Panic in Death Valley

A quick teaser of what happened next ...

Minden, Nebraska and Skippy's accident 8Aug - 15Aug 2014

In all the places of the world to have a crash with a bike, what could be a better place then to have it in front of a machine shop with ALL kinds of tools?!

We are VERY THANKFUL to Bob & Peggy who took us into their home, gave us a private room (bigger then in some hotels we have been!), borrowed us their car, guided us to the emergency clinic, took care of girls, provided us some food, let us use their internet and phone and cheered us up!

Let's go back to what happened.

It was Friday morning the 8^th of August. We rode along some of the super-straight asphalt roads along Pony Express and Oregon trail when I thought it would be a good idea to ride for a while on gravel roads and save a few kilometers on the asphalt. The sun was shining, it was warm, the sky was blue with only a few clouds – in short a good day to ride. The gravel roads were wide, it looked fine and I rode it with almost 100kmh (60mph). It was fun. Then there was the one spot where I noted that the bike was swimming on the gravel - a cool feeling of drifting with the sidecar.

By the next stop sign I waited for Skippy and since she did not come I went back to check on her. As many times before - so I thought - most likely she would ride by me full speed just after I made a U-turn and tell me later that she only fixed her gloves or something like that. Well, not this time. This time I saw the bike almost in the ditch, Skippy standing besides it and crying, one sidecase laying in the middle of the street, the topcase some few meters forward, the other sidecase missing. Shattered windscreen all over the places, blinker here, other parts there and her Barbie mascot beheaded, as the head was laying a few meters away from the topcase.

Shock!

I checked quickly on Skippy that she does not bleed anywhere and then I remembered to take a few pictures before moving the stuff aside, that no other fast truck would hit it and damage even more. 

Stuff all over the road - luckily there was little traffic right now.

 

Side case landed a few meters away from the bike in the ditch.

A few seconds later Bob – who lived in the next house – came with his ATV to look what is going on. He was instantly very helpful, went back to his home to get a car so we could transport Skippy into the cool house. Then he came back with his pick-up and we loaded all the sidecases and loose parts we could find onto it. Luckily the bike started and I could ride it slowly into the shed. Then we came back and I rode my bike back with the girls to the shed as well.

There Skippy was sitting on the couch, shaking and full of adrenalin. After a short discussion, Bob and Peggy offered us to use their car so I could drive Skippy to the emergency clinic. It was of course safer than to have Skippy sitting behind me on my bike. Bob had to go to Kearney anyway, so he drove ahead with his car and we followed. We went first to the health clinic but they instantly told us to go to the ER opposite side of the street. Bob was always with us and with Skippy when I managed the formalities at the front desk.

At the ER we had less formalities to take care off before Skippy got called in and hooked-up. Bob was relieved to see that we are now in good hands and he was able to do his own businesses in town. The doctor came – he was a very humorous and funny guy (told me several times to continue the trip alone :D ). Skippy got CT scanned and shortly after the doctor came to tell they didn't find anything alarming, except a tiny spot which they could not explain. Skippy made it to the next round – MRI. Also nothing bad found here just a tiny tumor (a friendly one) – great relief! (Maybe that explains her behavior sometimes??? Ouch - Skippy don't hit me!). She got some happy makers and looked occasionally that she was in trance :D

It was now around 18:00, I had a few chips from the snack machine, but other than that we hadn't had any food since breakfast and we were both starving. Luckily for us a new Hy-Vee had just opened and we got us something to eat before going to pharmacy to get more of those yummy pills for Skippy's pain. Then back to Bob & Peggy and girls. Hertta was missing mommy quite badly and the welcome from her was as great as usual.

I took quickly care of girls, we had something to eat and then dead-tired to bed. Next morning it was time to look at the bike. We moved the bike to the workshop and I started to dismantle it... plenty of damage! I stripped the entire front parts off until we saw the front support frame which was totally bent. Rob came to help and with a two meter long crow bar he moved the frame back into its position. Then Bob brought plenty of special two-component glue and I started to glue the broken headlights back together as well as some of the other plastic pieces.

In the end of the first day it started to look already better and I was sure we can fix the essential parts of the fairing. It was clear that the handlebar needed replacement, the foot peg might be weldable, the sidecase mounting kit looked a well-cooked spaghetti, one pannier was seriously out of shape and the locks were damaged. The front fork had tolerance and this was only a loose bearing – fast fixed as all the stuff like handlebar was already dismantled.

Next day we went first to a bike shop to get a new helmet for Skippy and check whether they have a handlebar and foot peg. It seems that inventories became unfeasible some time ago and the helmet selection was not the best. We found a right size, checked it, but the color did not match. They only had black and Skippy had enough of wearing a black helmet as we both think it gets even hotter in sunshine then a light helmet. So we knew what we wanted and ordered it online. One thing done.

Damage report:
Front sub frame bent
Right blinker broken (cable cut out, bulb broken)
Right fairing totally damaged
Windscreen shattered
Windscreen brace shattered
PoV HD Camera lens slightly scratched
Handlebar bent
Handlebar weight screws bent, one was ripped out
Left foot peg broken
Rear sub frame bent
Pannier mounting kit totally bent on all sides
Right side case twisted, lid broken, lock mechanism broken
Top case mounting frame broken
Barbie beheaded and helmet damaged.

New helmet on doctor's order.

I posted on our blog (link here) and a few other places to see whether we can get missing spareparts at least used or even as a donation (I remembered how many parts I had back home in Finland for the V-Strom and my GS which went later to trash or as a “gift” to a friend). Anyway, back to the work shop and I started to assemble the bike with the fixed parts.

Wolfi on Skype - getting things organized.

Fixing front sub frame.

Bob discussing with Rob how to fix the bent frame.

My new friend!

Bob hammering the mounting kit back into shape and testing how it fits.

Oh no - rear sub frame was also bent!

Old and new handlebar

Building up the foot peg.

It looked like that, but since we got a spare for it we throw this one away.

I combined a grocery shopping trip with sightseeing.

Hy-Vee was our organic fruitarian paradise in Nebraska.

Archway Museum over I-80.

Dobytown - rise and decline.

One of the many animal farms in the state. This one very sad without any green fields!

Camera needed also some fixing.

Skippy on her way to recovery - she can make again great tasting raw dinner :)

As good as new ;)

Hard to capture this loose sand. According to Bob the road caretaker had a big machine and he loved to run it by putting more gravel on the road and grading it to some extend. When I rode one day there were up to 30cm high sand piles in one of the lanes - a death trap for anybody! Even with a car you can easily loose grip and just slide into the ditch.

Almost ready!

Handlebar weights, foot peg and Barbie head still missing.

No more fairings ... no more "Suzi" nor girls

... and my Tarantino fan lost the "Pussy Ride" sign!

!

Bob and Peggy's fantastic garden - great to see that people grow their own produce!

Soo good :)

 The repair took about one week and we were good to go.

New HJC helmet

Bob gave me a tour to his fields. Here's his irrigation system.

Our heroes – Bob & Peggy!

BIG THANKS to Kirk A. and Tracy B. for giving us spare parts Free-Of-Charge and they even paid the postage! Great guys!!!

A short travelogue from the events in Minden.

Click here if you have trouble to watch the video in youtube.

Nebraska and “Hawthorne” (a.k.a Plainview) 2Aug - 8Aug 2014

All five of us were totally exhausted from the heat and the continuous stop&go of following the sights of the Pony Express and Oregon trail. We entered finally the campground at Rock Creek Station Historical Park were we found a decent place to pitch our tent. The sanitary facilities were as good as new, clean and the showers had high pressure with perfect temperature. With the last energy we had we managed to pitch our tent, take care of girls and make some food. Then to bed and seconds later we were all snoring.

The next morning we spent some time at Rock Creek Station before leaving the Pony Express and heading north to Plainview, Nebraska – a city in which most of the movie Nebraska was shot. The days got hotter and Skippy had some trouble to stay focused. She was still riding in her normal gear. She needs to overcome her shopping-phobia and get some protective gear for hot days.

Preparing a building for moving.

Yeah - a different view besides corn and soy!

Rock Creek Station.

Interior of the house.

Rock Creek toll bridge and ruts in the steep hill from all the wagons.

Friend?

We "upgraded" from 1/2 quart to 1 quart sized ice cream (about 1/2 l to 1l) :D

It was difficult to find a campground in the area of Columbus. We decided to stay one night at the free municipal camping which offers electricity, water, a vault toilet but no showers.

We stayed two nights at the Chilvers park in Plainview where camping is for free (they even offer free electric hook-up and restrooms). We got lucky and could take a shower for free in the municipal swimming pool at the first day. The second day they closed early due to a severe thunderstorm! We got once more wet, cool lightning show and our tent got a free wash. Lucky for us no tornadoes (the following slogan came to my mind: “Roadlife ain't for sissies”).

Pilger – a neighbor city did not get lucky. On the 16^th -18^th of June it was hit by a rare twin tornado which caused two deaths and many injuries (source: Wikipedia).

We became famous in Plainview after one of the city workers (Candy) “discovered” us and got totally excited about what we do. So she called the newspaper guy which was out of town and then got hold of the city administrator. He came the next morning and gave us a free tour through the city and highlighted some of the movie scenes and their related shooting locations. That was pretty cool! Thanks Michael. Let's see if we made it to the Plainview newspaper :D

Thanks to Neil from Arkansas for helping us out with cooking. By the law of Murphy we run out of camping gas in the middle of our cooking and I could not find a new bottle in Plainview. When we left our campsite on the next morning one of the locals a relative of Michael (sorry we forgot your name) who stopped by "taught" us a Nebraskan tradition – he took off his shirt and gave it to Skippy with the words " we take our shirt off for you" :D

Plainview, Nebraska.

Camping in the municipal park.

Hawthorne city sign.

Main street. Fred Astaire used to visit this hotel in his younger years (story).

Plainview reality.

Hawthorne in the movie Nebraska.

Skippy always finds those little creatures :) This one was in the end of its metamorphosis, really cool looking!

Many colorful butterflies.

"Woody's brother's house" at the corner of Plum St and Pilcher Ave.

Country style truck parking in the center lane to grab breakfast ;)

The Klowndoll museum at Plainview.

Is that so?

It was 13:00 when we were ready to leave the city – a pretty late start and then Skippy's bike stalled! The battery was again low. This Li-Io battery did not like the rainy weather and the stop-and-go in the morning after the rain. Well, we were already well trained in jump starting the Suzi and 5 minutes later we left Plainview towards south back to Pony Express. 

Lyra was bored.

Monsanto - a leading producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed and of the herbicide glyphosate (from Wikipedia).

We saw plenty of those signs along the road.

It was good to have a plan and it was better to let go of it, when we realized that we would not make it to the desired campground. We were both tired and the only accommodation nearby were motels. Bad for budget and good for comfort :)

Great outfit on the sidecar and Ural typical, transport by trailer instead of own power?

;)

Walmart's definition of ripe bananas (and Skippy said: they are still raw!).

Real ripe bananas have plenty of dark spots and no green at all! These are much better for digestion and also taste better!

Like in the movies - American style mail boxes.

Really??? a warning sign for this ENORMOUS downhill - LOL!

Oregon trail marker.

Following Pony Express, Oregon and California trail on the back country roads.

US Meat Animal Research Center - a place of outmost animal cruelty!

If two-headed pigs and 6-legged steers fascinate you, consider an educational visit to the US Meat Animal Research Center. They probably don't have those oddities, but you can get an inside peek at the complicated world of keeping America fed with meat. Tasty, healthy meat.

There are thousands of cows, sheep, and pigs at this government facility, where scientists fret about... Spoilage bacteria! Foodborne illness! Contamination! Carcasses and pathogens! More efficient breeding! (source here)

These billboards totally pissed of Skippy! There's no need to intimidate females like that! We saw also much worse ones, just didn't get pictures of those yet...

We saw plenty of these irrigation systems with up to 14 elements. "Nearly half of all water used in USA goes to raising animals for food! 70% of grains and cereals grown in USA are fed to farmed animals." Just think about how many humans those grains and cereals could feed and how easily we could save our only planet by going vegan!!!

Here is a really good infographic about the facts how animal agriculture affects our planet:

Infographic by CulinarySchools.org

The last picture of the Suzi and Skippy with a black helmet.

And then it made KABUMMMMMM!

Our track

Typical Nebraska road layout - a gravel road (dotted grey) every mile and a bigger asphalt road once in a while (distance HWY92 to HWY34 is 20mi = 32km). Please note the breath-taking S-curve on HWY 69 in the middle of the map north of Gresham!

The same spot via Google Earth.

The patterns created by the circular irrigation systems can be seen easily when zoomed in.

And another travelogue:

 Click here if you have trouble to watch the video in youtube.