Cross Country Recumbent
Monday July 21, 2003. Cambridge ID to Riggins ID
Start time
|
6:27 pm
|
End time
|
4:00 pm
|
Miles
|
86.2
|
Time pedaling
|
5:55
|
Average speed
|
14.6
|
Odometer
|
666
|
The day started well with my only complaint a light headwind.
However the day turned ominous at Council ID. While rolling out
of town a small dog decided that I was just too weird looking and that
it must come chase me. Alas he had to cross oncoming traffic to
do so, and that was the end of him :(. I saw it coming but
couldn't do anything to stop it.
However this was just a taste of things to come. About 10 miles
North of Council on 95, the headwind getting stronger, I was cresting a
hill with traffic passing me on the left. I was on the shoulder
when I looked in my mirror and saw a suburban moving to pass me.
An instant later I looked up to see an oncoming red pickup just
cresting the hill most of the way over into my lane. I'm not sure
I even had time to think "uh-oh". About the same time I was
diving off the shoulder into the gravel I heard a terrible
crunch. I looked up to see debris flying everywhere and then
covered my eyes and hoped not to get hit. The suburban had been
pulling a trailer, and the pickup ended up hitting that, combined
speeds were probably in the 60s. I was within 20 feet of the
whole thing and couldn't be more scared.
A few seconds after overcoming the shock I hopped off the bike and ran
to the vehicles to determine if anyone was critically hurt.
Amazingly enough everyone was conscious and thought they were OK.
This is one of the few places with some cell coverage so I called
911. About that time a UPS driver showed up who happened to be a
local volunteer fireman. He quickly took charge of the
situation. The guy in the pickup started having back pains and
nasuea so we called an ambulance, while the UPS/fireman help him still.
It turns our that the pickup had been in the passing lane, going around
a semi, but he didn't realize that there were two semis back to
back. He ran out of lane and that's how he ended up across the
line. The suburban driver was smart enough to know he couldn't
take the shoulder because that would've made road pizza out of
me. He did the best he could and avoided hitting his own vehicle,
but couldn't clear his trailer. God what a mess. The pickup
driver ended up being in a bad way and was rushed to the hospital, I
don't know what happend to him.
In all of this I was completely unharmed. Not even a scratch on
my gear
I waited around until the highway was reopened and most of the traffic
had cleared. There's not much more to tell. The rest of the
day was uneventful, mostly headwinds and a relatively easy climb.
I finished the day camping on the Little Salmon river in Riggins
ID. This place is walled in by steep canyon walls and is very
pretty.
