As we got off the main highway, I could sense that we were going south on some out back road that was going to give me a taste for what the day had in store for us. I was right. As I crossed over the bride being 500 feet from the start of the road, I remember telling myself, "hang on, here we go."
Holy Crap! Blind turns, dips, open fields, roads covered by tree tops, creating like tunnels. It had it all. We saw all type of street warning signs. Especially turns that said 15 MPH. For the record, I hate those simply because I can not find the right groove to hit them with some speed. Image these turns at 90 degrees like you are taking a right hand turn from a stop sign at an intersection except now you downshifting and breaking to avoid flying off the road. To make matter worse, sometimes you can't see through the turn to see if any oncoming traffic was coming so there was no room for error. More on this later.
After about 20 miles of riding through the roller coaster country, we came to
The three of us got to the starting point, as the first group was just ready to head out. I figured that was OK since the first group was the speed demons from hell. The purpose of the groups was for safety, and to find a group that rode with the same style as yours.
The second group headed out and I think they were mixed up as it was rather large and I really don't know what speed they were going to drive at. Then there were about a dozen of us left including a guy who just got telling me he drives really really slow. Great, I am going to be riding at parade speeds here. I guess that is our fault for showing up late. If we wanted to switch up, we would have to wait for the first check point.
The leader, a female named
As she signaled to gear up, I pulled my bike out of the gravel driveway. Slowing making a right hand turn, I felt the front wheel starting to slide out from underneath me. I tried to grab the bike back but it is over 500 pounds with gravity working against me. I dropped the bike for the first time since taking ownership.
With the bike falling to the right, I tried to hop off the bike with grace. As the bike went down, it clipped the back of my heal, tripping me down to the ground, scrapping up my left knee. I quickly got up to get the bike turned off since it was still running. Then the entire group came over to assess me and then the bike.
I was fine. Really. I was more embarrassed more than anything else. I got a few hands to help me lift the bike back up. Once it was upright, I looked at the damage:
1 brake lever, broke but still workable
1 front right turn signal, miracle the bulb was still intact but the casing was a lost cause
chunks of my front fairing missing; ouch, that is going to suck to fix if I fix it at all
a side motor cover that is scratched but can be replaced
Now with all that said, I was actually OK with the damage. A little disappointed in my front fairing but I figured it could be worse. Matt and Pat both agreed that they were surprised that not more damage occurred. I guess I got off OK besides my jeans having a small tear in them.
This one is shown with the aftermath with tape holding it together.
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