When life kicks your ass down.....get up and ride

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  Posted by Stormy1963 September 22, 2013 - Filed in Personal Journal - 1,307 views
  

   Haven't been online much lately, dust is finally settling some and thought I needed to update ya'll on some situations. Guess I'll start with the good news first ......the brother I posted the blog asking people to get tested for stem cell transplant.....they found him a donor match! He leaves next Tuesday for Nashville, VA, he'll be there 3-4 months for the full procedures. A friend's ole lady is going to go with him as they won't let him have the procedure without a caregiver present. I don't know if it was one of ya'll that got tested that matched, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate ya'll getting tested, spreading the word and just sending up good words and prayers to the heavens! Just matter of months and my brother will be completely cancer free! Thank you all!

  Now on to the bad news......my dad, the first biker I ever knew, did not win his fight with cancer. He was diagnosed June 20, 2013 with colon and liver cancer, and by August 23, 2013 after only two rounds of chemo drip and two rounds of chemo pills, he quietly slipped away. I was holding his hand when he went and promised him that final ride. I am currently waiting on the stone from the Navy to place at the spot where he wanted his ashes. When it comes in and I get it all set up, we'll take that final ride together. Course there's the matter of fixing up my bike first because........

  and the final bad news......September 5, 2013, I was riding two towns over to meet up with high school classmates, as we're all turning 50 this year, we decided to plan a "Big 5-0 Birthday Bash/Reunion". I got about halfway there when an idiot ran a stop sign and came flying out into the highway not 10 yards in front of me. I locked her down, swerved to the left, but car was coming, so I swerved back to the right and took to the ditch. Guess when I hit the ditch I slid off her to the left, wound up with my left leg pinned between the left rear wheel and a steel T post in a barbed wire fence. (Which btw you can bend a T post with a knee cap.......yeah I didn't know it was possible either) My left arm and head were tangled up in the wire as well.  I got the bike shut off and kicked into neutral so I could shove it back enough to get my leg out, then I pulled myself out of the wire and managed to stand up, I proceeded to cuss that idiot and call him everything but a white man and child of God. First words out of his mouth of course was "I didn't see you"! Seriously?? Big girl on bright dayglow orange trike that's damn near as big as the pick up he was driving! After I told him exactly what was on my mind, the "witness" who "saw it all" told me there was no call for my language...so of course I told her "f**K you too"! About that time the fire department arrived on scene, after checking out my leg, cutting my favorite jeans off of me, they decided I better be boarded and transported to the hospital. I'm freaking cos I don't want to leave my bike in the ditch/fence! Finally one of the guys on the FD that is a friend, told me he would have a local guy come haul my bike to his garage and lock her up for the night. By now my ole man has showed up and he's pissed cos the emts won't let him talk to me. The female hwy patrol trooper couldn't understand why I was so upset and insisting she get the asshole's information! She just kept asking me if I was wearing a helmet.......hell yeah I was, it's laying here in the ambulance some place with my leathers and bag off my bike, but get that assholes info before he leaves!! Long story short, I got transported, ole man and a brother's ole lady followed the ambulance to the hospital, I got all checked out and x-rayed. No broken bones, just lots of bruises and some damn deep scratches from the wire. I got out of the hospital about midnight, and drug my bloody bruised nearly naked ass to a Waffle House for some late and much needed dinner. Wound up back at docs office on Tuesday cos I couldn't move my left arm, a steroid shot took care of the internal swelling that was putting pressure on the nerves. My ole man was able to ride my bike home from the shop the day after the wreck. She sustained less damage than I did with just a broken windshield and some deep scratches on the handlebars and around my headlight.  The pictures taken by a cop friend at the scene show just how lucky I was, cos I missed a railroad tie corner post by about 16"! I figure if I had hit head on into it, I wouldn't be here today to tell ya'll about this!  On the bright side, the trooper did find the asshole at fault, cited him for failure to yield and I'm waiting on her report to file a claim on his insurance for all the money I'm out and the damage to "Shasta".  Trooper did compliment me when I contacted her tho, said I was helluva rider or I would have hit him or done more damage to me and the bike! I laughed and told her it was my first wreck with me driving in 44 years of riding I'm figure doing pretty damn good! Got on her the next weekend and took her out for a little ride after my leg healed enough I could clutch. Felt pretty damn good! I'm thinking she looks better without the windshield! 

  All in all, been a helluva summer.