Livingston MT to Southeast MA
Sunday Aug 13 – Wednesday Aug 16, 2017
(~2400 miles, courtesy of U-Haul)

Apparently the hotel cleaning staff didn’t get the memo that I had checked in early, since they were knocking on the door at some point Saturday morning, after I’d had only a few hours sleep. I barely remember telling them to bugger off, but I think I ended up getting up soon after. I spent the day in my room, taking stock of the situation, making calls and emails, popping extra-strength Tylenol every six hours, and planning out my next steps.

I was especially feeling bummed about being out of the rally, after all the planning over the last several months and especially the last several days. I had been having a great ride and felt like I had a chance to do well. I have unfinished business now…you always want to find out how well you measured up to solving the rallymaster’s puzzle and to your fellow riders.

I made an online reservation with U-Haul to pick up a 10-foot truck and a motorcycle trailer first thing in the morning on Monday. I received a text later in the afternoon to call them back but it was after 17:00 and they were closed. The following morning, I called the local U-Haul to confirm the equipment and they have me call the central scheduling number. Apparently, the equipment I needed was not available in Livingston. After some discussion they located a 15 ft truck in Livingston and a trailer in Bozeman, which was about 25 miles west on I-90. Taking what I could get at this point, I booked the equipment.

True to his word, Ken from Whistler Towing sent a driver by when I called, to take me to the U-haul center in town. I picked up the truck, drove to Bozeman to get the trailer and returned to Livingston, stopping off at Whistler Towing to get the bike.

Ken and his staff treated me very well and wanted to hear more about the incident. They related a couple tales of ornery bison that had caused problems for other motorists in the area over recent years. Then Ken and two of his crew rolled the bike off their trailer and down on to mine and strapped everything down quickly and professionally. I was ready to go in under 15 minutes…nice to have the experts on your side!

This was my first view of the bike in daylight since the crash, and I could tell that the internal frame of the nose cone section had been bent and twisted by the impact with the Bison. I was hopeful at this point that the damage was mostly cosmetic and confined to that secondary frame, which is replaceable.

Although I had a long way to go, my stress level decreased substantially at this point, as now  all decisions were made, the bike was secure, and I simply needed to make the drive home.  I drove pretty much straight through the entire way, stopping each night for a few hours rest, sleeping in the cab of the truck. I went through a major storm cell in Iowa – this was a view approaching it while still in the nice weather.

Just over 48 hours later, on Wednesday afternoon, I was pulling up to the curb in front of my house, ending my journey about four days earlier than planned.

 

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To wrap up a few items:

The hand
I saw an orthopedist that week, who confirmed that surgery would be unnecessary as long as the break didn’t shift in the next 10 days, which it did not. I’m wearing a boxer splint and looking at about eight weeks from the time of the break before the bone is healed. The splint will be able to come off for longer and longer periods after just a few weeks.

The bike
The bike has comprehensive insurance, and was not considered a total loss by the appraiser, which I was happy about. Parts have already started to arrive, and I intend to fix the bike back up myself.

The entire nose cone (including the cowl stay frame) will need to be rebuilt and just about all the plastic fairing pieces replaced from the front half of the bike. The lower slider of the right fork needs replacing due to the fork light breaking off. All my custom wiring for my lights and other farkles has been stripped out and can probably be reused. The entire back half of the bike including the luggage is absolutely fine, thanks to the heavy duty tip over bars from Motorcycle Larry.

The bison
Many people asked me about the buffalo (bison is apparently the proper term): how did it make out etc. It had already left the road by the time I stood up after the crash, and I never saw it again except possibly as one of the silhouettes off in the field, revealed by our flashlights while waiting for the ranger to show up. I reached out to Ranger Tyler a few days after returning home to thank him again for his amazing help and cool-headedness. I asked about the bison and he said they had not noticed any injured animals in the area and that fellow had probably just shook it off. They are pretty tough creatures.

The lesson 
Motorcycle journalists I respect have written there are no real accidents, only crashes, since with enough forethought and good habits, most of them can be avoided. There was a lot out of my control that night: the bison standing in the roadway at night and taking up my lane; oncoming motorists all stopped rubbernecking with their lights robbing me of night vision; etc. That stuff is what it is. It’s more constructive for me to realize what I could have done, and should do in the future, to try to avoid a similar situation.

I don’t feel like I was riding in an unduly unsafe manner. Though it had been a long day in the saddle, I was feeling relatively alert after my rest at the geyser and was aware of the possibility of animals running into the roadway. I think my primary failing was to properly research and consider in advance the unfamiliar area I was riding, to fully visualize the risks that I needed to be aware of. While I understood theoretically about the increased chance for animal encounters in Yellowstone Park, I failed to act wisely on that information while I was riding the bike that day.

Despite the miles I had to cover and the points I wanted to collect, once the sun went down, I probably should have dropped my speed more significantly below the posted speed limit. While I had been seeing cars parked along the road during the day to view the wildlife, I hadn’t thought ahead to how that situation might look at night. Coming up on any sort of traffic in the park should throw up a red (or at least yellow) flag. Apparently locals in this area flash their lights to indicate animals in the roadway (like that ranger vehicle had done), another important tidbit of information that I might have gleaned online with some minimal research.

I’m sure the events will continue to replay in my head for a while to come and I’ll hopefully gain more insight as time passes.

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While the trip ended on a down note, and I narrowly escaped serious injury, in retrospect overall it was quite a grand adventure.  There is unfinished business to deal with at a future HW3 rally, and I will certainly be back riding out there at the earliest opportunity. I continue to be inspired when traveling out west by the grandeur of our country’s landscapes and the friendliness of the people you meet along the road.