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Living Our Dream Tour (Part IX) – “Living Our Dream” vs. “Living Our Reality”
Living Our Dream Tour (Part IX) – “Living Our Dream” vs. “Living Our Reality”
The sun was shining, the temperature was comfortable (even in our riding suits and helmets), the views were amazing – we even saw a bear... Then reality set in. On August 11th, twelve miles outside of Tok, Alaska, Samurai-Rider (my wife) hit a gravel patch on a chip-seal surfaced road and lost control of her front wheel at approximately 50-55 miles per hour. Unfortunately, before she hit the ground and could begin to slide, the front wheel ran out of loose gravel and made contact with solid surface. The front wheel grabbed and threw the bike, tail over front, on an almost sideways angle and pitched my wife over the bike – who landed on her face and left shoulder*. The surface change – along with the speed – gripped the front wheel so completely that it ripped the left fork away from the center axle. Hearing this all happen over my helmet intercom was worse than getting punched in the face. Hearing my wife scream and every sound of pain as she tumbled down the highway was a very unpleasant experience that I hope never to repeat. (This entire incident was much worse for my wife, who amazingly was more worried about me than herself.) I turned around and raced back to her as quick as I could. She did not loose consciousness and had no life-threatening cuts or internal damage (we would find out later that she did break her left shoulder in 4 places and cracked it in 3 places). At this moment I can not stress enough how good it was that we were in full riding gear – head to toe, helmets to boots and everything in between. If she had one piece of this gear missing her injuries would have been much more serious if not fatal. It's never good to crash your motorbike; however, crashing 12 miles outside of Tok, AK, turned out okay. Five minutes after the crash a SUV came down the road and the woman inside offered an amazing amount of assistance. She drove my wife to the medical clinic in Tok and sent both the State Police and Tow Truck back to me. Robyn took many hours out of her day to make sure both my wife and I were taken care of. Her generosity was phenomenal! The next day we were able to get my wife and my wife's bike to Fairbanks, AK, and dropped off at the BMW Dealer – The Outpost Alaska (The Outpost Alaska) where we got an estimate for repairs and worked out the details with my insurance company; and, sought preliminary treatment for my wife's shoulder and made arrangements to fly to my parents home in Pennsylvania to give my wife plenty of time to heal. With major construction over the next five years (on the USA side) and over 100 miles of gravel road (on the Canadian side) “The Top Of The World Highway” and “The Taylor Highway” between Dawson City, YT, Canada, and Tok, AK, USA, is a challenging ride and I am so very proud of what my wife accomplished. With everything that happened I can easily understand if my wife wanted to quit motorbike riding all together. However, her spirit is not easily broken. She has already told me that she wants to ride again and see all the US States by motorcycle, but would like to get some additional rider training (specifically off-road training). Our “Living Our Dream” tour is now on temporary hold, but we hope to be back on the road as-soon-as possible. I would just like to say “Thank You” to all our friends, old and new, who have showed us such wonderful generosity and support. Thank you, ride safe, and keep in touch. -Michael and Jasmine (Samurai-Rider) *I was riding in front of my wife when the accident happened – I am piecing the accident details together from my wife’s account, damage to the motorcycle and her gear, the marks left on the road, along with what the State Trooper could piece together from the same information. Photos taken at my wife’s request. http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0001.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0002.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0003.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0004.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0005.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0006.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0007.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0008.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0009.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0010.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0011.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0012.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0013.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0014.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0015.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0016.jpg http://www.mikesworldtour.com/advrid..._0827_0017.jpg |
Hi Mike & Jasmine,
Sorry to hear about the incident with your wife Jasmine. I felt that she is in good spirit and will continue to fulfill your DREAMs. BTW, I'm new to this forum and found you as I'm browsing the site. I'm not sure if you still remember me when we met at Ballarat during the Rawhide Rally in '2005. Our tent where side-by-side and glad to help you replacing your rear tire before you took off towards with your BIG Dreams. Wishing Jasmine for her quick recovery... Ride safe, Gery |
God bless Jasmine and you...keep on...
Aditya RTW! |
Hi Mike & Jasmine,
Sorry to hear about the incident Jasmine had. I wish Jasmine a speedy recovery from her injuries and I hope you will be able to continue your dreamride soon. Mike, take good care of her ! |
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