First, Mel broke a couple of ribs on Thursday.
Second, I apologize for typos and grammatical errors lately. The iPad (the tool of Satan) will not let me scroll up or down on the blog page for editing. Back to Mel.
We rode a 42 mile dirt road, fast and free, a bit of dust and clear sailing. After stopping we headed back on the same road, me in front, Mel in the middle and Jim taking up the rear. On a turn, Mel overshot it for a number of to reasons: it was an off camber turn, meaning it sloped away, opposite of what a NASCAR track does. Also it was a g-out, which means the road dropped down as it turned, lowering the g(gravity) forces, so the bike becomes very light. Intertia drove it straight and he sailed- or scooted- though the woods, crashing around fifty feet in and twenty feet from the shoulder. And breaking a few ribs. Somehow in spite of wearing a full coverage helmet, he cut his ear where the earlobe attached to his head. I think he hit his head pretty good during the melee.
Jim found him after he crawled to the roadside and helped him a bit, then chased me down.
We got Mel upright and wrestled the bike back onto the road. And God bless Mel, he cowboyed up and rode it out of there!
After arriving at Valdez, we escorted him to the ER, where in five short hours they found his broken ribs, stitched up his ear (ten stitches!) and sent him on his way. We all fell into our respective beds around midnight.
Since then, Mel has persevered, and done really well, in spite of his pains. He's no whiner, so you can't tell if he's in pain unless you ask or he coughs. What a hero.
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