Sunday, 15 others and I rode together in the Oyster Run, the largest motorcycle run in Western Washington. The weather was foggy, cool but that didn't dampen our spirits. We headed out on back country roads up to Granite Falls for gas, it was great to hear the thunder as we rolled into that little town. Then we headed north towards our final destination, Anacortes Washington.
All was going well until we entered the sleepy little community around Lake McMurry. The roads around the lake area make several turns and unless your ride there a lot, make unpredictable sharp turns. As we made a sharp hairpin turn we were greeted by a fireman flagging us to slow down, a sport biker had lost it in the curve and was laying out in the road, they had a neck brace on her and loading her in an ambulance. I never saw where her bike went but it wasn't on the road.
Following along, one of our riders in the back of the pack, lost control and his rear end slid out in one of the tighter corners and dumped his Springer HD. It went over an embankment and down into a gully. He was able to slide off the bike before it went down and managed to miss a telephone pole. Only bumped up his knee a bit. We all worked to get his bike out of the gully, luckily only thing that broke is his headlight and some minor scratching....
He and another turned around to go home and sent the rest of us on our way. That put a damper on the ride but we continued on. Its funny how that area claimed two bikes within a 1/4 mile area. I don't know the circumstances why the sport bike went down, but our guy said his rear end let loose in the curve and it slid out. I don't recall the road in the turn being wet but it is possible. By the time we got up that far north, the fog was lifting and the roads were drying.
The closer we got to Anacortes, the more bikes we encountered. Our group of now 14 bikes became attached to other groups of bikes and before long, we were in a line of more bikes that I could see the front or end of. It was a great day, the sun came out and the ride was good. I didn't spend much time in Anacortes but still there were thousands of bikes parked there. A good day for sure!
All was going well until we entered the sleepy little community around Lake McMurry. The roads around the lake area make several turns and unless your ride there a lot, make unpredictable sharp turns. As we made a sharp hairpin turn we were greeted by a fireman flagging us to slow down, a sport biker had lost it in the curve and was laying out in the road, they had a neck brace on her and loading her in an ambulance. I never saw where her bike went but it wasn't on the road.
Following along, one of our riders in the back of the pack, lost control and his rear end slid out in one of the tighter corners and dumped his Springer HD. It went over an embankment and down into a gully. He was able to slide off the bike before it went down and managed to miss a telephone pole. Only bumped up his knee a bit. We all worked to get his bike out of the gully, luckily only thing that broke is his headlight and some minor scratching....
He and another turned around to go home and sent the rest of us on our way. That put a damper on the ride but we continued on. Its funny how that area claimed two bikes within a 1/4 mile area. I don't know the circumstances why the sport bike went down, but our guy said his rear end let loose in the curve and it slid out. I don't recall the road in the turn being wet but it is possible. By the time we got up that far north, the fog was lifting and the roads were drying.
The closer we got to Anacortes, the more bikes we encountered. Our group of now 14 bikes became attached to other groups of bikes and before long, we were in a line of more bikes that I could see the front or end of. It was a great day, the sun came out and the ride was good. I didn't spend much time in Anacortes but still there were thousands of bikes parked there. A good day for sure!
