Motorcycle Wreck (June 30th, 2024)

It was an absolutely beautiful day, not too many clouds in the sky. It was about 75 degrees out, perfect for riding through the shaded backroads. This was going to be the ride on the way home for my husband and I. The scenic route to going home was because my husband was not a people person; he would rather be home in peace and quiet, but for me, he would do anything to make me happy. Before we were taking off, they all connected Cardos, but my introverted husband only wanted to be connected with just me. By connecting only to me, he made it so I could only hear him as well, so if someone were to need to warn us about something, they wouldn't be able to reach us. As we left, I reminded Ry to stay behind Axel. We got to the back road, and I repeated all the instructions of "don't try to keep up with Marcus, stay behind Axel, and keep watch on Goldie”. As we reached the back road, Marcus started to take off. I said to Ry, “There goes Marcus, don't try and keep up,” as Ry began to go around Axel. I hit Ry on the leg as if to say Stop it, that's not what you're supposed to do. I feel fear coming over me and telling him we need to slow down, even though we weren't even at the speed limit for that road, yet, he continued at the throttle. I continued to lean with him as the curves got a little more random. We get to a point in the road where we stopped seeing the curves coming..

These next few seconds happened all at once, but they played out in my head very slowly, as if we had all the time in the world to just get off the bike, walk next to it, and get back on and keep going. We brake to prepare for the upcoming slight curve dipping to the left. Where there is a wall of mountains climbing up. (Remember, NEVER EVER brake during a curve, it is the most important instruction given in the safety course you have to pass before you get your motorcycle license). We go into the curve, both leaning left, traveling inside, outside, inside, slowly increasing speed as we get through the curve to keep balance. Perfect formation for this curve. Slight celebration on the inside, feeling still nervous. Everything was looking good when we got around the corner. Ry’s helmet is in the way, so I don't see what's happening, but all of a sudden, we're going from that successful curve leaning left, into leaning the opposite direction. I am watching the ground beneath us, watching the lines. We were leaning and leaning, harder and harder. I noticed that the bike was now traveling on the double yellow lines, and my scared feeling turned to pure terror. Everything, including my music, is dead silent.

I can hear my heart pounding in my chest, my head, my ears.

I can hear my heart, my chest,pounding in my head, my ears.

I can hear my heart, my chest, my head,pounding in my ears.

I'm leaning with him, hard as I can, when we passed the lines on the road, drifting into the left lane. I began to worry about what could happen if we didn't make it. I scream "WE'RE NOT WEARING GEAR JACKETS!"I decided at the moment we were in the middle of the left lane, that we could get into a collision if someone were to be coming from the other direction, we could slide, or we could hit the guardrail. I made the decision to stop helping lean and begin preparing for the worst-case scenario. As I am remembering all the videos I had seen about how to protect yourself in a crash, I tucked my elbows in, gripped Ry as hard as I could, and ducked my head down to make myself as small as possible. I am praying in my head that it turns into screaming into the Cardo, repeating, “Please put a bubble around us! Please keep us safe! Please don’t let us die! Please put a bubble around us! Please protect Ry! Please protect me! Don't let us die! Don’t let us die! Don’t let us die!” Then everything is black and quiet. I don’t even hear anything, not even the pounding in my chest, head, or ears.

Riding with a group is super important because if you do go down on a back road, you might not be found right away. Who do you ride with?