Sauerkraut & Tofuwurst

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Minden - Gordon, Nebraska 15. - 20. August

We left Bob's place and rode to Minden to our first interview for the TV news. Bob went ahead and we followed. Skippy did not want to ride on gravel for now, so I took her bike until we were again on asphalt. The TV interview was short but the guy made a good story out of it. It was broadcasted on the same day in ABC news in half of Nebraska (link).

Essentials of life: whiskey, tobacco, flour, salt, coffee, tea and sugar - what else would one need in the west?

Since we had this late start we faced another hot day of 30+C and riding was not so much fun. Skippy was not yet 100% fine either so we decided to call it a day in Lexington and went camping to the state park. Big mistake! The next day we realized that the campsite was full of tiny and hyper-aggressive mosquitoes. They bugged us in bright daylight in the sun – amazing new species! We tried to survive but had no fun. I escaped into the hot tent and Skippy preferred her hammock. Skippy needed more rest and we would pamper ourselves by staying the next nights in a motel.

Having a break somewhere and again a locomotive from UP ;)

From Lexington I did a short excursion into the neighborhood.

Another evidence of killings - well it got a good background for another bike picture ;)

I got really mixed feelings about this. Should I pity the indians, the settlers or maybe human kind as a general???

Bunch of birds gathering on the road.

Next stop was North Platte, Nebraska. The Country Inn was cheap and had all the luxury we were seeking for. It was also again time for trimming girls. I used the day to explore a little bit the surroundings and went shopping as well.

I visited the Bailey Yard – worlds largest rail yard and started with the Golden Spike Tower. First I went through the gift shop in case of a cool sticker and checked whether they are serious with the 7USD admission fee ... for what please? That was too much for me, the lady was so kind and gave me the leaflet and told me that I can also see the Hump Yard from the street.

I left the building and towards the East Bound Hump Yard (which is in the west). Unfortunately there was no action at the moment, but those hump yards (there is another one in the east side) can handle up to four rail cars per minute.

Golden Spike Tower, North Platte

The East hump - which was west ... confusing?

Plenty of locomotives.

Endless long trains.

Good sign on somebody's front yard. Yes, this is true, and the same problem is happening around the whole world! Please always adopt, never buy from a shop or breeder!!!

The wild wild west was and is romanticized to a huge extend. Of course the little Wolfi found that all fascinating. The events and happenings were nicely documented and typically referred to as "Historic site". It was a story of invasion, chasing locals away, killing, greed and murder. Well, I might repeat myself here, but I lost my appetite of the great wild west.

Bill Cody aka Buffalo Bill - plenty of tourist stuff here. He killed 4280 buffaloes in 8 months and please - what was so great about that?! In today's standards he would be most likely on a top-wanted list and sent to prison!

Skippy tried to find some more suitable riding gear for hot weather but without success. As a consequence we decided to get up the next day at 05:00 in order to ride in the cooler morning air.

Another hot day - good that there was some solid shade.


Also this place had seen better times.

Skippy typically had the eye for berries.

Another stop and we found this river bed with plenty of frogs on it - cute fellows.

In North Platte we left the Pony Express and whatever other trail there was going by and our route went north through the Sand Hill landscape of west Nebraska. It was boring and windy. Hills towards the horizon in whatever direction you look. Typically the landscape was without trees, no houses, only the grass hills and the highway. Skippy remembered a story that some settlers got so depressed in this landscape with the constant wind that they preferred to kill themselves!

The Sand Hills - plenty of green grass and no trees as far as they eye can see.

On those streets it was not enough to watch forward for example to avoid a turtle or an owl jumping over the street (BTW - I was able to rescue the turtle away from the street). It was also very important to watch back as those huge 30t trucks were breathing in Skippy's neck a few times. One trucker kept significantly longer safety distance after one of those heavy breaks and the other used it as an invitation to pass us. Whatever - riding here can be tricky!

We arrived to Gordon and checked-in into the third hotel – Hacienda motel. The first one had a 20USD pet fee and the second did not allow pets at all. Next camping was too far away. That became our cheapest hotel so far, 49.99USD including tax and no pet fee! :)

Camping in Nebraska state park was not that cheap either due to the vehicle permit one must have. That was typically 5USD/bike always 10USD more per night for us. I knew that e.g. in Michigan the state park fee was even 9USD per vehicle (!!!) but still it felt to us like a rip-off. Then the difference between civilized camping and cheap motel became less and less.

A welcome change for the eyes - huge sunflower fields.

Lucky for us - this severe thunderstorm went by us.

Our track: 623km in 3 legs

Finally we discovered some copy-right free music, so this travelogue should be possible to watch in any country!

Click here in case you have trouble, besides our efforts, to watch the video in Youtube.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

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.