The lesser good of the weekend was what happened during a 4 mile trail run Dana and I were on Saturday afternoon. We had parked our Jeep at the top of Lipbuster hill with our ice chest of cold drinks and snacks. We had intended to get in 10-12 miles on some of the easier trails. We were nearing the parking lot and noticed we had heard quite a lot of sirens, and the closer we got, the more it sounded like they were right at the top of the hill. We picked up the pace and popped out of the woods right at the curve where 61st Street tuns into Elwood. There were fire trucks everywhere, and an ambulance had just pulled up. We scurried around to our Jeep to get a drink, but mostly to get right in the middle of what was going on. It seems one of those super speedy motorcycles (crotch rockets, I think they call them) zipped up the hill at warp speed and failed to negotiate the curve.
He laid his bike over and it slid under our Jeep, tearing the running board off, folded the heavy steel mounting bracket over like it was paper, and left some red paint on the wheel.
The rider, a 31 year old dude evidently was thrown off of the bike and tumbled some 40 feet away and was laying on his back quite dazed.
It is likely that had the bike not hit the tire on my Jeep that the dude would have crashed into the huge rocks which would have been less forgiving. And of course, the guy could have been slung underneath the Jeep which would have surely been fatal.
After the police did their report, we were gonna drive it home, but discovered the wheel would not turn to the left at all. It seems the blow of the the collision had bent the tie-rods between the wheels. So we ended up calling AAA to have it towed.
Remember back on July 3rd when a group of us heard Brad the motorcycle guy crash his bike into the ditch down by the lower parking lot at Turkey? Well, the driver of the tow truck proceeded to tell me about a buddy of his who ran through the light at 71st Street and ended up in a ditch upside down for three hours until he was discovered. I then told him about Brad and his wreck on July 3rd, and he got real quiet. "Brad? My friend was Brad." It was the same guy, just his facts were a little off. I told him that Brad's wreck was at 68th Street (a mere 3 blocks away) and he was in the ditch for 30 seconds before we found him and the fire dept was there in 5-6 MINUTES, not the three hours he claimed. Not sure if this was a case of bad exaggeration or what. I did hear that Brad was out of rehab, living in Wagoner, and not doing all that well.
Monday was a day of phone calls to this insurance agency, to this 1-800 number, on hold, transferred calls, on hold, waiting for calls back, and total frustration. Finally, after 10 hours of spinning wheels, we have a rental car (a PT Cruiser...UGH!) and a go-ahead to have the repairs done, all 2,468 dollars worth!
In retrospect, if this is the worst problem I have in life, I am doing pretty good.
He laid his bike over and it slid under our Jeep, tearing the running board off, folded the heavy steel mounting bracket over like it was paper, and left some red paint on the wheel.
The rider, a 31 year old dude evidently was thrown off of the bike and tumbled some 40 feet away and was laying on his back quite dazed.
It is likely that had the bike not hit the tire on my Jeep that the dude would have crashed into the huge rocks which would have been less forgiving. And of course, the guy could have been slung underneath the Jeep which would have surely been fatal.After the police did their report, we were gonna drive it home, but discovered the wheel would not turn to the left at all. It seems the blow of the the collision had bent the tie-rods between the wheels. So we ended up calling AAA to have it towed.
Remember back on July 3rd when a group of us heard Brad the motorcycle guy crash his bike into the ditch down by the lower parking lot at Turkey? Well, the driver of the tow truck proceeded to tell me about a buddy of his who ran through the light at 71st Street and ended up in a ditch upside down for three hours until he was discovered. I then told him about Brad and his wreck on July 3rd, and he got real quiet. "Brad? My friend was Brad." It was the same guy, just his facts were a little off. I told him that Brad's wreck was at 68th Street (a mere 3 blocks away) and he was in the ditch for 30 seconds before we found him and the fire dept was there in 5-6 MINUTES, not the three hours he claimed. Not sure if this was a case of bad exaggeration or what. I did hear that Brad was out of rehab, living in Wagoner, and not doing all that well.
Monday was a day of phone calls to this insurance agency, to this 1-800 number, on hold, transferred calls, on hold, waiting for calls back, and total frustration. Finally, after 10 hours of spinning wheels, we have a rental car (a PT Cruiser...UGH!) and a go-ahead to have the repairs done, all 2,468 dollars worth!
In retrospect, if this is the worst problem I have in life, I am doing pretty good.
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