Man down on Angeles Crest Highway

[Wavex]

So Cali_Rider and I were riding Angeles Crest Highway on Saturday 7/18 when we decided to stop inside of a nice hairpin turn for a little break... the spot has a big asphalt area inside of the turn, with some shade, so it's great for a cigarette break... anyway, we get off the bike and jokingly mention "well this is a perfect spot to watch people crash", and start talking about other things... not 5 minutes later we hear the sound of locked tires against the asphalt, turn our heads toward it and see a red bike slide on its side and a dude following it a couple of feet behind tumbling down the road... the dude ends up rolling head first onto the side of the road, which thankfully for him was covered in soft gravel in that particular spot... a few feet before or after that spot and the guy would have been in a world of pain...

So John and I look at ourselves dumbfounded and start running toward the dude... He was already trying to stand up so John immediately tells him to sit down, while I jumped on the bike to get to Newcomb's restaurant 5 miles down the hill to call the cops (no cell phone signal up there)...

Come to find out:
- he is not sure what happened
- he had bought his PRISTINE 1995 Ducati 900 Desmo 2 months ago, and it is not in pristine condition anymore
- he came out with probably broken wrist and ankle
- he almost got a free helicopter ride (ended up in an ambulance though, and that's not free! lol)
- he was riding with a group of friends, and it took them 45 minutes!!!! to notice he was not in the back anymore!!!
- per the cop and paramedics, a dude died in that same spot 2 weeks ago, and another one almost did 3-4 weeks ago...


Anyway, that cut our ride short as we stood there with him for over an hour...

Here are some pics to make this thread worthy:

Here is the turn (tricky) looking uphill and the skid marks (he was riding down hill when it happened):



Where he ended up (just to the left of the paramedics):



The downhill view:



The helicopter:

 

[Wavex]

Oh and BTW, there was a grey/black FZ6 owner who stopped for a few minutes to check out what happened... anybody from here??

 

[Bates121]

Wow thanks for sharing I as gonna ride that on Saturday to get my BOTM picture but was much too hungover and decided not the best condition to be riding the moto in. But glad to hear that guy was able to walk away

 

[clockworkjon]

Heh, I thought you were going to tell us YOU crashed again!

 

[Wavex]

Wow thanks for sharing I as gonna ride that on Saturday to get my BOTM picture but was much too hungover and decided not the best condition to be riding the moto in. But glad to hear that guy was able to walk away

Yeah I wouldn't recommend ACH if you're heavily hungover

He did not really "walk" away from the accident though... broken ankle and wrist is not "walking away" but yeah, he'll be alright.

 

[Wavex]

Heh, I thought you were going to tell us YOU crashed again!

no!! I already told you I decided not to crash on the streets anymore, I am done with that! :cheer:

 

[FZ1inNH]

Glad he'll be OK. Glad you and John were on the spot to help out too what with the dude's friends not even noticing he was missing for that long? WTF??? Time for better riding mates!

Thanks for sharing David!

 

[Wavex]

Agreed Eric! John and I could not believe it took them that long to notice... ridiculous! Thankfully, a LOT of people going up and down the mountain stopped right after the crash to ask if everything was under control, so even without us he would have been fine, but still, his friends sucked!

 

[CHEMIKER]

That's awesome that you guys (and all the other riders that stopped) were there to help when the rider's bastard "friends" weren't. If he had been really hurt, laying there for 45 minutes might have made a real difference in his outcome, especially with no cell service there.

Was John just standing there shielding the rider from the sun? What an awesome dude. I remember him shouting the same line to me "Sit down, just stay right there!" I was glad to have him there when I crashed, and I know you're glad he was there when you crashed.

 

[wrightme43]

Good on you guys for helping out.

Bummer on the pretty Duc she didnt need that at all.

 

[Wavex]

Yeah, John's got a lot of experience helping ppl who crashed lol... he was indeed holding the guy's jacket to shield him from the sun.

 

[boo68]

I am glad you both were there to get the young man some help I am sure that .his friends wouldn't have been much help to him in this situation considering they didn't even notice the kid went down. Good on you guys.

:thumbup:

 

[MRGM]

Note the skid mark, this is why I always tell people to forget the rear brake. :spank:

He locked up that rear wheel and it's all over. Better to just keep it turning and hope you don't washout the front wheel.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

My guess he was a Newbie riding with his idiot friends who were at a different skill level.

Let this be a reminder to everyone, You Need To Ride Your Own Ride!

Kudo's for John and Dave for helping the injured rider. I've not only met them but also had the privelidge of riding with them as well. Couldn't have picked two better guys to assist the injured rider and the emergency workers.

Thanks for posting.

 

[rsw81]

Wow, another one down with front row seats for David and John... this sounds familiar for some reason

Glad to hear he's okay, but it sounds like he needs new riding buddies, as was already mentioned.

Hopefully next month will be a lighter month for me guys so I can join you on the ACH runs. Right now I'm working 90 hours/week and barely get to see my bike. Too tired at the end of the day to use it for commuting.