Richard Russell Scenic Highway Lowside

[autiger]

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take a spin up to the Boggs Creek day use area to try out my hammock and new tarp. This is just off Georgia highway 129 and a few miles before Neels gap on Blood Mountain. While I was there, it rained which was the perfect test for my tarp. After a long relaxing repose in the hammock, the rain stopped and I packed up to head back to Cleveland. It was later in the day but not too late, so I decided to take the long way around and do the Blood Mountain RR Scenic loop. This is one of my favorite rides and I've done it many times.

The roads were damp in places but overall conditions were good. That being the case, I was riding at a spirited pace but not over the top by any means.

Long story shortened, all was good until the two curves right before the Raven Cliffs Trailhead parking turnoff on RR Parkway. The first left curve is one of my favorites and it was sunny and dry so I zipped through as usual with no problems. As I exited that curve, the next right hander is heavily shaded and I could see the roads were a bit damp. No problem so I slowed to about 40mph to be on the safe side.

As I entered the curve, I noticed something on the road more than dampness. At that point I was sliding down the road behind my bike which seemed to be sliding faster and farther. While sliding, I was surprised how painless the whole experience was. When I stopped, fortunately I was still in my lane. My bike landed in the middle of the road and was straddling the yellow lines.

I immediately got up and tugged the bike in the other lane to try and pick it up. After quite a while struggling with the beast, a car I had previously overtaken arrived on the scene and the young fellow driving asked if I was OK. I assured him I was, and asked him to help me pick the bike up; he obliged. How embarrassing.

There has been so much hiking since the trails reopened, many people park on the sides of the road and that day there was a lot of mud tracks on the road. The previous rains had smoothed the mud but not completely washed it away; it was really hard to see, kind of like black ice. When I went down, I was not leaning that far and the thing just squirted out from under me.

The bad news is my favorite gloves are trashed and my favorite jacket has two holes in the lower arm and shoulder area. Also, my bike has some cosmetic damage that may or may not get fixed. If I hadn't had frame sliders, I don't want to think about how bad it would have been on the bike.

The good news is I was wearing full leather; I even had my knee pucks on. I didn't receive any injuries at all. In fact, I wasn't even sore the next day which was a mild surprise due to my advanced age; I remember watching the Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan show.

And the best news of all, I wasn't riding my brand new Tracer 900! I was on my 50K miles FZ1!

 

[vincep]

Good you are unhurt.

[betoney]

Glad to hear that you are doing ok, at least you were able to walk away from the crash.

[knyte]

When something like this happened on my V-Strom, it resulted in #4 and #5 metatarsal fractures in my left foot.  Not realizing that, I rode it home.  Damn bike is a HEAVY sob.

That could have been faaaar worse, glad to hear it was the best of a bad situation and that your season isn't over:)

Edited July 24, 2020 by knyte

[maximo]

Wow, all things considered you came out ok!  Hooray for wearing proper riding gear and prepping the bike.

[autiger]

14 hours ago, knyte said:

When something like this happened on my V-Strom, it resulted in #4 and #5 metatarsal fractures in my left foot.  Not realizing that, I rode it home.  Damn bike is a HEAVY sob.

That could have been faaaar worse, glad to hear it was the best of a bad situation and that your season isn't over:)

Definitely could have been worse. My gear did a phenomenal job. I hear you on the foot injuries. I dropped the FZ1 in a parking lot about three years ago -- barely moving -- and it fell on my big toe. Had my cowboy boots on. At least I looked cool falling. That took over a year to heal. 

Dress for the slide.

[johnmark101]

You mentioned seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.  I am also an older rider and we older guys and gals do not heal up nearly as quickly compared to our younger days.  Glad you came out unscathed.  It can happen so fast sometimes that we do not realize we have crashed until we are already down.  

For what it is worth, I think going up Blood mountain from the south side is about as good as it gets.   

[banderso]

Glad to hear you are doing well.

I am from Woodstock GA and love the N GA Mountains.

Now reside in S. Indiana that the wife can be close to the kids/grandkids....

 

RR is a favorite road.

And GA dirt is slick when damp....☹️

66 this month. Yep, time marches on......

See ya

bill

 

Edited July 29, 2020 by banderso
Correct spelling

[rodb47]

Glad you're ok