Paco took off in front of me, and until know we had maintained a separation in the mountains due to different performing bikes, and an unspoken agreement to not wait to long ahead, if one of us had not arrived. we were both enjoying the roads, and I was moving at a pretty good clip. that harley can do things that most won't put it thru. and I'd been riding it for a long time. i will be the first to admit that it doesn't handle like performance bikes, but hell, I could get it around a corner by shifting my body off of it, at a comfortable and fast speed.
we were winding our way down the mountain, with ups and downs, when it finally happened. the thought of it, had been in the back of my mind. what if? what do i do? how do I get out of here?
well, time to answer it, I took a few switch backs, and then a climbing left hand turn, where I was shifted over to the left with my butt a bit off the bike, and had the bike leaned over scrapping the floor boards, nothing new...but with unfamiliar roads, it was a mistake waiting to happen. near the end of the curve, I was exiting towards the outside of the road, when I noticed out of the corner of my eyes, what appeared to be gravel. not moving my gaze from where I wanted to go, I tucked further, while removing speed, to try and cut the curve sharper. which is the point at which both tires hit the gravel (or so I thought it was just gravel) at that instant, I felt the bike go soft, and slide to my right.....then felt myself slam to the ground, face first, and felt my arm slide under me, as the bike slid right and my visor flew off the helmet, as I could see the road flying by me a mere inch or two from my face, my helmet grinding along the road, for what seemed like an eternity, the moment before the impact, I remember thinking the following: "fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, not the bike, not the bike, my bike, my bike....dammit, my bike......" can't seem to recall thinking about my body and possible injuries. hummmmm..oh, well.
anyway, the bike came to rest in a culvert on the side of the mountain, and luckily it was on the mountain, and not over the ledge...it made a horrible noise, and there I was laying in the middle of the road, left leg trapped under the saddle bags, my hand hurt, dazed, and could hear cars stopping behind me. people immediately came over and lifted the bike off me...i did a quick check...to see if I could move, all was intact, got up slowly.....like an ambulance is going to come out here....and sat down for a bit. was pissed, and thoughts were racing thru my mind, a hundred miles an hour........here is what I hit.....you can see the skid mark, where the bike hit the side and moved to the right....apparently it wasn't just gravel, it was a chunk of pavement/asphalt that was missing, at the right spot......