[ST] Texas Raid Ralley-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

["JOHN WESTCOTT" <westcott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I attended the Texas Raid Ralley in Bandera, Texas this past weekend and I
have a few comments:

THE GOOD

The roads in the Bandera, Leaky, Vanderpool, Camp Wood, et. al Texas area
are the best in Texas.  Beautiful views of vistas and hills country,
challenging turns and twisties, and many straight areas where you can blow
the carbon out.  The weather was cooperative for the most part, fairly mild
temperatures with overcast to sunny skies.  Lots of motorcyclists (and a
bunch of bikers) on the roads enjoying the scenery.  Bandera, Texas is
"quaint" in a small country town way, not as touristy as some other well
known Texas hill country towns.  I enjoyed seeing and riding with some old
friends and no one in the small group I was riding with suffered injuries,
motorcycle dings or tickets.

THE BAD

Two Triumph riders on a Bonneville America are in a San Antonio hospital
trauma unit today, another Sprint ST rider (John from Austin) broke a few
bones and damaged his bike, and one unlucky rider with another group (on a
Yamaha Venture) in front of mine was killed going too wide in a hairpin
corner and meeting up with another vehicle.

THE UGLY

I have been witnessed to three severe accidents in three different riding
events (going back two years) that had several common facts:

1.  Older rider (55+ years old);
2.  "Getting back into motorcycling after _____ (fill in the blank 10, 15,
18) years of no motorcycle riding";
3.  Riding a brand new (just purchased) Triumph classic model motorcycle;
4.  The accident was at speeds less than 50 to 55 mph;
5.  The accident involved only the (older) rider's motorcycle;
6.  The accident was caused when the older rider veered off the road for
some unexplained reason (likely site seeing);
7.  The rider either over corrected the motorcycle or improperly responded
to the situation causing the rider to be thrown off the bike; and,
8.  The injuries to the rider were severe and life threatening.

Based on reports of others, the Bonneville America rider was 59 years old,
had just purchased the motorcycle, and was "getting back into motorcycling"
after a 18 years period of no motorcycle riding.  He and his wife had rode
from Belton, Texas on Saturday morning, getting up at 4:00 am in order to
make the 9:00 am start to the Saturday ride in Bandera.  Within 30 miles
from leaving the starting area, this rider's motorcycle left the roadway on
a long straight road, hit an outcropping of rocks (approximately 10 feet
from the road), throwing both rider and passenger from the motorcycle.  The
rider hit face first and received a severe head trauma and severe
lacerations (he was wearing only a three quarter open face helmet) and his
wife had multiple injuries including a compound fracture of the arm.  It
appeared the rider was site seeing and let his motorcycle drift off the road
and did not have enough experience/skill to correct his path of travel from
the rock outcrop (having a passenger on back did not help).  This rider was
very lucky to have an experienced EMT ("KT" from Corpus Christi, Texas) as
well as an experienced male nurse ("Jim" from San Antonio) attend to him
immediately until he could be taken to the hospital.  Their quick actions
along with others likely save the man's life by stopping the severe bleeding
and opening up an airway.

This type of accident is predictable.  Those factors that make riding around
Bandera, Texas so enjoyable for the experienced motorcyclist (beautiful
scenery, infrequent traffic, numerous curves of various radiuses, decreasing
radius turns, blind hills and curves, unmarked and/or poorly marked curves)
make riding too difficult for many new/inexperienced riders.  The excitement
of a new bike coupled with an ego of wanting to "stay with the group" and
"not look like a newbie" is often a recipe for disaster for the older rider
getting back into motorcycling.  I flew private airplanes for years and
consider myself a good pilot but if I had sat out of flying for several
years, I would not even consider climbing into a airplane and flying in
conditions that would immediately tax my flying skills (such as flying in
bad weather, landing in high wind conditions, etc.) without several hours of
lessons with an experienced instructor and practice under idea conditions.

This Bonneville America rider and his wife suffered life changing injuries
and will require rehabilitation for months, if not years.  There is a very
high probability that this man and his wife will never ride a motorcycle
again, never purchase another motorcycle, and his family, friends and
community with hear about yet another "motorcycle accident causing severe
injuries and damages" that will only reinforce negative arguments about
motorcycle riding.

SUGGESTION:

In any group riding setting, be it a Rallye ride, an organized tour, or even
a Sunday group ride with the local dealer, the route should be pre-ridden
the day before.  Maps should be handed out at the MANDATORY riders meeting
where the route is discussed in detail (and I'm talking about a 30 minute to
hour discussion before the ride not a five minute talk at 9:00 am when the
ride is to leave at 9:00 am).  The organizer or event coordinator should
also ask the group *soft* questions to elicit answers from those with lack
of experience such as "How many of you purchased your motorcycle within the
last three months?" or "How many of you rode less than 2500 miles last
year?".  Those who raise their hands (and those that don't but are suspected
to be new to motorcycling . . . you can usually tell by the lack of
protective gear, the type of protective gear, or the lack of mileage on the
new motorcycle ) should be counseled separately about riding in the area and
the hazards they will face.  Emphasis should be on getting these people to
ride slow, pay attention to the road and not site-seeing, and to discourage
riding with a passenger on any roads that have drop offs or difficult
curves.  How about putting together a less taxing route for the new riders
and encouraging an experienced riders to lead this group in a slower pace?
I, for one, would be happy to volunteer.  Finally, any rider that has ridden
all night or for 4+ hours in the morning before starting a long day of
riding difficult roads should be discouraged from participating.  They are
already tired and likely to make a mistake.

None of us want another rider to get hurt, yet we sometimes take the
attitude that "things happen".  Maybe an ounce of prevention could keep an
inexperienced rider from getting hurt at his first big riding event.  This
rider will then be able to enjoy the sport, to attend next year's event, and
buy more motorcycles.

John Westcott
Portland, Texas

P.S.  By the way, I'm 47 years old and ride both a Thunderbird (with a
sidecar, no less) and a Daytona.  I will be the first to admit my
coordination, eyesight, and reflexes are NOT what they were 10-20 year ago.
Although I've always owned some type of motorcycle (be it dirtbike or old
streetbike), I "got back into riding motorcycles" in 1998 when my daughter
(the youngest child) left for college and I purchased my Thunderbird.  I was
lucky because my local dealer (Joe Harrison Motor Sports in San Antonio,
Texas) held many Sunday rides and emphasis slow, controlled riding.  The
employees (Willie Laman, Joe Younts, Steve Miller, and others) of my Triumph
dealer picked good routes, discussed things to look out for and controlled
the speed of the group ride.  Those more experienced riders who wanted to go
faster were encouraged to separate from the less experienced group.  These
rides let me build up my skills without putting me in a situation where I
would likely have an accident from lack of knowledge and skill on how to
handle a situation (such as the first time you encounter a decreasing radius
turn).










     *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
      The ST/RS Mailing list is sponsored by Jack Lilley Ltd.
          http://www.TriumphNet.com/st/lilley for more info
   http://www.TriumphNet.com/st for ST, RS and Mailing List info

=-=-=-= Next Message =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=