It would take a bit more than that to stop Dr Don, he is a tough old bugger, and always well prepared...but i'm sure he is on his way to full recovery - with the aid of some good red wine to assist in the healing process..
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DON IN OZ & HIS "OFFS" ON A ROAD TRIP
Many on this board know Don Seedsman, who was my co-pilot on the 08 Alaska-Canada trip. Recently I learned Don had some problems on a motorcycle he took in Oz. With his permission I have brought over his posts on the Oz board. If you have not guessed already an "Off" is Oz speak for a motorcycle mishap. The rest you can figure out for yourselves!
Gene
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Australia
Age: 72
Location: Melbourne
Joined: 26.07.07
Posts: 1063
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Re: Don's Offs
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2010, 05:53:45 PM »
Joe did the trip the recommended way.
I started from the Bonang end of the McKillop's Bridge road.
There's NO petrol at Bonang, by the way.
There is not much sealed road all the way from Bonang to the Barry Way.
I got all my good pictures along the road to McKillop's Bridge, but at the bridge there is a notice saying the road ahead is not suitable for caravans or trailers from the bridge to the Barry Way.
The climb is fairly steep from about 5km from the bridge to about 15 km from the bridge, and it's basically a SINGLE LANE road, around the side of a cliff for all that 10km.
Imagine my surprise when I encountered a "Road Plant Ahead" sign at about the 6 km point into the steepish climb on this one lane road.
Well, the grader had been very busy moving the dusty dry road-top to make it flat, and in doing so, had piled the dry dust about 6" deep at the road's edge.
Luckily for me the LH side of the road was the drain, with the vertical cliff going up on my side.
I rode around a LH corner, and came within about 12" of the road edge where it dropped into the drain.
The road edge just collapsed under the front wheel, and down I went into the drain, as it was just thick dust piled high. I don't think any tyre would have got through all the dust to grip what was left of the roadbed underneath.
Anyhow, the bike just dropped into the drain, and fell back onto the road onto my right leg, because the pannier on the LH side of the bike just pushed against the cliff and shoved me over.
Result - torn jeans, grazed knee, and trouble extricating my boot from between the bike and the road.
I couldn't stand the bike up again because of the LH pannier, but one of the road plant trucks was coming down the road, and its passenger got out and helped me push the bike out of the ditch to where I could get it on the side stand. He also put a big rock behind the back wheel so I could kick the bike back into life. A DR250 floods a bit when it lies down, so it took a long time to get going again.
Part 2 next
That was Don's first post. There are 2 more, I will put them up and them the pictures he took on the trip.
Gene
Gene
Donating Member
Age: 72
Location: Melbourne
Joined: 26.07.07
Posts: 1063
Re: Don's Offs
« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2010, 05:53:45 PM »
Joe did the trip the recommended way.
I started from the Bonang end of the McKillop's Bridge road.
There's NO petrol at Bonang, by the way.
There is not much sealed road all the way from Bonang to the Barry Way.
I got all my good pictures along the road to McKillop's Bridge, but at the bridge there is a notice saying the road ahead is not suitable for caravans or trailers from the bridge to the Barry Way.
The climb is fairly steep from about 5km from the bridge to about 15 km from the bridge, and it's basically a SINGLE LANE road, around the side of a cliff for all that 10km.
Imagine my surprise when I encountered a "Road Plant Ahead" sign at about the 6 km point into the steepish climb on this one lane road.
Well, the grader had been very busy moving the dusty dry road-top to make it flat, and in doing so, had piled the dry dust about 6" deep at the road's edge.
Luckily for me the LH side of the road was the drain, with the vertical cliff going up on my side.
I rode around a LH corner, and came within about 12" of the road edge where it dropped into the drain.
The road edge just collapsed under the front wheel, and down I went into the drain, as it was just thick dust piled high. I don't think any tyre would have got through all the dust to grip what was left of the roadbed underneath.
Anyhow, the bike just dropped into the drain, and fell back onto the road onto my right leg, because the pannier on the LH side of the bike just pushed against the cliff and shoved me over.
Result - torn jeans, grazed knee, and trouble extricating my boot from between the bike and the road.
I couldn't stand the bike up again because of the LH pannier, but one of the road plant trucks was coming down the road, and its passenger got out and helped me push the bike out of the ditch to where I could get it on the side stand. He also put a big rock behind the back wheel so I could kick the bike back into life. A DR250 floods a bit when it lies down, so it took a long time to get going again.
Part 2 next
That was Don's first post. There are 2 more, I will put them up and them the pictures he took on the trip.
Gene
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1 - 1 of 11 Posts
