Posted elsewhere, but thought I'd send it up here as well...
Last Sunday, fellow GRiSO rider Pete and I took a ride back up near Chinook Pass, (Washington State.) Where exactly one year ago to the day, I had that run in with the young elk. One year ago I had been following Pete that day back down the mountain when those two elk entered the roadway. Pete saw most of the aftermath from his rearview mirror. This year, he was kind enough to accompany me on my self-described redemption ride. As it turned out, there was maybe even a little redemption for him as well. There were plans for others to join, Pete's wife Esther and Pedro, who were also on the ride last year, but both were down with the flu. Vance considered joining as well, but he too was down with the flu. Greg too had planned on joining but another commitment superseded.
Sunday was a beautiful, clear and cool Fall day. The sun was out, and temps were in the low 60's. We got a bit of a late start as I had to fly back to Seattle from San Francisco earlier that morning which got me up and out of bed before 5 am. I was thankful for the extra hour of "fall back" time. So I met up at Pete's house just before 11 am and after a bit of futzing around, we were on the road by 11:30.
I really like riding with Pete, one because of our mutual affinity for the GRiSO, but more importantly, Pete is always in a good mood and eager for a spin regardless of route or destination.
So we retraced the route we took on November 1, 2008 which is the route we take on the first Saturday of every month to get to Guzzi Breakfast. But instead of stopping at the Krain Corner Inn for breakfast, we continued on up the road to the Stop & Shop for a quick gas up and a discussion of whether to eat lunch on the way up, or on the way back down. We decided on the former.
Our GRiSOs sit idly as we discuss the matter.
After a quick, late breakfast at Charlies, we got back on the bikes and started back up Highway 410 heading towards Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier. Earlier in the morning I had checked the police report from the accident to confirm the location of the crash site, but there were no specifics listed. Then I checked the receipt from the tow-truck driver which noted milepost 47.
Not long after leaving Charlies, I saw milepost 37 - ten miles to go. A nervous twinge tingled in my belly. It was straight up 1:30 now. The same time listed on the police incident report. Where there is one, look for two...
Milepost 40 soon flashes by on the right, another twinge. Then come 43, 44, 45 and I'm looking for something familiar, filled with nervous anticipation as nothing is stirring any memory. Milepost 46, just one more to go when I soon see 47 looming in the distance. I distinctly recall the presence of a guardrail, but there are none as I pass the milepost. I pull over to the side of the road with Pete pulling in right behind me. I fire a puzzled look back in his direction. "I don't think this is the spot," he says. "It's probably just a little farther up. There was a turnout where you crashed" I motion for him to take the lead, as he stood a better chance of recognizing it than I. This settled the twinge at least for a bit.
Sure enough, just around the next gentle bend in the road, a guardrail appeared along the southbound lane. We were traveling northbound when the accident occurred, but the bike, the elk and I ended up on the southbound side. When Pete reached the end of the guardrail, he turned into the adjacent turnout. I pulled onto the shoulder and parked at just about the point where my first GRiSO logged it's last mile. I got off the bike, removed my helmet, and absorbed the scene. For a moment, a calmness took over as I filled my lungs with the cool, crisp air. The sun still shone a little warmth on my face from above the trees.
As Pete approached I nodded towards him and turned my eyes to the ground. Not 3 feet from where I stood sat a familiar looking piece of chromed plastic. "Holy shit Pete, here's a piece of my GRiSO, still sitting right here!"
So with our eyes peering down amongst all the fallen leaves, we started to look around the area near my bike. "Here's another piece, and another..." we shot back and forth as we began to collect all the debris. We were both amazed at how much had still remained, following last winter's heavy snowfall, unseen and untouched over the past year. Our search area widened as pieces of exploded and scattered plastic stretched over a swath of 120 to 150 feet. Pieces of faring and fender, instrument cluster and headlamp, all scattered along the side of the road from the point of impact to side of the road where inertia finally gave up the ghost.
Givi faring
Fender
The cool, red ring around the headlamp bulb...
Another piece of fender
Pete finds most of the Givi windscreen
Here is the view from the point of impact down to where the bike and I ended up. Pete is standing at the spot where they drug the elk off the roadway.
I looked over to see if anyone else had come to look for some answers. Do mama elk mourn the loss of their children? Would she step out from here again?
Yet another piece of the fender
We began to gather all of the pieces up and laid them all out to take a silent inventory.
Made in Italy indeed...
The collection just kept growing, each piece retrieved with the same sense of amazement.
Matching up the old to the new...
Anyone know how to light this thing up? I'd like to get a final mileage
After taking just a couple of smaller souvenirs, we decided to stash the rest in the "memorial guardrail" perhaps to visit again in some year to come.
So one year to the day Pete, myself and our GRiSOs sat in this same fateful spot. Six months to the day since I threw my leg back over the replacement bike I most wanted since the first time I saw it in a magazine back in 2005. During that time it's brought me mile after mile of joy and adventure through which I've been granted true comradeship and even a little bit of enlightenment. So what's a little bump in the road?
With all of the collected pieces stashed away for posterity, Pete and I decided to go a little further on up the road, at least to the spot where we'd stopped and turned around the year before. We'd decide there if we wanted to continue on to the top of the pass...
As the shadows were growing long, and the temperature was dropping, we decided to forego the summit and head on back home. It was a good day for both of us. A little cathartic, we agreed. I was both happy and thankful that Pete shared this with me. More happy for this trip and more thankful for the year before.
SD
---
New bike, new suit, same bliss...
Here's a short video of the scene if there's any interest left.
[youtube]ujAiTeyTpog[/youtube]
Last Sunday, fellow GRiSO rider Pete and I took a ride back up near Chinook Pass, (Washington State.) Where exactly one year ago to the day, I had that run in with the young elk. One year ago I had been following Pete that day back down the mountain when those two elk entered the roadway. Pete saw most of the aftermath from his rearview mirror. This year, he was kind enough to accompany me on my self-described redemption ride. As it turned out, there was maybe even a little redemption for him as well. There were plans for others to join, Pete's wife Esther and Pedro, who were also on the ride last year, but both were down with the flu. Vance considered joining as well, but he too was down with the flu. Greg too had planned on joining but another commitment superseded.
Sunday was a beautiful, clear and cool Fall day. The sun was out, and temps were in the low 60's. We got a bit of a late start as I had to fly back to Seattle from San Francisco earlier that morning which got me up and out of bed before 5 am. I was thankful for the extra hour of "fall back" time. So I met up at Pete's house just before 11 am and after a bit of futzing around, we were on the road by 11:30.
I really like riding with Pete, one because of our mutual affinity for the GRiSO, but more importantly, Pete is always in a good mood and eager for a spin regardless of route or destination.
So we retraced the route we took on November 1, 2008 which is the route we take on the first Saturday of every month to get to Guzzi Breakfast. But instead of stopping at the Krain Corner Inn for breakfast, we continued on up the road to the Stop & Shop for a quick gas up and a discussion of whether to eat lunch on the way up, or on the way back down. We decided on the former.
Our GRiSOs sit idly as we discuss the matter.
After a quick, late breakfast at Charlies, we got back on the bikes and started back up Highway 410 heading towards Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier. Earlier in the morning I had checked the police report from the accident to confirm the location of the crash site, but there were no specifics listed. Then I checked the receipt from the tow-truck driver which noted milepost 47.
Not long after leaving Charlies, I saw milepost 37 - ten miles to go. A nervous twinge tingled in my belly. It was straight up 1:30 now. The same time listed on the police incident report. Where there is one, look for two...
Milepost 40 soon flashes by on the right, another twinge. Then come 43, 44, 45 and I'm looking for something familiar, filled with nervous anticipation as nothing is stirring any memory. Milepost 46, just one more to go when I soon see 47 looming in the distance. I distinctly recall the presence of a guardrail, but there are none as I pass the milepost. I pull over to the side of the road with Pete pulling in right behind me. I fire a puzzled look back in his direction. "I don't think this is the spot," he says. "It's probably just a little farther up. There was a turnout where you crashed" I motion for him to take the lead, as he stood a better chance of recognizing it than I. This settled the twinge at least for a bit.
Sure enough, just around the next gentle bend in the road, a guardrail appeared along the southbound lane. We were traveling northbound when the accident occurred, but the bike, the elk and I ended up on the southbound side. When Pete reached the end of the guardrail, he turned into the adjacent turnout. I pulled onto the shoulder and parked at just about the point where my first GRiSO logged it's last mile. I got off the bike, removed my helmet, and absorbed the scene. For a moment, a calmness took over as I filled my lungs with the cool, crisp air. The sun still shone a little warmth on my face from above the trees.
As Pete approached I nodded towards him and turned my eyes to the ground. Not 3 feet from where I stood sat a familiar looking piece of chromed plastic. "Holy shit Pete, here's a piece of my GRiSO, still sitting right here!"
So with our eyes peering down amongst all the fallen leaves, we started to look around the area near my bike. "Here's another piece, and another..." we shot back and forth as we began to collect all the debris. We were both amazed at how much had still remained, following last winter's heavy snowfall, unseen and untouched over the past year. Our search area widened as pieces of exploded and scattered plastic stretched over a swath of 120 to 150 feet. Pieces of faring and fender, instrument cluster and headlamp, all scattered along the side of the road from the point of impact to side of the road where inertia finally gave up the ghost.
Givi faring
Fender
The cool, red ring around the headlamp bulb...
Another piece of fender
Pete finds most of the Givi windscreen
Here is the view from the point of impact down to where the bike and I ended up. Pete is standing at the spot where they drug the elk off the roadway.
I looked over to see if anyone else had come to look for some answers. Do mama elk mourn the loss of their children? Would she step out from here again?
Yet another piece of the fender
We began to gather all of the pieces up and laid them all out to take a silent inventory.
Made in Italy indeed...
The collection just kept growing, each piece retrieved with the same sense of amazement.
Matching up the old to the new...
Anyone know how to light this thing up? I'd like to get a final mileage
After taking just a couple of smaller souvenirs, we decided to stash the rest in the "memorial guardrail" perhaps to visit again in some year to come.
So one year to the day Pete, myself and our GRiSOs sat in this same fateful spot. Six months to the day since I threw my leg back over the replacement bike I most wanted since the first time I saw it in a magazine back in 2005. During that time it's brought me mile after mile of joy and adventure through which I've been granted true comradeship and even a little bit of enlightenment. So what's a little bump in the road?
With all of the collected pieces stashed away for posterity, Pete and I decided to go a little further on up the road, at least to the spot where we'd stopped and turned around the year before. We'd decide there if we wanted to continue on to the top of the pass...
As the shadows were growing long, and the temperature was dropping, we decided to forego the summit and head on back home. It was a good day for both of us. A little cathartic, we agreed. I was both happy and thankful that Pete shared this with me. More happy for this trip and more thankful for the year before.
SD
---
New bike, new suit, same bliss...
Here's a short video of the scene if there's any interest left.
[youtube]ujAiTeyTpog[/youtube]
