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We were staying at the Best Western in West Baraboo on Route 12, about three miles from the Ho Chunk casino. The wife and I had a nice dinner that evening at the restaurant/bar in the Hotel, played a game of pool, took a walk down main street to see what was around (clearly dinner options were limited) and then took the shuttle to the casino. I'm just not a gambler, but the wife could do it all day. We stayed there a few hours, I lost $20 playing draw power, Jacks or better, and then managed to drag my wife away.

Here's the business end of the parking lot the next morning (Saturday):



The Hotel has an extended continental breakfast, which includes anything a reasonable person would want to eat excluding things like sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs. So, we ate breakfast, and as we sat there, noticed that the temperature display at the restaurant across the street was showing 41 and it was still a bit cloudy and windy. Well, wife had no intentions of riding in those kind of conditions. So, I geared up to go, while she went and caught the shuttle to the casino.

I had a loop planned out that was about 225 miles round trip. My approach was, stick to the route the GPS gave me, and when I saw a nice road, follow it. The ride was fantastic. The roads in that part of WI are just unbelievable. I should have taken a lot more pictures, but I was having way too much fun to stop, and a lot of places stopping may be detrimental to my safety. Though I saw almost no cars on the back roads.

The photos at the beginning of this thread are from that day. Here's more. The best are definitely not here:

Ves,
Sorry to hear about your get off. I hope you are healing well. Hopefully, I will be able to see you late this summer.

BTW, I rode a total of 15 miles in the rain while at the Bash. I left home at noon, and had no rain going south. I guess I was lucky.

I talked to Ves tonight and the surgery went well. No knee damage.

Well, it's official... there's one less 80 Ed Rockster in the world... Bent rear frame, dented tank, bent forks... assorted other stuff... $9000+ .

Boxer wrote:Hey! I really love the "Two Guys Telling the Same Story From Different Perspectives" format. Keep it up!

Now tell me...Is Ves wearing one nylon stocking in that hospital bed thing?

Here you go... This was pre-surgery. Apparently this thing help keep the blood pressure up in the other leg during surgery...



Looks like the leg of some old Polish lady...

Ok, so Saturday was a great day. I had been debating whether Sunday I was going to go Southwest and do another ride by myself, or go Northwest and meet up with the Steves in Trempaleau. Steve called me that morning and we decided to meet up at noon then ride back together and they would stay the night at our Hotel before they had to leave for home Monday. Monday the wife and I would go for a ride, since it was our last day before we had to go back home on Tuesday.

By 9:00 the temperature was up to about 51, so at least the day would be warmer. The ride to Trempaleau was uneventful and fun, although I can't remember the last time I've dodged so much gravel and horse manure on the back roads. I arrived there right about noon and the Steves arrived about 15 minutes later. It had warmed up nice and it was a crisp sunny day. We sat around for a bit while the Steves caught up on their smokes and we talked. Figured we'd get on the road, get some gas, and grab lunch along the way.

Unfortunately the gas station in town was closed so we had to do some searching around. Then when going trough LaCross my GPS decided to play adventure and had us going down every stupid side road... Anyway, we finally got out of town and started hitting the roads back...

The only stop we made was at a roadside bar and grill to grab that much needed lunch...



Waiting for our burgers...

The place was a dive and the waitress seemed kind of put off... but she cheered up a bit by the time we left.

After eating I assured the Steves there would be no more stupid tours through towns. That's that thing about "scenic" mode on the GPS, works great out in the country, but it doesn't seem to have enough brains to just get you into the country fast as possible. Well, that problem was solved when we got back out to the bikes and my GPS was dead. When I got it home later I found that it charged fine... so it was probably just a loose power connection under my seat. Steve lead the way, and as he already said... the rest is history.

Less than 30 miles from the Hotel... the dreaded event happened on County G, just outside of LaValle WI. One of the Steves also didn't make the corner... he just bailed into the field and did some 4-wheeling... Lucky for me a couple in a minvan came by not seconds after the crash. I couldn't put any weight on my leg and they along with the Steves helped me into the van and drove me to the hospital. An Amish farm owner who owned the farm right on that corner was more than glad to allow me to keep my bike in their yard until we could figure out what to do.

There were multiple problems. My car was a stick and my wife hadn't learned how to drive it. So, the Steves went to the Hotel, picked up the car and trailer, and came to pick up the bike and meet me at the hospital. Also, to get the car and trailer home one of the sons had to come up with my wife's car and then drive my car and trailer home...

This is one moment I wish I could take back...

The next day the wife and I drove out to that corner in the car... (to add insult to injury she got pulled over for speeding in the middle of nowhere... luckily she was let off with a warning)... There was a slight downhill corner before it... and the corner it's self was was a slight uphill and then went flat at the exit... I think that's what did me in. I judged the corner by the entrance, but the elevation change at the exit caught me by surprise. As I came to the exit of the corner the bike drifted out while I was leaned over and when I realized there's was no way I was going to stay on the road, at the last split second I stood the bike up on the gravel shoulder... I should have just stood it up completely and shot into the farm field, but I thought I could save it... The next thing I know the rear is drifting around, then it gets completely sideways on me, like I was flat tracking, and the next thing I now I'm over the bars. I could literally conscious of something happening to my leg... I'm still not sure what, but it took a big impact.

As Steve has already said... the rest is history... I'm now BMW-less, on shot term disability, trying to keep myself from going stir-crazy while I spend six hours per day on the knee bending machine...

First getting rear ended in California, that bike being totaled, and now this... less than a year apart... that has to be some kind of record...

The even more unfortunate news at the hospital was that I was not the only one at Christ Hospital involved in a motorcycle accident that weekend... the doctors and nurses kept telling me it could have been worse... SIX riders died at the hospital this last weekend... one was on a quad, the others were on street bikes and not wearing helmets... that's a sobering thought...

Be careful out there...

I felt you got VERY lucky with the view in my mirror put me in the sinking mode mindset. I am so glad it was not any worse. Your Bud,
Steve

OU812 wrote:I felt you got VERY lucky with the view in my mirror put me in the sinking mode mindset. I am so glad it was not any worse. Your Bud,
Steve

Thanks man... for all your help...

Here's a photo... me flat on my back in this knee bending machine... six hours a day for at least one week... and that's just the beginning...

Can you watch TV from that position? Glad you got the goodies from the Rock.....

OU812 wrote:Can you watch TV from that position? ...

You have no idea how many crappy reruns I've seen over the last week...

So my tips on the use of your crutches have helped? I spent many a week/month/year using them and consider myself an expert.

How fast does that thing bend your knee?

Ves,

The Rockster was nice but, dude, that continuous motion machine is sweet!!! How many horse power? Did you order the sheep skin from Alaska Leather, or is that stock?

(just trying to break up the boredom from the reruns)

Follow the doctor's orders and keep that thing moving. You'll be back in the saddle sooner that way.

I hope you are feeling better, buddy.

The machine is kind of underpowered; goes from 0 to 90 degrees in 15 seconds. Maybe if I rewire it I can cut that time in half... Oh, never mind... it was speed that got me into this position anyway...

Thumbs up for the sheepskin... that's a stock feature...

By the way, I'm going nuts... day-in day-out... same routine... I was looking at bikes, but then I'm like why? If I buy one now it's just going to sit around in the garage, then I use it a few weeks this year if I'm lucky, and then it sits in storage again. At this point my goal is to save my settlement and save some more money over the the year and maybe have enough for an R1200R come spring... If I get the itch to ride I'll just steel my wife's GS500...

My wife says, "Did you learn a lesson? Cause if you didn't learn a lesson, you shouldn't get another bike." On my next bike I'm going to put a sticker over my instruments that says, "HOW FAST DO YOU REALLY NEED TO GO TO ENJOY YOURSELF?" "REMEMBER THE KNEE!" or something like that...