Crashing sux!!!!

WARNING! This post contains foul language and a hatred for old blue-hairs that have no business driving. If that offends you, oh well, don't read any further.

Well, it happened. Anytime we get on our bikes we know the risks involved, we know that there are 2 kinds of bikers, those that have been down and those that will go down. The crash is inevitable. I can't say that before this incident I'd never been down. Growing up on dirt bikes and getting into sport bikes before my hiatus to raise a family, I had tasted my share of dirt, mud, gravel, and pavement. Since my re-entry to riding in the spring of '08 I have been fortunate, a couple close calls, but no crashes. Last Friday morning, November 6th, at 9:06am that all came to a screeching halt....literally.

It was a beautiful November day, it was supposed to top out at around 75 degrees with little or no wind(a rarity in Kansas)so I figured I had better take advantage of one of the few wonderful days we'd have before the cold settled in. I had a general route in mind. Head east to Kansas City and check out highway 5, from rumors I've heard it's considered one of the twistiest, most challenging roads in the state. I've been wanting to ride this road for well over a year but never had the chance. Today was my chance, my wife just wanted to sleep in and relax, so I got up and headed out at 8am ready for a good 400 mile day.

About an hour east into my ride I was rolling though Seneca, Ks, doing the speed limit(35mph) minding my own business when a westbound Buick decided to turn right in front of me, no signal, nothing, just turned into my lane! It happened so fast there was no time for anything evasive, I grabbed a handful of brakes, thought "fuck, this is going to hurt" and then impact all within the span of about a second. I remember going over the handle bars, twisting a bit, and hitting the windshield squarely with the back of both shoulders and the back of my head. After that things got blurry for a couple seconds, I don't remember hitting the pavement, my last clear memory was hitting the windshield, then I was on my feet heading towards the car from about 20 or 30 feet away, I was pissed and I was ready kick somebody's ass. Then I saw the driver of the car getting out, an old blue haired bat of at least 80 years. Not wanting to go to jail for assaulting a senior citizen, I stopped in my tracks and the verbal assault ensued, I made sure to keep a good distance between us so there was no way she could say I physically threatened her. Me(screaming)- "You stupid fucking bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you!!
Her(stuttering)-"I didn't see you"
Me(still screaming)-"That's bullshit! You didn't look! Stupid fucking cunt! You shouldn't be driving!"
At this point, even though there was at least 20 feet between us and I was making no move to get closer to her, she took off running. I guess she thought I was going to kill her and she ran and hid in a bank near the scene until the police arrived. There was a couple sitting on their front porch having coffee and saw the whole thing, along with several other motorists that saw the accident all came over to make sure I was ok. They also waited for the police to get there so they could make a statement that I did nothing wrong and she was completely at fault. One of the witnesses was an EMT so she did a quick check to make sure I wasn't more seriously injured than I appeared. The willingness of the locals to stop and help a total stranger, a biker none the less, was awesome and very appreciated. The police responded very quickly and were at the scene in what seemed like just a few minutes. After taking pictures, statements, doing his report, and getting her insurance info, the cop came over and gave me his name, badge number, and phone number, and said, "if her insurance company gives you any shit, just have them call me, you did nothing wrong and she is completely at fault".

At this point a gentleman of probably 55 or so came up to me and asked where I was from and how I was getting home. I told him about an hour west of here and I have no idea how I'm getting home yet. He said, "I'll take you and your bike home, I used to ride, my dad still rides, and I have a motorcycle trailer, I'll go get it and be right back." I thanked him and he said, "It's the least I can do, that was my mother-in-law that hit you." Talk about irony!!

I'm relatively ok, stiff, sore, bruised up, but no bleeding and nothing broken. I am so thankful my wife decided to stay home! The cop that was on the scene looked at my bike, looked at her car, then looked at me and said, "That your bike?" I reply,"yup". As he's shaking his he says, "you've got to be one of the toughest SOB's I've met, you shouldn't be walking." I say, "not tough, today I'm one of luckiest SOB's alive." My guardian angel was definitely riding with me that day.

My Mean Streak got beat up pretty bad, although I don't think it's totaled. I've looked it over several times and I can't find any obvious frame, fork, or triple tree damage. All the tins are fubared, so new paint is definitely coming. So far the damage list includes, tins, mirrors, left side foot peg, left side motor mount, left side rear cylinder spark plug, and headlight are all I've found so far. I called her insurance company and they told me to take it the shop of my choice, so this week it goes back to the dealer I bought it from as they have a good mechanic and they had the custom paint done before I bought the bike. For now I feel very fortunate to have walked away from that, thankful that my wife was not with me, and thankful that I have another bike to ride while my Mean Streak gets a make-over.







While I'm at it I may as well put up some pics of my Nov. 1st ride. It was a beautiful Sunday morning so I was to meet up with another member of the Southern Cruisers for a nice 350 mile day trip. To make it to our meeting point on time I had to leave the house at 6:45am which led to this pic of sunrise on a back road in Kansas-

My trusty steed for this ride was my '07 Vulcan 900 Classic-

Our lunch stop was in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas. They have and awesome little cafe that has the best chicken fried steak I've ever had. The main drag in Cottonwood Falls-

Ride safe!!