER going to stop sliding… **** I am glad I have gear on..GET UP…"
As we are going down I am waiting for my body to make a response.. It was slow motion because we were only going 45 or so-ish.. I had no response. I did not know how to pull it out.. I lost the front and the back simultaneously, I felt it happen.. I went "I don't have an input response for this..I don't know what the right answer is"
Kenra and I stopped sliding in the oncoming lane.. the bike stopped next to us in the correct lane. This road is medium busy,, and no one was coming at that instant.. Two oncoming vehicles saw our slide, but not the getoff. So by the time we had stopped, stood up, and looked around, we had three cars = 5 people coming to our aid.
Now, This road is a road that leads up to the coal Mines and a few other mines in the area..
The truck turning in the background is turning up the road to the mine.. This section of road is where the coal mining trucks are decelerating to make this turn.. They were coming at a rate of around 1 every 3-4 minutes.. So what is wrong with the road.. I know it was a slippery sunofabitch.. I am not a god on a bike by any means.. But I am crystal clear I did not **** up and just fall the hell off the bike.. By now,, the rain had stopped-ish..
Local Sheriff showed up in short order.. Called Troopers as it was their jurisdiction.. He measured from the bikes first touchdown.. to the stopping point.. 273 feet… We slid 273 feet… from a 45-ish MPH getoff.. Trooper was extremely cool.. and I was adamant ( and evidently convincing ) "I do haul *** at times officer.. I have squid in me.. but not this time.. Not even close.." He wrote the report as 45 in a 50 and oil on the road.. No fault, no citation
As another gully-washer comes overhead while waiting for the tow truck.. I am walking around.. trying to figure WTF happened.. then I look down as the rain hits harder right at the getoff point.. Sonofabitch!!!
That is a mixture (I am guessing here) of coal dust and oil from the big trucks braking for the turn up ahead over the years.. The stuff is BUBBLING up from below the asphalt as the rain saturates the road..
I tossed my sharpie down for perspective. You can see bubble above and left of the pen.. and just below the pen as this crap comes up out of the road..
I try to learn from everything on a bike.. good and bad.. I was running at 3/10ths, even for conditions (well give me a break for not knowing about the **** seeping up from the road) It was not "Just starting to rain" it had been raining on and off all day/week
The thing that gets me the most is.. I drew a blank when I felt both ends of the bike go away.. I had no response.. I am glad I was at or below posted.. Faster would have just made it worse..
If there is anything I could have done different.. to save that bike when it let go.. I would love input from those who have more experience.
A gallery of pics here.. Bike is a total loss…. I would be VERY surprised if the Ins co fixes it.. There is much wrong and it traded sides a couple times.. and went over the nose at least once Gallery https://picasaweb.google.com/CdogMan/June09Crash02#
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