Motorcycle hit car head on at Bald Peak Mountain Road

[SaltLick]

At around 4pm today i was on my way to the top of bald peak mountain road, turned a corner and there was fire trucks, ambulance and a cop turning everyone around. They closed off the road. I asked what happend, i could see it up ahead one mangled bike and a white sheet over someone I thought. Motorcycle hit a car head on going too wide around a sharp turn.  The cop said it happend about 30 minutes before i got there.  Dam, thats rough. On my way back down i tried to give motorcycles i passed the turn around signal cause once your up there and they stop you its a little hard to turn around. I think i was confusing people more than helping so i quit.   

[NEIKOS]

Gah!  Hope it wasn't anyone we know . . .

Bad enough to happen to anyone but  . . .

RIP rider.

[JohnnyDucati]

Jiminy Cricket.

I was there at 3:03 today.  took this photo.  I wonder if I saw the very guy?. 

I'm sitting on the park bench chillin' and looking at Mt. Hood.  I saw a red/yellow 90's-ish BMW sportbike going west, and then I saw 2 squidly-looking sportbikers go by east bound.  One was maybe an R1/R6 (blue) and the other I don't remember what.

Spooky.  Condolences to the rider & family/friends.



I don't know what the deal was today:  I encountered more idiots and squids than I have in long time.  A guy on a ZX11 in shorts.  A skinny girl riding a 80's project bike on I-205 in Chuck Taylors AND NO GLOVES!  All the HD guys in their safety attire made by Fruit-of-the-Loom.

I suspect the crappy weather in the morning made all the Sunday riders impatient, then when the sun came out they hit the road with vengeance and stupidy in generous measure.

To cap off what would have been a great day:  in Oregon City, I came within inches, INCHES, of getting T-Boned by a lard-ass driving a Ford Escort that just farcking BLEW through a red light.  I was behind a Dodge Ram, waiting to turn left onto Washington St. from 14th, near old Tonys Fish Market.  Our light had just turned green, the truck goes, and I start to go . . . I look left far into my turn as I'm crossing the white pedestrian cross walk, and I see this fat-ass Danica Patrick wanna-be in her hot-rod Escort going balls out with the hammer down with me in her gunsights.  Our eyes locked and I saw her mouth drop open into a gape . . .

Well, I called on the mercy of St. Brembo, and sure enough came to a stop just short of the intersection as she zoomed by, not even slowing (or swerving) or even thinking of stopping.  I believe she missed me by less than a foot. 

I think what saved the day is looking far into the turn.  From now on, I am treating all traffic lights as "Suggestions Only".  I'm gonna double-check both ways before I go.

Well, I sat there in the middle of road dumb-founded for a 1/2 minute, swallowed my heart back into my chest, and went on home.

I hope all you guys & gals stay safe out there.

best regards,

JohnnyD

[Mother]

it seems like a damn trend these last few days

not only did I go to several bike accidents this weekend

but

I got ran off the road on my way to work on Springwater at Metzler park

road makes a sharp 90 degree corner there and some asshole tweaker shaved the corner

and I found the ditch

Very rarely have I ever wanted to actually murder a mothermake the beast with two backser but yesterday was one of those times

[NEIKOS]

Other than pissed you OK?  Bike OK?

[jdubbs32584]

Other than pissed you OK?  Bike OK?

When he told me about it he said everything was fine, just soiled.

[Visolara]

When he told me about it he said everything was fine, just soiled.

He soiled his pants again?

I hate a dirty taint!

[jdubbs32584]

He soiled his pants again?

I hate a dirty taint!

go clean it for him then

[NEIKOS]

go clean it for him then

That visual may just have scarred me for life. 

[Betty Rage]

What a terrible thing. RIP fellow rider.

Be careful out there guys, you may be within your lines but cars aren't always.

[ryandalling]

Sunday, I was riding that back road between Washington Park and the Zoo. Three bicyclists are coming at me in the left lane.... at the last minute they swerve and cross the road right in front of me.. so they can take these jumps on the trail. I was only doing 30 or so... cause the road sucks... but I had to swerve off the road to miss them... and I ran over a couple 2 inch thick branches on the side of the road... it kicked up and smacked me in the leg... leaving a bruise. I almost turned around to chase them. I was so pissed off. I didn't see any damage to the bike.  Damn tweakers.

[duc_fan]

it seems like a damn trend these last few days

not only did I go to several bike accidents this weekend

but

I got ran off the road on my way to work on Springwater at Metzler park

road makes a sharp 90 degree corner there and some asshole tweaker shaved the corner

and I found the ditch

Very rarely have I ever wanted to actually murder a mothermake the beast with two backser but yesterday was one of those times

The church I attend has their campout at Metzler most years, so I'm familiar with that corner/intersection... I hate that bloody corner.  I always approach it expecting to get hit.

=============================
On another tangent... went on a group ride to Detroit Lake on Saturday.  Me, Dad, my brother Dave, our friend Matt, Craig & Keith, and their dad Ed.  I think I'm cursed.  No, I didn't wreck.  But... once again, I didn't get past Ripplebrook.  Ed, Craig, Keith, and myself got to the Ripplebrook parking lot and stopped to wait.  Matt pulls in a minute later.  We waited maybe 5 minutes... okay, it's my Dad and bro who haven't arrived yet (Dad was on my brother Tom's CBR600RR).  Even if they've gotten stuck behind some of the traffic we passed, they should've been there already.  Ed is gonna ride back to see what's up, the remaining 4 of us will wait 15 minutes then ride back too.  Well, before Ed even got out of the parking lot, a car pulled in to tell us a rider had gone off the road.  And of course, it's either my Dad or my brother (I hadn't thought of the possibility that an unrelated rider had gone off and maybe Dad & Dave had stopped to help).  Faaahdge.

So we all head back down 224 (cautiously).  I was the last one back to the spot.  I see everyone standing around and all bikes upright on kickstands... then I realised the right-hand headlight on the CBR looked messed up.  Dad had gone off into the ditch, and on his way off, he clipped one of those little metal reflector posts, which annihilated the right-hand-side of the CBR.  Unbelievably, Dad had no serious injuries, just a couple minor bruises on his knees and shins, and some dirt down the back of his jacket.  Bike wasn't rideable, however, and I wound up riding back to Estacada, phoned Mom to let her know what was up, rode back to the house to get the 'Burban and utility trailer, then I drove out to pick up the peices (with Mom riding shotgun... she wanted to check Dad over for injuries personally).

We're not sure, but the bike may be totalled.  That post cleaned out all the plastics on the right-hand-side, broke most of the control gear on the throttle side, bent the rear brake lever beyond use, smashed the radiator into the frame, scraped up the side of the engine case, and scratched the finish on the frame.  Frame doesn't have any visible dents or cracks, but the finish has clearly been scratched (which is often the single thing that "totals" a bike).  We'll see what Beaverton Honda-Yamaha has to say about it, because we dropped it off there later that day.


The Corner...
Almost exactly 20 miles from the Shell station in Estacada is where this corner is.  Has a nasty little "whoop" or "dipsy-doodle" in the middle of it.  I know it kinda unsettled my bike, but I stayed in my lane.  It was fairly cool & damp that morning, so I wasn't really pushing it.  I still think I was doing at least 55, though.  Anyway, Dad saw Dave hit the whoop and watched the Triumph get unsettled, so he slowed down and was tryibng to pick a line, but when he hit it, he says the bike started sliding sideways once the suspension unloaded after coming out of the dip.  He tried to straighten it up and let it grip again, then push back into the corner... it started sliding again.  Did this twice when he decided to just aim for the ditch on the other side of the road and ride it out (either that or lowside it).  As he straightened up to go offroading, he saw and tried to miss the reflector post, to no avail.  Cleaned out the side of the bike, then he rode it at least another 50-70 feet (from looking at tire tracks in the ditch) while slowing down before it dropped on its side at low speed and Dad just rolled off.  Experience in scramblers and dirt bikes paid off here, because he managed to stay in control until it bucked him off as the bike went over and came to a stop.

When Mom & I were there in the 'burb loading what was left of the CBR into the trailer, I heard the familiar sound of a sport twin coming... blip-blip-wah-wah, I turned around to see an Aprilia RSV Mille in the middle of the wrong lane trying to recover after hitting the same dip that sent Dad sliding.  He managed to herd it back into his own lane, then cautiously throttled on into the next corner.  Apparently while Dave & Dad were waiting for me to get back, they saw a number of sportbikes do the exact same thing.  One of them quipped to the other: "Man, if we stay here long enough, we're gonna be picking another rider up outta that ditch!"

So please take note: if you're going out Hwy 224 to make the Detroit Lake run, about 20 miles out of Estacada you need to be wary of a corner with a nasty whoop in it that'll unsettle you and send you into the next lane or the ditch if you hit it goin' too fast.  Then there's my favorite corner, a couple miles past Ripplebrook, which drops down and hangs a tight right across a bridge (this is where I went offroading on the SS last year).

One of these days, I need to make a point of actually getting all the way to Detroit Lake on the motorcycle.

=============================
My condolences to the family of the rider on Bald Peak Rd.  I could've very easily lost somebody this weekend as well.

What we do has certain unmitigable risks...  keep it shiny side up, away from cages, and ride safe everyone.

[NEIKOS]

You're not invited on the 16th 

Glad you dad's OK.

And . . . my grandpa's philosophy on life
http://web.me.com/orducrider/Site/Writings/Entries/2006/6/1_Grandpas_Story.html

Oh, and in case you ever wondered - brake cleaner in the eye stings just a tad less than in an open wound. 

[krolik]

Dang Dan, I went out 224 to Detroit a couple of weeks ago and had no problems, I don't remember and dips in the corners causing trouble.

[Mother]

Damn, I should have spoke up sooner 

I went to christmas valley last weekend and while headed out there on 224

I noted the same "whoop" and mentioned it to my pops

it is a nasty little affair that in mid turn unloads the suspension

unfortunately

it is not the only one

I noted 3

and remember saying to my pops that we wouldn't be headed to detroit lake in the near future cuz that would take somebody out

so shit, I appologize for not posting up sooner