Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride

Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/)

- Ride Tales (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/)

- - Finding Freedom...World Wide Ride (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ride-tales/finding-freedom-world-wide-ride-65365)

It all went well until 3 km from Asiago. Dan was going about 30 km around a corner and the bike “just went down”. He and the bike slid into the path of a fuel truck in the oncoming lane. Luckily for him he was able to think to pull in his legs and the driver was quick to swerve to avoid running him over completely and only ran over his right foot.

The local people were amazing and got out of their cars to direct traffic, helped me with the bike which was now down in the middle of the road, and called the ambulance. The police were also super helpful and even brought out a Forrest services police officer who spoke perfect English. There was of course a lot of paper work to complete for the police report.

We were very grateful to the truck driver whose skills saved Daniel’s life and limbs. Thankfully we also had our friends Jay, Leanne, and Michael here to deal with the gear and the bike and help Dan to get around. It was quite a stressful hour for me worrying how serious Daniel’s injuries could be. Jay is an RCMP who has a specialty in accident investigation. He says he saw the layer of cow manure on the shaded wet road that caused the front wheel to give out. They transport it by the truckload along this road and it leaks out. Also of note the guardrail area on this corner is piled with plastic bits from the frequent accidents here.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5655/...de660a41_c.jpg road trip day 2 15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/666/2...fb56baa5_c.jpg DSC05122 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/720/2...019b1c17_c.jpg road trip day 2 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5716/...567742aa_z.jpg road trip day 2 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We headed to the hospital where we met Daniel on his way back from seeing the Orthopedic surgeon. He and the resident both spoke perfect English and carefully went over all the xray films with Daniel. Incredibly nothing is broken. I think this is due to his Daytona boots! His foot survived a full fuel truck with only bruising.

He was given an instruction sheet and while reading out load he said “ no weight bearing with the cast for 5 days?” The surgeon said “ keep reading”! They wanted him in the splint immobilized and on injectable blood thinners for 2 weeks and not to ride the bike at all. It’s a good thing he travels with his personal physician!

I was sent over to pay the bill for the ambulance ride, ER visit, X rays and CD ROM, and consultation with the Orthopedic surgeon….105 Euros! In Canada a foreigener can’t get in the door of ER for under 2000$.

The guys were human crutches and helped Dan out to the bike.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5722/...89ff76e3_c.jpg road trip day 2 19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

He rode the bike the 35 km to Bassano de Grappa with the splint on. We then helped him up to the room and cut off the splint to apply ice. We brought him beer and food and then of course went out to check out the town. It is really amazing he is not even in that much pain. The damage to the bike is all to the rack and luggage, but all of it seams fixable. It was not from the fall, but from the bike being hit by the truck.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5734/...8719169a_c.jpg road trip day 2 20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/716/2...2ff7a2a6_c.jpg road trip day 2 21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5620/...dcfe0b7f_c.jpg road trip day 2 23 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

After a night of ice, beer, and Advil Dan was able to get his boot back on today and so off we went.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5706/...d6215d2e_c.jpg road trip day 2 62 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Then it was off to the Gavia pass (number 5 in Europe). Here the hairpins are one after the other, the road is very narrow at times (2 bikes can just pass each other), and there are often no guardrails. The other and the biggest problem is the cyclists especially when they were stopped on both sides of the road at the apex of the hairpins…a bit of a challenge needless to say.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/740/2...0a0ba2f8_z.jpg Screen Shot 2015-10-01 at 4.01.20 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5652/...3a7bc3f6_c.jpg road trip day 3 50 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/653/2...3e029d89_c.jpg road trip day 3 53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr