Day 12 245 Miles
"Don't find fault, find a remedy."
~Henry Ford
Time; 1;00 pm.
Location; CO mountain pass
Temperature;34 degrees
Wind; 20 mph from south
Precipitation Snow mixed with rain
Visibility; 100 feet. Actually, with the fogged and slushed face shield, the range lowered to 40 feet.
Oh, that's bad. But it got worse. Way worse.
We surived the pass, got to lower elevations, FINALLY donned and plugged in the Gerbing (product placement!) gear, and rode onward toward Denver in warm comfort. Never mind the snow mixed with rain, the lightning and wind.
We hit I-70 and saw the snow line, a few hundred feet above us.
Then it rained. Heavy rains. I followed a Subaru so he could dissipate the puddles in the roadway, mitigating hydroplaning.
The rain mixed with snow.
Then it snowed.
I followed a tractor trailer so the bike could be in his tracks. The trailer however, slushed along through the snow, straddling the open line.
What can you do?
The shoulders have an inch of snow. Can't stop. It's only going to get worse. I surveyed an off ramp. covered with snow.
'I'm taking the next one, no matter what, and checking into a motel.'
Then the bike waggled. I fought it to keep straight. Then it wiggled. The trailer swept around to our right. The bike went down, following the trailer dowhill. We swept across the inside lane.
Because I've crashed a lot of times on dirt bikes, my experience proved to be much different than Quilter Girl's. I studied the event and observed we were sliding toward the jersey wall in the center. No problem. We hit with the tires of the bike and slowed, then almost stopped
I looked left, from my vantage point on the roadway, to see a huge Ford Grille and bumper. The guy braked, and bumped us, ever so lightly.
QG's observation didn't sound exactly like mine. However, she is some kind of a trooper. Skyler, the driver of the Ford, stayed with us andf kept QG warm as we regrouped.
Soon the fireman showed up, cops, then a tow truck. By then we could have ridden the bike, as the roadway turned to bare and wet. However, being smart for maybe the first time all day, I elected to take the tow to a motel.
Lesson learned. We could have stopped in Leadville, but had reservations at a KOA, so God forbid we should miss that, right?
Brother.
Some days are better than others.
For a worse day for cows, a dog and a trucker, check the previous blog. I posted twice today. 
1 comment:
That is one day to remember and I know you will
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