Slight problem on the way home....

[WildBill]

Well folks there we were, on this beautiful, twisty road in West Virginia just loving life when a pile of gravel on a blind curve threw us on an adventure......The short story is we ended up low siding the LT and both Lyn and myself ended up with a broken left ankle. Lyn also broke her left pinkie finger. This was not exactly what I had planned for our 25th wedding anniversary which was the next day!

So after our visit to the Orthopedic doctor today we are sporting matching purple lower leg casts. No pictures yet but Lyn already has a plan on how she is going to superimpose a picture of us with our casts and the broken LT in the back of the U-haul. She's being a real trooper, she's about this already worried that she might us up too much leave recovering and miss next years CCR!

I'll try and get some pictures and will post more details later. That's all for now....

Bill

[hallzee]

Glad you came out relatively OK!

You must be ATGATT?

[NCoe]

Sorry to hear of your accident. I am glad you and Lyn were not hurt worse. Heal well and fast.

Well folks there we were, on this beautiful, twisty road in West Virginia just loving life when a pile of gravel on a blind curve threw us on an adventure......The short story is we ended up low siding the LT and both Lyn and myself ended up with a broken left ankle. Lyn also broke her left pinkie finger. This was not exactly what I had planned for our 25th wedding anniversary which was the next day!

So after our visit to the Orthopedic doctor today we are sporting matching purple lower leg casts. No pictures yet but Lyn already has a plan on how she is going to superimpose a picture of us with our casts and the broken LT in the back of the U-haul. She's being a real trooper, she's about this already worried that she might us up too much leave recovering and miss next years CCR!

I'll try and get some pictures and will post more details later. That's all for now....

Bill

[hoog62]

Happens quick, don't it Bill? Here's to a speedy recovery.

[BamaLT]

Sorry for the mishap Bill... heal fast my friend...

[WildBill]

Yeah Dave it happens pretty quick!

Came around a corner and said "OH S***", I hit the gravel, then started sliding wide towards the guardrail. This is not good I say to myself and keep leaning the bike further trying to make the corner until I lifted the rear tire off and we slid. The bike slid into the guardrail and Lyn and my self just hit the road. Fortunately we were wearing full gear and fared relatively well. After the accident several folks stopped helped to pick up the bike and put me back on it and I rode it down the hill to the closest parking lot. At this point I had determined that the bike had brakes and could steer so Lyn and I got back on and rode 45 miles to the closest hospital and checked in.

The next day (ou 25th Wedding Anniversary) we loaded the broken bike and our broken selves into a U-haul and drove the rest of the way home.

Not exactly according to plan but back home again none the less. Now to recover and get ready for next year!

Bill

[grifscoots]

Good grief, it came in three's.

[icepick578]

to find the pavement littered with friends. Hoogs, Steve, Woody, Bill, Lyn I hope you all heal fully, quickly and well. And I hope all of you ride easier in the future knowing your odds to have a moto accident just shifted in your favor, IMMENSELY. It's why I never worry about flying.

[grifscoots]

to find the pavement littered with friends. Hoogs, Steve, Woody, Bill, Lyn I hope you all heal fully, quickly and well. And I hope all of you ride easier in the future knowing your odds to have a moto accident just shifted in your favor, IMMENSELY. It's why I never worry about flying.

Damn if you didn't start the first line to a gold Country Western song:

"Dang, I just got back to civilization to find the pavement littered with friends"

[jeffklt]

So sorry to hear of it. Hope you and Lynn heal quickly and completely.

And happy 25th, my wife and I celebrated ours in June.

[munson]

She's being a real trooper, she's about this already worried that she might us up too much leave recovering and miss next years CCR!

I tried to read that sentence three times! You must be on the good drugs!!:)
The "ankle biter" got me in 2002, as I low sided in a gas station with scattered gravel in the twilight. In the future I hope I remember to jerk my knee up!

I pray that you two will heal quickly.

[Steve_R]

Hey Bill, Sorry to hear about your little incident. I hope you and Lyn heal quickly.

[zippy_gg]

Sorry to hear about your mishap Bill.

I hope you had an otherwise happy 25th anniversary.

[bghubr]

Hi Bill and Lyn,

Sorry to hear about your accident and hope all is well.
It was great hanging out with you guys. I hope to see you all next year,
in good health and in the saddle again.

Have a better week!!!

Brian

[SoberBiker]

Dog gone it Bill! Sorry to hear about your incident! Hope you both recover quickly and enjoy the Anniversary to the fullest. Now you really have reason to celebrate...Your ALIVE!!! :bmw:

[WildBill]

John,

I was trying not to post too much too early due to the drugs. Guess I was still a little under the influence when I posted before!!!! Today is a better day. Saw the Ortho doc and he's got us both on the road to recovery. What I was trying to say is that Lyn is being a real trooper about this accident. She is already trying to make sure that she will have enough leave to go to Zermatt after recovering from this accident.

The bike's down at Morton's in Fredricksburg. They said that they won't be able to look at it til next week or so. I know that its missing a right side drivers foot peg, bent rear brake pedal, scuffed rear drive housing, missing both mirrors, lots of plastic scraped including trunk. I have no idea of what internal damage was done to the bike. I was able to ride it 45 miles or so after the accident to get to the hospital. Front brakes work, it shifts and runs OK.

Thanks for all the well wishes.......

Bill

[munson]

John,

I was trying not to post too much too early due to the drugs. Guess I was still a little under the influence when I posted before!!!! Today is a better day. Saw the Ortho doc and he's got us both on the road to recovery. What I was trying to say is that Lyn is being a real trooper about this accident. She is already trying to make sure that she will have enough leave to go to Zermatt after recovering from this accident.
Understandable my friend! It just amused me. :) Give Lyn my best wishes and blessings.

The bike's down at Morton's in Fredricksburg. They said that they won't be able to look at it til next week or so. I know that its missing a right side drivers foot peg, bent rear brake pedal, scuffed rear drive housing, missing both mirrors, lots of plastic scraped including trunk. I have no idea of what internal damage was done to the bike. I was able to ride it 45 miles or so after the accident to get to the hospital. Front brakes work, it shifts and runs OK.

After the ankle biter got me, a friend rode her home, and I never had to fix a thing. She is a tough machine.

[jayz9705]

Sounds like a heck of a way to insure that she can't get away from you on your anniversary!

Heal well and quickly, both of you.

[DanMartin]

WildBill, it was great to meet you at CCR. hope you and Lyn heal quickly.
Kathy and I celebrated our 28th driving home from CCR in the minivan. Way too many stories of wrecks lately. Heal well,see you next year.

dan

[Seattle]

Bill, we hope you two heal up quickly and completely. Could have been much worse!

If you don't mind me asking, I noticed you said you two were both geared up (good call!), I was wondering what kind of boots/shoes you guys were wearing?

[WildBill]

If you don't mind me asking, I noticed you said you two were both geared up (good call!), I was wondering what kind of boots/shoes you guys were wearing?


I was wearing Alpinestars Web Gortex boots and Lyn had Oxtar Matrix-2 boots. Both offer some support and ankle protection. Not as much as racing boots but they are both waterproof and comfortable.

My foot was pinched between the footpeg and the bike as it went down. I vaguely remember feeling my foot being pushed up by the footpeg as I kept leaning the bike further. I believe that the boots we had on kept our feet from being crushed and instead we both ended up with minor cracks.

Probably the most significant thing I had on was my Full-Face helmet. As I was going down my face ground on the pavement. If I hadn't had a full face helmet on my chin and mouth would have been left on a road in West Virginia. It might not be pretty but its the only face I've got so I highly recommend full face helmets to anyone who's listening!

Bill

[WildBill]

Well it's been just over 2 weeks since our little accident in West Virginia so I thought I would give y'all an update on our status and a tell a little story about the best side of human nature.

First off Lyn and I are fine!. We continue to improve every day. We were both given walking casts when we saw the Orthopedic doctor and we're getting more mobile daily. Lyn is walking most everywhere without and crutches and I'm down to using only 1 crutch and sometimes none at all. Lyn also has a broken left pinkie which seems to be healing, at least all the stange colors are going away. Back to the doctor in little over a week for Lyn to be freed from her finger splint. Ankle casts are supposed to come off in about 6 weeks.

I want to share some of the details of the journey we've been on since the accident to re-affirm the goodness of strangers!

As I mentioned before, we low-sided coming around a tight corner in West Virginia after encountering unexpected gravel. Soon after our accident several guys stopped and helped pick up Lyn and myself and make sure we were OK. I then asked them to pick up the bike so we could determine if it was ridable. I saw that there was no right foot peg and that the rear brake pedal was bent bad. However, the bike ran OK, seemed to have working front brakes and the shift pedal was working. So I got on and rode the bike slowly down the hill to the first parking lot. Here I stopped and Lyn was brought down the hilll by one of the strangers. Since the bike seemed to be working OK off we went in search of medical attention.

I stopped at the first little town we came to ask directions to a clinic/hospital. I was told the closest was another 35 miles east on RT 33. This meant another 45-60 minutes on the bike since these were very twisty roads. So off we headed again, I was hoping my adrenalin was going to last until we made the hospital. (I found out the hospital was further than my my adrenalin supply!)

Once we got to the hospital we parked in the ambulance area (after all we were caring injured patients and were colored Canyon Red) and checked ourselves in. As we were being worked on at the hospital one of the nurses asked where we were going to go when we were released and I said to the closest hotel/motel. She then went and called the local hotels, found one with rooms, reserved one for us and alerted the hotel of our situation. After we were released one of the male nurses loaded us into his car, along with all our luggage and gear. He drove us to the hotel and then carried all our stuff to the room.

Soon after we got to our room, handicapped equipped, there was a knock on the door. The hotel had brought us more pillows to prop our feet up on and several BIG bags of ice and several Cokes. Following a pizza delivery we were out for the night.

The next morning I called and got a U-haul to take the bike and ourselves home. After waiting for over 1 hour for a taxi (small town 1 taxi) the owner of the U-haul shop offered to come get me so that we could get on the way.

Once were loaded up in the U-haul we went back to the hospital to pick up the bike. The one problem with the rental truck was that it didn't have a loading ramp so when I got to the hospital I went in search of the maintenance department. I presented the situation to the guys and in no time there was about 6 guys there all contributing to getting our bike on the truck. I guess they were bored and we were free entertainment but in about 5 -10 minutes the bike was brought to a back door, raised up on a hydraulic lift, placed in the truck and we were on our way to the next stop.

We then hit the road. After about 3 hours we stopped for some food and gas. At this point Lyn had to get out and use the facilities. Lyn has never had to use crutches before and wasn't too stable on them. So when she got to the curb she was stuck, could not figure how to step up. After minute or so 2 guys saw her plight and came over and physically lifted her up and put her on the sidewalk.

After that the rest of the journey home was uneventful. The next day I was off to deliver the bike to Morton's BMW for repair and return the rental truck.

The next day we went to the Orthopedic specialist and ended up with matching PURPLE casts from our toes to just below our knees. Lyn also has a splint on her pinkie finger.

Yesterday I got a call from my insurance and they said the bike was going to be totaled due to the extensive body work damage. Almost every panel/bag/trunk was either scratched or broken. So my '00 LT with 75K miles is no going to salvage. I was happy with the insurance settlement for the bike, we also received reimbursement for our damaged helmets. So back to Morton's we go to get all our personal stuff off the bike AND to shop for a new LT! It must have looked pretty funny to see 2 people standing on crutches with broken ankles shopping for a motorcycle.

So to draw this to a close, Lyn and I are doing fine. We have had numerous people bring food and run errands for us so all in all this has been a very pleasant (believe it or not) experience. So far almost everyone we've encountered in this journey has gone out of their way to help us. Add to that all the time I've spent with Lyn over the last 2 weeks and this has ended up being good for the sole.

Might not have been how we planned to spend our 25th wedding anniversary but in the end it might have been the best present we could have hoped for.

Bill

[katnapinn]

Bill...

Glad to hear things are working themselves out for you . Sorry that your LT was totaled but it will be replaced.

[grifscoots]

Bill, y'all are real troopers and I'm proud to call y'all friends!

[icepick578]

Bill, y'all are real troopers and I'm proud to call y'all friends!

Me too, times four.

[johnrehder]

Bill, sorry to hear about your mishap but it sounds like you two have a can do attitude which will make your healing process quicker. God luck with the new bike purchase!

[jayz9705]

Isn't it funny how good people always find good people when they're needed most!

BTW, Happy 25th to you both!!!

[DeltaShipley]

Bill & Lyn . . .
Raymond and I are so very glad to hear you are healing and will be back on a NEW LT in no time! :rotf:

There are some really compassionate folks in this world even though you don't hear about them on the news stations. I met several during my ordeal as well. These things have a way of making you feel so much better about the world we live in.

God Bless you both . . . :)

[munson]

First off Lyn and I are fine!. We continue to improve every day. Glad to hear it Bill. God bless you two.