TLDR:
I'm OK, the bike is good mechanically, left fairing & bag are bad but can be taped up enough to (I believe) make it home. Deer is not OK.
Longer story:
My plan leaving the National today was to run to the coast, head north up 101, circle the Olympic Peninsula, then meander east, stopping in the Black Hills before finally making it home the Sunday after next.
Bambi (actually, a pregnant doe) changed all that.
On Highway 38 heading west, about 3 miles east of Reedsport (after just passing an elk viewing area and seeing none, ironically), she came from my left as I was rounding a right hand corner and smacked into the left mid fairing, bounced off my leg, and knocked the left Givi saddlebag off the Happy Trails rack. Somehow I did not go down. Stopped the bike in, honestly, a but of a sketchy spot where I couldn't get off. I looked back to see what was left of the deer in the opposite lane and my bag, still intact, in my lane. Intact, anyway, until a freaking minivan ran straight over it. Of course, it was the bag containing my clothes.
A guy stopped to help me push the bike across the road to a safer, more stable location, where I start assessing myself, the bike damage, and figuring out next steps. Meanwhile, I'm getting attention from Oregon DOT, Reedsport Fire Dept, and Oregon State Police. After assuring them that I was (physically, somehow) OK, and that i thought the bike could make the 3 miles in to town, the trooper helped gather what was left of my bag & clothes, threw them in his truck, and followed me in, just in case something proved wrong with the bike. We made it in to town just fine, found a NAPA parking lot, and dropped my gear while I tried to figure out what was next.
The bag's bottom was in amazingly good shape and it still snapped back in to the rack securely. The lid, however...not so much. We did recover enough pieces where I've been able to jigsaw puzzle and Gorilla tape it pretty well together. The plastic Givi latch did break, however, so it's being held shut with a NAPA spider bungee.
I'm now in a way overpriced room in town, continuing to tape up the fairing and looking for more hidden damage. But (knock on wood), I am hopeful I can still limp the bike home. (Is limping 2000 miles really limping?)
So amazed I'm still alive, let alone in one piece and able to share my cautionary tale. This may very well be the last long solo bike trip I do...too many things have happened the last 5 years.
i hope I've taken all the bad luck for the team and nobody else has such a story on their return trIp. It truly was an awesome National and a bucket list trip to ride out here...until now
I'm OK, the bike is good mechanically, left fairing & bag are bad but can be taped up enough to (I believe) make it home. Deer is not OK.
Longer story:
My plan leaving the National today was to run to the coast, head north up 101, circle the Olympic Peninsula, then meander east, stopping in the Black Hills before finally making it home the Sunday after next.
Bambi (actually, a pregnant doe) changed all that.
On Highway 38 heading west, about 3 miles east of Reedsport (after just passing an elk viewing area and seeing none, ironically), she came from my left as I was rounding a right hand corner and smacked into the left mid fairing, bounced off my leg, and knocked the left Givi saddlebag off the Happy Trails rack. Somehow I did not go down. Stopped the bike in, honestly, a but of a sketchy spot where I couldn't get off. I looked back to see what was left of the deer in the opposite lane and my bag, still intact, in my lane. Intact, anyway, until a freaking minivan ran straight over it. Of course, it was the bag containing my clothes.
A guy stopped to help me push the bike across the road to a safer, more stable location, where I start assessing myself, the bike damage, and figuring out next steps. Meanwhile, I'm getting attention from Oregon DOT, Reedsport Fire Dept, and Oregon State Police. After assuring them that I was (physically, somehow) OK, and that i thought the bike could make the 3 miles in to town, the trooper helped gather what was left of my bag & clothes, threw them in his truck, and followed me in, just in case something proved wrong with the bike. We made it in to town just fine, found a NAPA parking lot, and dropped my gear while I tried to figure out what was next.
The bag's bottom was in amazingly good shape and it still snapped back in to the rack securely. The lid, however...not so much. We did recover enough pieces where I've been able to jigsaw puzzle and Gorilla tape it pretty well together. The plastic Givi latch did break, however, so it's being held shut with a NAPA spider bungee.
I'm now in a way overpriced room in town, continuing to tape up the fairing and looking for more hidden damage. But (knock on wood), I am hopeful I can still limp the bike home. (Is limping 2000 miles really limping?)
So amazed I'm still alive, let alone in one piece and able to share my cautionary tale. This may very well be the last long solo bike trip I do...too many things have happened the last 5 years.
i hope I've taken all the bad luck for the team and nobody else has such a story on their return trIp. It truly was an awesome National and a bucket list trip to ride out here...until now