Gramps
Well-known member
Some of you may remember him from our little get together back in May when we went to SW Wisconsin. He was the big guy on the Road King....he told me after that day that riding with a bunch of ST bikes, and trying to keep up, was the most fun he'd ever had. Here's briefly what happened:
Mark, my close friend & riding partner & I headed to Colorado for our annual summer trip.
We left Denver on Saturday, June 28 around 11AM & made it to a ski lodge for the night near the summit of Monarch pass on Hwy. 50...we had a great first day. The next day we got an early start & made our way west to Blue Mesa Reservoir then headed south on State Hwy. 149 to South Fork to Hwy. 160, turned west for Durango. About 20 miles on 149 we reached the summit of Wolf Creek Pass & began our descent. We were about 1/2 mile from the summit when a deer came across the 2 lanes of oncoming traffic, which neither of us saw, on a flat out run. The deer brushed the back of my bike & I immediately looked in my right rear view mirror to make sure Mark, on his Road King, had also stayed clear. He didn't, he hit the deer broadside doing about 60 mph. His bike flipped & he came off hard impacting the back of his head on the pavement. He chose not to wear a helmet. I believe the the reason he didn't see it is because he wasn't looking ahead, he was changing lanes & looking back to check his blind spot. It is a 4 lane highway & I was in the lane closet to the center line at the time & Mark was about 20 yards behind me moving into the right lane when he hit the deer. He was choppered out to Farmington, NM where he underwent surgery to relieve the building pressure of his swelling brain. He never did regain consciousness & was pronounced brain dead on Wed. July 2nd. I was with him at his side till then along with his family. I was sent this article , the accident happened on Sunday the 29th not Saturday.
I shot this video the morning before the accident go up & over Monarch Pass. (make sure to view it in high quality)
It's been a sad couple of weeks but things are slowly getting better.
Wear those helmets people, they can make a difference.
Mark, my close friend & riding partner & I headed to Colorado for our annual summer trip.
We left Denver on Saturday, June 28 around 11AM & made it to a ski lodge for the night near the summit of Monarch pass on Hwy. 50...we had a great first day. The next day we got an early start & made our way west to Blue Mesa Reservoir then headed south on State Hwy. 149 to South Fork to Hwy. 160, turned west for Durango. About 20 miles on 149 we reached the summit of Wolf Creek Pass & began our descent. We were about 1/2 mile from the summit when a deer came across the 2 lanes of oncoming traffic, which neither of us saw, on a flat out run. The deer brushed the back of my bike & I immediately looked in my right rear view mirror to make sure Mark, on his Road King, had also stayed clear. He didn't, he hit the deer broadside doing about 60 mph. His bike flipped & he came off hard impacting the back of his head on the pavement. He chose not to wear a helmet. I believe the the reason he didn't see it is because he wasn't looking ahead, he was changing lanes & looking back to check his blind spot. It is a 4 lane highway & I was in the lane closet to the center line at the time & Mark was about 20 yards behind me moving into the right lane when he hit the deer. He was choppered out to Farmington, NM where he underwent surgery to relieve the building pressure of his swelling brain. He never did regain consciousness & was pronounced brain dead on Wed. July 2nd. I was with him at his side till then along with his family. I was sent this article , the accident happened on Sunday the 29th not Saturday.
I shot this video the morning before the accident go up & over Monarch Pass. (make sure to view it in high quality)
It's been a sad couple of weeks but things are slowly getting better.
Wear those helmets people, they can make a difference.
A truly regretable and sobering incident. It is a reminder of how fragile is this thing we have called life. Enjoy it today...and tomorrow if you have tomorrow.
