Darryl,
Wow. That sounds like a terrific accident! I'm glad you survived but what became of your R52 and what sent you both off the road?
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Question about riding boots.
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Darryl.Richman
- Posts: 2138
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Irrational Exuberance
The R52 was essentially fine, and I rode it in the 2014 Cannonball. How many people can say that they've put >10,000 miles on a 1928 bike? 
Within its limitations, it's a great bike to tour on!
The 2012 Cannonball route had already taken me along the Avenue of the Giants, a wonderful road that feels like you're an Ewok riding a speeder, out of Star Wars, no matter the speed you're traveling through and among the redwoods. I had gotten down to US-101 at Leggett and turned onto CA-1. I wasn't going fast, maybe 20-25 mph, through a set of twisties. One of the turns, a left, was flatter than the previous ones and I touched down the fixed floorboard, which levered up the rear wheel, and the bike and I took a tangent off the road. I was very lucky in that a small tree, about 10 feet down, hooked the handlebars and stopped the bike and me - otherwise I think we would have continued down another 20-30 feet to where there was a "curtain" of redwoods, and had a much harder stop.
Many of the other Cannonballers stopped and, when the tow truck arrived, helped to bring the bike back up carefully. My friend driving my Sprinter came and got me and the bike and we drove down to Ukiah to find an emergency hospital, with me holding a bag of ice on my foot the whole way. I thought I had badly sprained my foot, which swelled up quite a bit, but the x-rays showed the damage.
Because I was wearing a full set of gear, I had no scrapes or even bruises. I don't actually know what I did to mess up my foot, probably tried to put it down to save the bike. Because the boots gave me enough support, I was able to scramble back up the steep, soft hillside to the road without pain - probably adrenaline had something to do with that, too - and I was able to lie down and elevate my foot.
Within its limitations, it's a great bike to tour on!The 2012 Cannonball route had already taken me along the Avenue of the Giants, a wonderful road that feels like you're an Ewok riding a speeder, out of Star Wars, no matter the speed you're traveling through and among the redwoods. I had gotten down to US-101 at Leggett and turned onto CA-1. I wasn't going fast, maybe 20-25 mph, through a set of twisties. One of the turns, a left, was flatter than the previous ones and I touched down the fixed floorboard, which levered up the rear wheel, and the bike and I took a tangent off the road. I was very lucky in that a small tree, about 10 feet down, hooked the handlebars and stopped the bike and me - otherwise I think we would have continued down another 20-30 feet to where there was a "curtain" of redwoods, and had a much harder stop.
Many of the other Cannonballers stopped and, when the tow truck arrived, helped to bring the bike back up carefully. My friend driving my Sprinter came and got me and the bike and we drove down to Ukiah to find an emergency hospital, with me holding a bag of ice on my foot the whole way. I thought I had badly sprained my foot, which swelled up quite a bit, but the x-rays showed the damage.
Because I was wearing a full set of gear, I had no scrapes or even bruises. I don't actually know what I did to mess up my foot, probably tried to put it down to save the bike. Because the boots gave me enough support, I was able to scramble back up the steep, soft hillside to the road without pain - probably adrenaline had something to do with that, too - and I was able to lie down and elevate my foot.
--Darryl Richman