Four of us set out for a ride from Seaside today; myself, sman, Dave2000R1, and Rick, who's not on the forum. Just a mile or two east of Seaside, Dave went wide in a sweeping left turn and went off the road. He was trail, so none of us witnessed it. We stopped a couple of miles ahead waiting for him to catch up. When he didn't come within a few minutes, we went back looking for him. Another vehicle had already called for help by the time we got there. I have lots of pictures as we waited for the tow truck to take his bike. I'm only going to post a couple here till Dave gets to see them and decide what he wants to put up. I know one of the Paramedics who worked on him and I just learned he's being taken by Life Flight from Columbia Memorial to Emanuel in Portland. His leg looked damaged, but he was awake when they loaded him in the ambulance. Since I work for Life Flight, I called the pilot on duty and confirmed they were loading a patient about 10 minutes ago that fit his description. (They can't give out names.) I'm feeling like crap right now about it. Obviously, the ride was cancelled. I'm hoping and praying that he's all right. Pics...
We were thinking that he was probably thrown over the boulders where his bike came to a stop, but after hearing about the injuries, I think he may have hit one or two before bouncing over. It was not pretty. You enter the corner going slightly uphill, and as you crest the hill, the turn radius decreases slightly and banks to the outside. It doesn't inspire much confidence in your traction. That corner scared me before I was familiar with it. I sucked the seat cushion halfway up my butt the first time I came over it quickly.
holy crap that sucks! sends a chill down my spine as ive been down before, old guy looked right at me & pulled out 8 months in cast ect! my thoughts & prayers go out to dave & his family, keep us posted john, good pics!
Hopefully Dave will have a quick and speedy recovery, and sounds like you did everything you could. Try not to beat yourself up too much; accidents happen, especially in this hobby. Seems there have been a lot of crashes this year .
Brian, Rick Henry (he's not on the forum) and I went for a ride out 202 yesterday. We stopped and visited Mike and Wendy at the store/bar in Birkenfeld. They are great people. It sounds like they are going to have one heck of a party there in the end of July. Some famous bands will be playing. He said they were expecting 2500, but I don't know if that was the number of bikes or people. Either way, it sounds like a fun time with a good crowd and not too far from home. Back to Dave... He called me this morning responding to my messages. He's recovering at Emanuel Hospital in Portland. His wife is there with him. He might get to come home this weekend. Apparently his leg was not broken as we had thought. He has 6 broken vertebae, several broken ribs on the right side, and some internal problems from the broken ribs. Also a broken clavical. None of the damage is permanent and no surgery is required. It sounds like he hit the rock with his right side before going over it. He wants to see the pics I took. My wife and I are leaving for Portland in 10 minutes, so I plan to go see him, show him the pictures and give him a disc with copies. I told him that lots of people were concerned about him. He said thanks and he was in good spirits, although a little funky with all the good drugs they're giving him. I'll update more as I get it. Thanks for all the comments and I'm sure he'll want to read this stuff when he can.
so glad he's recovering,now the pain sets in-ouch! it amazes me how soon they send people home these days, when he gets back we ougta all do a ride to his place & say howdy ect! birkenfeld is one of my fav runs i know mike & wendy, im quite burned out on the harley type runs as i did that for years sturgis ect, could never sleep to rowdy & loud all nite!i may stop by to check it out, thanks for the update john!
I spent about 30 minutes with Dave at Emanuel Hospital today (actually yesterday since it's after 0100). He's recovering, but they found some embolisms in his lungs, so they want to keep him through the weekend. The only visible sign on him are some scratches on his hands and a pretty torn up knee. Most of his injuries are internal. His coat and helmet protected him the way they were designed, but nothing can protect you from a slam into a big rock. I showed him some pics of the accident and left him a disc with all the pics I took. We talked about how it happened and the sequence, but his wife didn't like hearing about it or seeing the pics so she went out to the hallway. I felt a little bad about that, but Dave seemed to want to look at the pics and talk about it. I'm sure seeing pics of his R1 damaged and loaded on the tow truck probably hurts. He's on some pain medications right now, so he's not operating at 100%. I imagine the pain of broken ribs must be bad if they don't give him something. I've had just one broken rib and it hurt pretty bad, so I'm sure multiple ribs is much worse. He just got healed up from a broken ankle in March, but it held together in this accident. He says he doesn't need anything right now. He has college friends stopping by to visit him. I don't think he's ever alone during the day. Whatever you do for spiritual needs, do some for him. Pray, dance around a fire, chant, or whatever it takes. He hopes to be back playing volleyball soon. I don't know what his future bike plans are. That's probably not a good subject to bring up around his wife.
Hey, A109. Thanks for the heads-up on the 'incident'... If he can have visitors/well-wishers, let me know and I'll swing by Emanuel to (hopefully) cheer him up a bit. PM me with his full name and room number IF it's cool to swing by and show some support... (don't throw that out here on the forum, for the 'legal'/insurance' aspect. I'd also recommending blurring his license plate in the pics or, better yet, just yank them altogether until the insurance aspect is dealt with... JUST a suggestion..) Ride safe, guys!
Oh, and by the way, Mike (Birkenfeld Store) is the greatest guy, don't you agree. ALWAYS a 'Hello' and a smile to greet me with when I run that route (and I LIKE that route a lot...).
The plates have been fixed in the photos above. I sent you a PM. I really enjoyed meeting Mike and Wendy. That place was really quiet when I was there on Thursday afternoon, but I'll bet it gets pretty crazy there during events and on weekends. They have a big one coming up in the end of July with many well known bands coming. They should post up here about it, but I don't know if they're on this site.
John, sorry to hear about this! I can only imagine! You have my number if you need anything at all. Best wishes to him for quick recovery! Nice being the a life flight pilot for sure. Dont have to sit in the dark and wonder about certain details. instead just call up who you know. Keep in touch! Ill be up late tonight
I talked to Dave again today on the phone. He had some additional complications this weekend due to internal blood clotting. They're going to keep him at Emanuel for another week or so. He was in ICU today, but is hoping to go back to Trauma Recovery soon. This really sucks for him. He looked like he was getting better on Friday and now he's had a set back. He says anyone is welcome to come and visit. I'm hoping to go back in there this week.