We lost a friend Lgjohn

[Fencer]

My condolences to Lee's family

 

[whataboutbob]

My condolences to Lee's family

Damn it man,hate to hear this. my condolences to his family.Bob

 

[ftompa]

Lee was one of us.I feel I lost a friend. Pray for him and his family.

 

[cota95]

My condolences to Lee's family

 

[MrTwisty]

Damn, I hate to hear news like this.

God bless Lee's family

 

[dj bill]

rest in peace.

 

[lonerider]

With a heavy heart I must pass on the news that Lee (Lgjohn), passed away today.
Lee, Brian(AVGeek), Steve and I went for a ride to Death Valley. Lee and I wanted to hit Badwater and Dante's View, 2 places we didnt get to visit last week with the BMW guys.

We were on the road between Shashone and Badwater, about 25 miles from Shashone. I was in the lead with Lee a ways behind me. Brian and Steve had gotten stuck behind a car. Anyway, after I had gone through Jublee Pass and was coming down the other side I slowed to let everyone catch up. That's when I saw the cloud of dust come up from behind the rocks. I quickly turned around. By the time I got there Steve and Brian were off their bikes trying to help Lee. He was partially under the bike so Brian and I lifted it off him as gently as we could. At that time he was still breathing but unconcious. Several people stopped by to see if they could help. The biggest problem was that there was no cell service there.

Brian and Steve stayed with Lee and I headed back to Shoshone to phone for help. By the time I got to the gas station one of the people who had stopped to help us already had the local Sheriff on the line. I talked to the Sheriff and got them going to help Lee. On my way back to the scene I was passed by a Sheriff and CHP so I was hopeful that everything was going to be ok. By the time I got back to Jublee Pass Brian and Steve were performing CPR on Lee. For some reason he had stopped breathing. The two officers took over with Steve's assistance.

They called Flight for Life and the helicoptor came but after working on him for an hour they chose to stop.....

Brian and Steve both did a great job sticking by Lee and trying to help. Steve assisted in performing CPR for a long time after addtional help showed up. It was a great effort on their part.

The big question for us is trying to figure out what happened. I was ahead, Steve and Brian behind so no one actually saw him wreck. Our inital thought was that he came in too hot to the corner, it was a transition corner exiting a left and then going right, and swung too far left and got into the dirt. The strange thing is that there were no visibal skid marks. I guess we will never know for sure.

This was the third time I had ridden with Lee, the second time with Steve and a first for Brian. It was just a terrible day... Hopefully we will get in touch with his wife so we can pay our respects. I will keep this thread updated as long as necessary. I may post more details as I remember them but for me this is the first time I have lost a riding buddy. Too bad we had so few rides together....

Lee is survived by his wife and two children. Please send them your thoughts and prayers. RIP Lee.....

UPDATE:

To make the day totally complete from a horrible experience point of view another unexpected chain of events happened. Steve and I were talking last night and decided that we needed to get in touch with Lee's wife to tell the story and try to let her know he did not suffer. Steve found their address so we went over there about 8 pm to pay our respects.

As unbelieveable as it sounds, almost 8 hours after Lee passed, no one had told his family. Steve and I had the unfortunate task of doing so. It was another surreal event on top of a surreal day. Needless to say we spent the next few hours at his house while she called friends and family. It was a very hard thing to watch.

Directly experienceing the after effects of such a tragady is pretty unbelieveable. That's the only word I can come up with to explain it.

That's all I have for now. When I find out where the services are I will let everyone know, in case you want to send flowers or anything.

Thank you for everyone's support!!

My deepest condolences to Lee's wife and kids. I grieve for all that die in the pursuit of this way of life.

 

[BwanaDik]

Prayers and condolences to Lee's family. Tough to make it thru this, for all of us. Although I've never met Lee, we (wifey and I) feel like we've lost a member of the family. Tears and hugs go out to you.

Take care of your selves too, OK?

 

[extrememarine]

We will keep Lee & his family in our thoughts & prayers.

 

[What Next]

Sorry to hear this news Rest in peace fellow rider

 

[TestPilot]

Spyder, Brian and Steve, my heart is heavy, and I agree with what has been said about taking care of yourselves, and watching for the signs that you need to not just rely on your own coping mechanism. Well done on doing what you could. And guys, what a tough job telling Lee's wife.

When you have the opportunity to share the condolences with Lee's family, add ours as well. Even though we are a continent away, we are kindred souls, sharing the love of riding, but aware of the risks that accompany that love. Our wish is that they find peace, and our prayers reinforce that wish that they find peace. Our pesronal loss is small compared to theirs, and we uphold them gently before God.

David and Zea.

 

[FJRSTAR]

Prayers for his family and friends....RIP Lee.

As usual this kind of thing sucks in so many ways.

 

[Hotboot]

Sad to read these posts, prayers with the family and strength to the guys who had to endure this first hand.

 

[ctfjr]

Really sorry to read your post. My thoughts & prayers go out to his famnily. Especially terrible that you had to be the ones to break the news to the family.

 

[Dave in NJ]

May Lee Rest in Peace. Lee's family, Brian, Steve and spyder are in our prayers.

 

[wellsj]

My condolences to Lee's family and all that knew him as well. This is always terrible to read in so many ways.

 

[Foxhuntr]

Prayers and condolences to Lee's family and friends.

 

[cometman]

My condolences go out to his family. I am very sad to hear this.

 

[caryt]

Sorry to hear of Lee's passing, another member of our community lost, what a way to start the year. please ride with care!

 

[zip]

Tragic and terrifying. And it agains reminds me of the risk I take when riding, no matter how safe I think I'm being. I, too, cringe with these threads. But they are an important reminder of how much care we should take and the acknowledgement we must make around doing this. It's hard to fathom, and impossible to imagine the pain this family is living through.

To those noble gentlement riding with Lee at the time: I hope that you'll soon feel peace and comfort with knowing that you'd done your best.