Apollofrost's Blog

[Apollofrost]

Wibbly wobbily WOAH dodo!!!

I went out to the beach today and then just kept going north once I hit bodega bay. I put about forty miles on the bike since I filled it up before the trip, bringing it up to about 140 miles total that I've ridden since I got it Monday.

The ride up was incredible and I decided to call it a day once I hit Fort Ross. So I turned around and taking my time headed home. I was going maybe 20-25 mph. About ten miles outside of Fort Ross I hit either a rock or a lose reflector in the road while leaned over in a turn and almost lowsided directly into a rock wall. I managed to regain control just before I went over and straightened it out so I just glanced off the wall instead of augering into it.

The bike slammed into the wall and bent the front tire, but other than that it's basically fine. No damage to the tank or bodywork. It landed on top of me but I was in full gear so I'm fine. Just got a sore right wrist and a section of paint missing from my helmet where I knocked it against the wall.

I crashed around 10am and it took my insurance about two hours to even call the towing company, I ended up getting out of there about 3:20pm and I spent most of that time chatting with the local rangers. They're pretty nice and I'll have to come back up there some time and thank them.

On monday I'll call around to local shops to see about getting it repaired. If the rest of the bike is ok I may just say the hell with it and replace the front tire myself. It would probably be cheaper than my $250 deductible and a good experience for me.

Even with the crash I would go as far as to say that today was a good day and I'm still looking forward to riding my bike once I get it back.

[Shorts]

Holy cow! That must have been some real heart-racing moments. Glad you got it back somewhat before the impact was worse. Take care my friend.

[Apollofrost]

Thanks Shorts, glad to hear that you're ok too.


Update: I'm sore but still intact. Not all of the aches are from the crash though. A friend came over to tell me how happy she was I wasn't hurt

[roscowgo]

congrats on makin it through. and the er.......uh...Therapy

[sv-wolf]

Wibbly wobbily WOAH dodo!!!

Even with the crash I would go as far as to say that today was a good day and I'm still looking forward to riding my bike once I get it back.

No hope for you then, is there, AF! Welcome to bike junkies anonymous

Seriously - sorry to hear about your scary moment. But if you really are as sanguine about it as you sound then I'm mightily impressed. Just don't tell your sister, OK.

Best wishes

Richard

[Apollofrost]

Got a phone call yesterday, they totaled it and refused to repair it, because they are stupid.

They gave me 5,000 for the bike and a new helmet, I bought it salvage for 1000.
They said that it needed 2,500 worth of work(about 1,000 of that being just nicks and scratches that I could care less about) and it would be cheaper to just total it.
I blinked a lot.
Seems they aren't very good at math.

Now for the liability. They put me 100% at fault, said that they couldn't just take my word that there was gravel in the turn.

"So you're saying it could be because of other factors."
"Yes, like speed."
"Trust me, I wasn't speeding."
"Why not?"
"Because I'd be dead."

The guy whuffed an hehawed before saying goodbye and hanging up.

I called him back a few minutes later.

"So, what would you say if I had a police report saying that there was gravel on the road and speed wasn't a factor?"
"Umm... that would help...." <not happy>
"So where do I send it?" <happy>

We exchanged goodbyes and I went downstairs to talk to my flatmate who was playing video games on the couch.

"Brian,"
"Yeah?"
"I refuse to take it up the "O Ring" from my insurance company."

[Veda]

Wait so they're giving you 5 grand for a bike you bought for 1 grand? Sounds like you're making out here, no?

[Apollofrost]

no, I paid 4,100 for the bike, they're selling it back to me for 1 grand as a salvage bike then subtracting that from the five grand that they owe me.

So basically I have 5000 - 1000 for the bike -560 for a new helmet = $3440 to fix up the bike.

[NorthernPete]

So, hit a scrap yard, pick up the parts you need on the cheap...and buy another bike with the left overs.....

glad to hear yous all right after your spill....boo brick walls!!!

[Apollofrost]

I got my bike back last month and after going through an oil slick that couldn't be avoided I braked in stop and go traffic and laid it down for what I hope to be the last time. I was fine and so was the bike so I'll chalk it up as luck that I wasn't seriously hurt and forever remember a little equation.

New Tires + Spilled Oil from a construction site + someone slamming on their brakes in front of me = Bad

But since then I've been good. I just broke the 300 mile mark and if the weather holds up I'll be doing some rides in the country. As of late it's been 90% work related riding because I don't want to test my limits just yet, but there's always time for that later. Hell if I ride safe I've got whole life time to ride in the country, but only if I make it past the first year.

Work is good, but it seems that good help is hard to find because the last two people we have hired have just been total Zeros. One got fired and the other somehow got into the bosses office and is now on a sort of probation with the company. I don't know the specifics.

I have a few side projects going on right now, one of them being my podcast "The Bishop and Kay Show." and another being the redecoration of my room.

The Podcast is actually pretty good and it should only get better as time goes on. We started out with just the built in mic on my laptop and now we've got an awesome Olympus recorder that we'll be using from now on.

The show itself centers around the random(and commonly not work safe) conversations that me and Bishop have late at night regarding anything from books, to caffeine, to ladies of the night. We also have started reviewing restaurants and coffee shops in the general area.

You can listen to it here.

Yes, I am plugging it on my blog and if that's not ok I'll delete it, but feel free to give it a listen and tell me what you think.

Ok, I'm out of here, night night.