The End of our Adventure...............

Around 2:30 pm on Wednesday, May 18th 2016, we were travelling down highway 87 N (a four lane) between Eden and San Angelo Texas in heavy rain when Dave's Honda began to fishtail with no warning due to the tires hydro-planing over the smooth water filled tire tracks.  It was like the bike was instantly on glare ice. Bev was behind and saw the bike and Dave move sideways on the highway with both eventually hitting the pavement.  Dave was going about 100 km/hr went he hit the pavement.  Bev swerved to miss Dave, fishtailed a bit, and managed to regain control stopping her bike about 300 metres up the highway.  Dave landed on his butt and slid for about a 100 metres.  The road was so slippery that he didn't even rip his rubber rain pants! Indeed, the wet pants may even have helped decrease friction. Both ended up in the ditch at the side of the road, no cars or trucks were behind us!!  Dave and Bev met between the bikes with a hug and disbelief that he was actually walking.

We have included a couple of sad pictures.  The fairing and handlebars were destroyed, along with the crash bars (see closeup).  We saved the GPS.

Shortly after the crash a number of concerned Texans stopped to ensure we were OK, Some were nurses.  The local sheriff and other policemen were soon on the scene and arranged for a flatbed to pick up the remains of Dave's Goldwing.  He wouldn't take Bev's bike and so she had to follow for 50 miles in the rain.  Dave has heavy bruising and deep muscle pain....BUT, he is OK and we are so thankful for that.  Thank goodness we believe in full riding gear.

We fly back to Toronto tomorrow, Saturday, and here is a list of what kept us busy the last couple of days.
1. At the San Angelo dealership, the Goldwing was formally considered a write-off.
2. We then sold it to a scrapper for $100. We have never had collision insurance as we figured we'd be dead if in an accident!!  Thank god we were wrong.
3. We got a hotel and rented a car for scooting around.
4. We cancelled Dave's bike insurance, after removing the plate.
5. We arranged to have the Harley shipped back to Toronto.
6. We bought a large suitcase from Walmart (when on a bike, all your stuff in in pieces).
7. We got flights back to Toronto.

To answer your obvious question...the answer is YES, Dave is done with biking.....Bev is not.
Again, we remain grateful that this accident has only involved time and money.  We have grandchildren we want to hug.
This is the final posting on this blog.  For you bikers, have fun and please be safe.