Let's have an adventure

grab a soda this is kinda long...
My buddy (Aarron, rides an 06 Triumph Thruxton, red) and I went to the AMA Finals at Laguna Seca on the 27th, and enjoyed every last second with Flagroom passes. it was our yearly (second annual) pilgrimmage to the races, that is followed by a trip up the coast and down (east on) the 36. On Monday morning we blazed off early to get a head start, last year we didn't get to our waypoint until 11pm, so this year we were all about avoiding last years mistakes. our route took us up the 101 to the 20(West) to the 1, the 1 then turns back to the 101,and then through the lost coast (mattole rd). we were doing pretty good until we were a couple of miles away from Fortuna we realized we had gone to far and missed our exit. at this point we two geniuses pull off and consult the 2D (Paper Map) Digital (finger pointing) Navigation system, and bounced it off the super vague Garmin Zumo, to get position fix (lost), and determine the lost coast is so aptly named for due to the difficulty in finding it's road. once we figure out where we need to go, we question wether or not to go or call it a night. Aarron wanted to see about getting a sunset picture on the beach, and said "let's have an adventure..." with 4:45pm on the clock. So we hastily speed south on the 101 and found our exit, working methodically (but sane) to make up lost time on the Goat trail called the lost coast hwy. an a$$hat in a tundra ate 20 minutes of our time by not pulling over to let faster traffic by, but we were soon on our way. Now when I said gaot trail I wasn't joking. The raod is in a constant state of (dis)repair by a (inept) team of workers who like to make patches to the asphalt using nothing more than shovel to mound the patch in such a way as to make parking lot speed bump designers envious of the peak altitude of the patch. did I mention this road was a goat trail? I am really surprised I didn't have tons of parts just vibrate off the bike, or the steering head shear off from catastrophic structural failure... about 45 minutes into the ride I notice the fuel state, which didn't look good, so we stopped at the first (only?) gas station we saw. luckily the Owner had a heart, because he opened his pump even though he closed at 5:30pm (it was about 6:20ish) and rang me up for 13 dollars and 34 cents, because that was the only cash we had on us (strictly a cash operation out there...). once fuled up and daylight pretty much gone we continued our journey on Mattole Rd towards Fortuna, banjo's playing softly in the distance. after a while we stopped and switched over to the heavier gloves and bundled up for the cold, and agreed that we needed to take it easy to ensure we didn't run out of gas. we headed off again and about 15 minutes after that stop I notice there isn't any headlight behind me. crap, now what is he taking pictures of? I waited some more figuring his aging bladder got the best of him. Still nothing so I headed back figuring as soon as I got around the bend he would come riding by like usual. What's this!? the poser playing a joke staging a crash on me?!? oh wait, there's his clutch lever on the road, at the beginning of the gouges in the asphalt..... Honestly the way he was laying on/near the bike it looked like he was hugging it, and at first I thought he was playing a joke. I strip off the gloves and helmet, and dig out the most important peice of gear I have for this situation: a bad a$$ flashlight (SureFire-same as cops use under their guns, bright as hell!) I really didn't want to get either of us run over. I start to bend down to assess Aarron when I nearly jump out of my skin- apparently Bambi, AKA bike wrecker, decides it time to get up and go. it didn't get very far with its injuries, collapsing at the fence line. I asked what hurt, getting a broken L hand and damaged L knee. Helmet has light gouging consistent with a slide, no flat spots. Mobility is not an option, we need help. the bike was on it's left so I got a pretty clear picture of what happened. what I didn't know was Bambi went linebacker and actually hit the bike, knocking Aarron off! Aarron was wearing Kangaroo leather gloves, a Vanson jacket, Icon recon pants, and A-stars race boots, so he was protected, but pavement and bones never mix well. about this time a flood of thoughts pour through my brain; how do we get him out? how do I get help? how do we get the bike home, over 500 miles away? should I go for help? where's lassie when you need her? about that time I hear a car in the distance and the flash light earns it's keep- they hit the brakes soon as the light poited at them, a 1/2 mile away. It was lady that seemed local, and she said she would go call the FD on a landline. while we waited for help to arrive Aarron had me take pics of bambi for the Insurance co. It was his first motorcycle wreck ever, and he didn't want problems with his claim. Ole bambi was pretty tore up, gashes on it's head, ear, and right back leg snapped high on the thigh. later on we came to the conclusion that bambi hit the back of the front wheel, and was rolled under the bike when it went down on it's side. Oh, and Bambi was tiny. like 30-50lbs tiny, CHP called it a black tailed coastal deer or something...
anywho, it took a little for the cavalry to arrive, being all volunteer, but they were good- question number four was wether or not they needed to call off the helicopter that was spooling up!(no thankyou...) Even the local doctor arrived to make sure things were done right. it took awhile for the Ambulance to show up from Fortuna (they bagged a deer on the way to us as well), but by the time they got in he was bundled up and ready to go. CHP arrived shortly after, and called for a flat bed. we waited for about an hour for him, and BS the whole time on the side of the road. When the Tow truck arrived ($750 tab...) I suited up so I could follow CHP to the Hospital. he said "stay behind me, i'll brake if there's something to brake for". there we went down and up this bumpy goat trail, at night, with deer lurking about, at around 60mph. CHP had both of his spot lights going looking for deer and scanning the road, and apparently keeping up with him meant go faster because that's what he did. I went into to several switchbacks blind because mist was building upon my face shield, and his brakelight would blind me. I knew if I kept between the red blobs and felt out the road I would be ok, so that's what I did! when we got back to the 101 he went warp speed and I followed; I wonder what all those cars thought of a motorcycle chasing a CHP cruiser at 100mph?......
Once at the Hopspital I was able to call Aarron's worried wife, and get the news out. I was able to send her text messages at the scene but she kept trying to call back, and was draining my battery. Listen close; if you don't have bars, but you do have service, Text messages take less energy to get out and receive and also will be more succesful! Aarron had fractured the bone that connects the thumb to the palm/wrist, a "bennett" fracture the Doc said, and it would require surgery. they splinted his hand/wrist, cleaned and bandaged his knee and sent us on our merry way. Luckly the very nice Fortuna P.D. took pitty on us and gave him a ride to the motel. He didn't get all the way home until wednesday, where his doctor told him he fractured his right thumb too, but wouldn't need surgery on that for it. He goes under the knife until the 7th, and they won't worry about his knee until after the surgery.
Moral of this story; slap the crap out your friend if he says he wants to go on an adventure, and then make him knock on wood. we could not have been farther away from home then we were, and we got lucky it wasn't worse. we were fortunate the locals were freindly and on top of their game.

oh, and the bike looks like it's salvageable. we'll see...

Sorry if it was long, just wanted you to see the adventure from my point of view...

 

Oh, I just wanted to convey that both Aarron and I are accomplished riders, and MSF instructors- and that the unexpected can happen to anyone! Wear your gear, ride with freinds, have a plan in place just in case.

 

Quite the adventure is right. Glad it all worked out an your friend will heal!

 

Wow, glad you guys are alright. Welcome to Northern CA, it's deer dodging season as soon as temps get cooler.

 

Why can't we get them deer to take the course too?

 

glad you guys are alright, stories that involve a downed rider are never something I look forward to reading but you gave a detailed excellent account of the situation.

 

It's frustrating. I like to think that if bears can learn to open coolers and campers in Yosemite, deer could learn to look both ways before crossing.

 

WOW That was an adventure. Yay for the volunteers. Glad you had some cool cops to work with(see not all of them are asses).
Good luck and speedy recovery to your friend.
Helps reinforce the need to be prepared for ANYTHING on our 2 wheeled adventures.

 

Crazy!! That was one crazy adventure and definately one for the grandkids someday. Glad everyone came out ok. Deer and bikes don't mix, but obviously they can't always be avoided.

That is funny!!

Vs

 

BTW. When the sign says "Deer X-ing" What is X-ing? Is it some sort of mating ritual?

Don't laugh. My first wife actually asked me that question...and she was serious.

 

I haven't been on the forums as much as some, but I try to scan through and pick up what I can. It certainly would have been nice to have had some intel on the route!