Ride With Tank

Yesterday, during the MD250H warmup lap, there was a terrible accident that took the life of Peter Lenz.

I happened to be in the stands yesterday and I was one the closest spectators to the accident.  I was on the end of the South Vista, at the far end of the west side, sitting on the bottom row.  There were no reports at the track about his condition, so when I retured to my motel I found out via the internet that he had passed.

Today there are thousands of web sites with the story, but they all say the same thing, and some of what they say does not fit with what I saw, so I felt it was important to tell people what I saw.

I did not actually see Peter crash.  I saw his bike sliding riderless and then saw him on the ground.  He was in the front of a large group of motorcycles just exiting turn 4.  He began to try to get off the track, but saw that there was too much traffic so he sat there with his back to the traffic and held up his hands waving so he could be seen.  I was holding my breath hoping he would not get hit and most of the pack made it past him and it looked like everything was going to be fine.  The problem was, as time went on each oncoming rider was coming closer and closer to him, which gave the guys further back less time to react.  One bike dodged him, but there was no way for the bike behind him to swerve, and he hit Peter hard.  It was the most terrible thing I have ever seen, and I knew immediately that he was severely injured.

The corner workers got to him almost instantly.

They really did not give him any type of treatment.  They appeared to be talking to him, but I never saw Peter move.  The announcers had no idea the crash had happened, and were wondering out loud why they were delaying the start.  They also announced several times that Peter had not returned to the grid.  We kept waiting and waiting for an ambulance to show up.  A golf cart arrived, but it still appeared as if the officials had no idea there had been a crash.  Finally, the corner workers decided to put Peter on a stretcher and transport him with the golf cart.  As they were about to load the stretcher onto the golf cart, an ambulance finally showed up.  I cannot say with any certainty how long it took for the ambulance to arrive, but I estimate about 10 minutes.  The ambulance then left through the tunnel at the main gate to head for the hospital.

All the stories I have seen reported that CPR was started immediately, but I did not see any CPR until he was being loaded into the ambulance.  I am not saying it would have made any difference, but I felt the ambulance delay was totally unacceptable.

I also question why he was transported in an ambulance.  The MotoGP guys go out via helicopter any time they leave the track.  This wreck was so severe it should have left no doubt in anybodys mind that the injuries would be life threatening.  An ambulance ride through streets clogged with traffic for a MotoGP race seems like a very poor choice for somebody with life threatening injuries.

It appeared to me as if there was a severe lack of communication which lead to delays in getting medical treatment to the injured rider.  It felt like we were the only people who knew anything had happened.  The outcome could very well have been the same no matter how quick the response, but I believe these questions need to be answered.  Hopefully they will be answered by the investigation.

RIP Peter.

My wheels are round again and i have already worn out a new tire on the new wheels!

It seems like I have been real busy and I have neglected the web site.  I’ve had a few complaints so since I am waiting for a new tire to arrive I will do a big update to make the site current!

My first ride of the year was just a little trip down to West Virginia to ride 88, one of my favorite roads.  I picked up a Subway and had a nice little picnic at Oglebay Park.

I also stopped by a little military park in Wierton that I have ridden past many times.

I took a longer ride with some friends to Cool Springs Park to visit my donkey friends.

I took a ride out to western Ohio to see my buddy Dennis who was at a rally doing pinstriping.

And I spent an afternoon at Nelson Ledges watching some racing.

Of course, I have also been to my favorite destination, Deal Gap.  In fact, I have made two trips there, but I will post up about them soon!

I can’t believe how long it has been since I updated!

Spring has been awesome this year and I have been getting a decent amount of riding in.  Two nice trips to West Virginia, including a lonely ride up US250 after dark!

All is not exactly well in the world of Tank.   Last Wednesday I was on my way home from QSL Bike Night in Sharon. I was behind a semi and I was riding in the center of the lane. I know better than to ride in the center, and I don’t know what I was thinking, but that was where I was riding.

I saw something in the road after the truck passed over it, but I really didn’t have time to swerve to avoid it. I honestly only had about a half second to react. I braced myself and put my weight on the pegs and hit it square on. It was a far more substantial impact than I expected. It was a real solid hit.

I was going about 70 and both tires lost air instantly and the bike started wobbling and weaving something fierce. The bike kind of settled down a bit and I got it to the side of the road.

I got off the bike to survey the damage and my heart sunk when I found that both wheels were destroyed. I was hoping it would only be the tires.

Since the bike was so low it didn’t have much lean on the kickstand and a big truck flew past and the wind was enough to blow it over. Luckily, I was able to kind of catch it and allow it to drop gently with no damage other than some scratches to the saddlebag. I started to pick it up, but then figured it would probably just blow over again so I figured it would be safest to just leave it as it was.

So now I realize that I did not have my cell phone with me. I wait for someone to pull over with little success. Finally, a really nice guy pulls in and he has a phone. So I call the wife and ask her to call Geico, but I was not sure she fully understood where I was, so I decided to fire up the SPOT and send her a help message with my exact location. I totally forgot that it would also send a message out to folks on RideOhio.org.  The message said to call Geico, but most cell phones only allow 160 characters, so most people did not get the full message. All the same, unknown to me, lots of folks were making calls to get me some help, and I thank them all for helping!

The highway patrol showed up and put out flares while we waited for the tow truck.  As we waited, he decided to check me out and copied the VIN from my motorcycle.  When he started doing this I started screaming “I ain’t going back to prison”.  This kind of freaked the guy out, so we had a little talk.  I explained that I have some minor mental issues and there was no real reason to taze me.

We got the bike home and in the morning I gave it a good once over.  The damage is limited to the wheels, so that is a good thing!

Back Wheel

The object I hit

Geico came to the house and gave it a look over, called another tow truck and handed me a check for the damages.  Once the new wheels arrive all will be well in my world again!

Vstom heading to the shop for new wheels

Live and learn. Don’t ride in the center of your lane in heavy traffic. Don’t leave home without the cell phone. If you ride in the center and leave your phone at home you still have friends that will bail you out.  Don’t yell “I ain’t going back to prison” to a cop.

Lesson learned for truck drivers, you gotta throw some pretty big parts on the road to make a Suzuki go down! Bring it on, bitches!

Seriously though, I consider myself pretty lucky to be uninjured. I don’t ever want to do that again!