An unfortunate end to our trip... Part 1: The Accident

As of June 29th, we had been on the road for 27 days and ridden over 7,000 miles.

We had ridden through 20 states and seen deserts (way too much desert!), snow capped mountains, temperate rain forest, breathtaking geologic structures, impossibly huge Sequoias, the Pacific Ocean, and what we considered an epic storm. 

Desert 15 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 Redwoods along the coast in northern C

alifornia

Coming out of Sequoia National Forest, we saw a controlled burn, and too many forests that had been devastated by uncontrolled forest fires.

We rode through miles of orchards in California, surrounded by brown land that wants to be desert - discussions about water conservation have taken on a whole new meaning to us.
We were both thrilled when we rode through a mountain pass and wound up in an area that was cool and green!

That night we had planned to stay in Eagle Butte SD. We arrived around 7pm, got something to eat and filled up the bikes.  Neither of us felt comfortable there. I have worked with the homeless and addicts in one capacity or another for the last 20 years - I am not easy to intimidate..... but I felt we would be taking a risk staying there.

We don't like being on the road at dusk, but we decided riding 80 minutes to the next closest hotel in an actual city would be best, and we would at least be off the road before dark.  We rode with an open communicator link, so there would be no delay if either of us needed to warn the other.

I wanted to stop to take a picture, so I had slowed down and was looking for a place to the right to pull off, and Sam was watching for deer. I didn't see a spot to pull over, so I looked up to do a deer scan...and saw a deer on the double yellow line coming at me head first.

Sam said he saw it come to the road, look at me and headed right for me. It happened so fast he couldn't even warn me.

I think I remember saying a Very Bad word, and I'm sure I lost a split second of braking as my mind tried to wrap itself around a deer running down the middle of the road at me.
It's amazing how many thoughts went through my head so quickly - I remember thinking there was NO way I was going to avoid hitting it, that I needed to shed as much speed as possible before impact (Yay MSF training!), and evaluating my escape options.

Sam said that I swerved right, and the deer changed it's trajectory as I changed mine.
I don't remember swerving, hitting the deer or tumbling down the road. The police report said I came to rest 144 feet from the point of impact.  

Next thing I knew, I was lying on my stomach, Sam gently put his hand on my back and told me an ambulance was on the way. I knew I was pretty badly injured, and I remember wondering why it didn't hurt more.

 It hurt to breathe, so I was taking very shallow breaths. I felt a rattle when I took a breath. I wondered if it was blood in my lungs, and if I should let someone know.  I remember thinking Sam was having a Really Shitty Day, and I didn't want to give him anything else to worry about. There is nothing that could be done for me right then, and I knew the EMTs would recognize it when they checked me over.

I don't know if I was falling asleep or going in and out of consciousness, but it seemed like it only took a few seconds for the ambulance to get there.

I remember being rolled onto my back (which hurt like hell).

I remember the EMTs taping my helmet to the back board, and thinking how silly that must look.

I remember the Sheriff telling Sam he didn't want me to go to the reservation hospital, and a discussion about it. 

The accident happened on the edge of the Cheyenne River Reservation, so a non-reservation ambulance was not allowed to pick me up. The reservation ambulance would not transport me the mile to the reservation line to meet the non-reservation ambulance, so off to the reservation hospital I went.

More to follow...