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Twilight Zone Trip to the Rally



Well, in Richard's previous post, he mentioned that we went from Houston
to the Rally via the Twilight Zone.  He wasn't kidding.  Here's the
story from my perspective.

On Wednesday, Richard left work early, but still 30 minutes later than
expected, for us to ride to Rick Paukert's house.  We (Richard, I, Rick,
and his pillion, Shannon) were leaving from there to go to Rick's
sister's house near Tyler for the night.  Rick's house is about 35 miles
north of ours. Then, when I went to crank my ST for all of us to leave,
it wouldn't turn over. #$@%##!  We had just charged the battery as well.
We decided to go to O'Reilly and get a new battery there after charging
my ST enough for her to crank over (dealer was 20 miles the wrong way
and just about to close).  $79 and 45 extra minutes later (travel and
install time) we were on the road.  

Then, in Palestine, somewhere around 40 miles from our destination, I
heard something hit my lower fairing and I knew my back tire went over
it.  I never saw a thing!  It was dark by now.  We rode on a bit in
town and stopped for gas.  When I checked the air in my rear tire, I had
3.5 psi in it!!  It is now around 9:30 p.m. We have fix a flat with us,
but no plug kit.  The fix a flat did not work on its own.  We tried two
plug kits, one of which worked fairly well, though there was still a
slow leak.  We then put more fix a flat in it and figured we could make
it to our destination on the tire, but it might be flat in the morning.
Richard rode my bike and I rode his, as he has more experience and would
probably handle a flat while going down the road much better than I,
though I still didn't like him riding it.  We made it to Rick's sister's
place around 11:15 p.m., over 2 hours past our "outside" time.  

The next morning (Thursday), Richard & I got up in time to be at a bike
shop (Honda) shortly before nine to see if they had a tire for us.  The
tire still had 49 psi in it. They did not have one in the right size,
but they called the Yamaha/Suzuki shop, and they had a D-205 for us. 
Off we go to there.  We did call the Triumph dealer in Tyler, but they
didn't have a tire in stock--they are also the Harley dealer in town and
I bet that is what their primary focus is.  Rick and Shannon met us at
the Suzi shop and we left there around 11:00 a.m. for our ride to Eureka
Springs (400-450 miles).

Our route was to take us up into Oklahoma and then we would cut across
into Arkansas and up to Eureka Springs.  We stopped for lunch and two
hydration breaks (it was hotter than Hades).  The last break was right
before the Talamina Parkway in Oklahoma (Highway 1 in Oklahoma and
Highway 88 in Arkansas).  It started to rain there as there were
"scattered" showers popping around.  When we started out on the parkway,
the roads were slick, and we were taking it easy on the twisties up to
the top of the crest, where the roads dried out.  The road ran along the
crest and was a bunch of sweepers that were posted at around 45 mph but
could be safely taken on a bike at higher speeds.  Rick and Richard
pulled away from me as I am more cautious on roads I am not familiar
with and lack their experience.  

After a while, I did come across Richard who was waiting at a scenic
overlook for me.  He pulled out in front of me.  The next curve was
marked at 25 mph.  Richard went around the curve and I heard him yell
into the Chatterbox.  I thought he was going down!!  He then said, "Oh
my God, they're down!!"  I slowed to a crawl and went around the corner.
THE HORROR!  Rick was on the three foot grassy area on the lefthand side
of the road between the road and the guardrail on his back with his left
knee bent.  Shannon was up and moving around and trying to collect
things that might make Rick more comfortable.  His ST was a mangled
piece of plastic and metal in the middle of the road.  I quickly parked
(down hill) in the grass between the road and guardrail, dismounted, and
grabbed the cell phone. I ran to the next sign while I was talking to
get the name of the scenic overlook that we were near (500 ft from the
Eagleton Overlook on the Mena, Arkansas, side of the Parkway).  I first
got Oklahoma EMS and they transferred me to Arkansas EMS.  

The ambulance didn't really take that long (probably about 10 minutes or
less) and the police took less time, though it all seemed like forever. 
Rick was conscious and we knew his left leg was probably broken and that
he was having problems with his right shoulder.  We didn't move him, of
course.  Some cars came by, stopping, and Richard and another gentlemen
were able to manhandle Rick's ST off of the road and out of the way of
any oncoming traffic--we were in a spot of road between two corners!!
When EMS got there, they first put Rick on the backboard.  His lower
left leg moved in a highly irregular way and he screamed in pain.  He
had a compound tib-fib fracture.  They rushed him off to the hospital,
and Shannon went with him.

When he wrecked Rick was wearing jeans with rain pants over them, BMW
riding boots, and his Vanson leather jacket.  Shannon was wearing boots,
jeans, and a new Cordura jacket.  Her jacket was scuffed up, but it did
it's job. Her jean seam at her hip was split and she had a rasberry
there.   Rick's rain gear and jeans prevented his legs from getting any
rash and his Vanson got scuffed up but prevented his upper body from
getting any rash.  

In Mena, they determined that Rick's lower left leg was broken in
multiple spots (5, as it was later determined) and his right collarbone
was also broken.  They transported him to Hot Springs that night as the
orthopedic surgeon in Mena was on vactation that week.  Shannon rented a
car and drove down after him.  She was starting to limp before she left
(right leg).  

The curve in which he crashed, as it turned out, was the first of a
series of rather sharp downhill curves going into Mena.  We stayed on
the mountain and helped the wrecker load Rick's ST and then we followed
the policeman to the hospital at a very slow pace as it had started
raining again.  To add insult to injury, while I was on the phone with
EMS, my bike fell into the guardrail, scraping the front left fairing
and left pannier, but I only had to look at Rick's ST to put that damage
in perspective.  A paint shop can fix my bike.  Before we went down,
Richard, who had reparked his bike uphill after mine fell, went up and
back through the corner.  It was a tight decreasing radius curve!! 
Ouch!!  

Shannon and Rick left for Hot Springs around 7:30 p.m.  By then, it was
pouring rain off and on and the Weather Channel said thunderstorm
watches/warnings were in effect over most of Western Arkansas.  After
the day we'd had, we determined that we didn't want to make the 175-200
remaining miles to Eureka Springs on unfamiliar mountain roads in the
dark and the rain, so a hotel in Mena was in order.  We got up early the
next day and met the group at the Cliff House restaurant near Jasper for
lunch.

At first we couldn't figure out how Rick broke his left leg, as it was a
right hand curve, and it was the right hand side of his ST that was
destroyed, but as one lister, Dennis Tackett suggested, he probably hit
the guardrail with it, explaining the severity of the break.  His ST, in
our estimation, is totaled.  The right side fairing is gone, the cockpit
is mangled beyond use/recognition, at least one fork is bent, etc.
Shannon was very lucky to still be upright and Rick was very lucky not
to have more injuries.

Rick is still in the hospital in Hot Springs.  They ended up rebuilding
his left leg with a titanium rod.  He is having a bout with pneumonia
now, but he did sit up in a chair for the first time today.  We will
keep you updated on his progress.  He will probably be going to
Wisconsin to his parents place for a few months to recouperate, as he
cannot use crutches with a broken left leg AND a broken right
collarbone.  His house in The Woodlands is two story.  I don't know if
he will have net access up there. We still haven't been able to really
talk to him much (drugs for pain tend to make one very sleepy).  Perhaps
when he gets better he'll give us his view of what happened. We
obviously didn't see the wreck.  Shannon had a very sore hip (bruised,
to our knowledge) and a swollen and painful right ankle.  When we told
him about his bike in the emergency room, he said he would now have to
get a blue '00!  Some friends of his from work are going to go get the
bike and take it to a Triumph dealer in Dallas or Houston for the final
assessment.

We are certainly hoping for a full and speedy recovery for both of them,
and I certainly do not want to witness a scene like that again!!  

On a happier note, we met a FABULOUS group of people at the Rally.  It
is so nice to be able to put a face to a name now, and we hope to see
each and every person at next year's event.  We all had a blast!  I, as
expected, was the "last rider"--even more so than I originally thought
as the wreck put a severe damper on my riding (much more than I expected
or wanted it to).  It's set me back to where I was about the time I got
the ST! :-((  I'm going to have to return to my basics and gain my
confidence back.  It would have been better to be able to ride on
familiar roads after witnessing something like that.  Hopefully, it will
just be a matter of time before I regain the ground I lost and move
forward . . . . 

For those of you who have not been, Arkansas is beautiful, and the roads
are a twistie heaven! The people at Tall Pines were very nice and it was
a beautiful place to stay. 

As Greg mentioned, Mike, from Florida, had a fall during the Rally and
we don't know exactly how it happened.  We certainly hope he makes it
home safely and has a speedy recovery from his injuries.  Mark, please
keep up us posted!

THANK YOU ERIC, for having the energy and inclination to create and
maintain the list and your website which made our gathering possible. 
Thank you Dennis and RPM Cycle in Dallas for the Rallye shirts. Thank
you Robert and Dennis for your help with the rides.  Thank you
Motorcycles International in Fayetteville for handling the little
mechanical/tire difficulties that arose for several of our riders this
weekend.

To Paul & Dee, Robert & Jenna, Eric, Steve, Greg, Mark, Jack, David,
Dennis, Ron (Sprint Exec.) and Mike (Honda ST1100), we hope you all had
a safe trip home, and hope to see you again next year, if not before!!
If you are ever coming to Houston, you had better let us know!!

I'll probably be scanning and sending pictures to Eric before the day is
out, but I suspect he'll be sleeping then (and rightly so!!)  They'll be
there for everyone's viewing pleasure shortly!

Lisa & Richard


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