Gone But Not Forgotten Mystery Cache

It was Monday July 20th 2015, and the day started out the same as any other day. My alarm clock sounded at 0700. I grumbled about it being a work day. I got up, looked out the window at the weather, the sun was shining and it was warm. I thought to myself that the day looked like a good day to ride the bike to work. At least there was a bright spot.

I finished getting dressed for work, went downstairs and filled my thermos with coffee for the day. As I put on my riding gear I looked forward to the morning ride to the office. I headed out the door, put my thermos in the saddle bag, fired up the bike and turned from the driveway onto the street. Within a few minutes the day had become brighter. The weather was nice, the sun was shining and traffic was light. Thirty minutes later I rolled into the parking lot, parked the bike near the door and headed into the office. Life was good!

Once I got into the office I looked forward to the end of the day and the ride home. It seemed that the day would never end. I looked forward to the stress relieving ride home with my Lady. My thoughts drifted to getting ready to leave for the Geobash later in the week. Mostly I was looking forward to the end of the work day and my ride home.

The day seemed to drag on and on, it seemed as if the end of the day would never arrive. Finally it was 5pm and time to head home. As I put on my riding gear and headed out the door, it was sunny and warm. A perfect day for a great ride home. I fired up the bike, headed out of the parking lot and made the turn onto the street for what promised to be a fabulous ride home.

As I approached the traffic light in the distance I saw it changing from green, to yellow and then to red. As I slowed and approached the intersection I was trying to decide if I should turn left or right. A quiet voice in my head said “go right”. But to the right was an area of new construction and traffic always backed up due to the volume of people heading home. I decided to turn left and moved into the left turn lane and rolled up to the stop line. As I waited at the stop line for the light to turn green, the voice again said “go right”.

After what seem like a longer wait than normal, the light turned green. I made my left turn and headed down the road to get on the freeway. The section of road to the freeway ramp was posted at 35 miles per hour. As the bike came up speed I was enjoying the sun on my face and the sound of the wind rushing past my helmet, Sarge’s Lady was singing to me. Traffic was a little heavier than normal as I headed toward the freeway entrance. I rolled past the grape vineyards and started past the two housing developments, one on each side of the road. Suddenly, a grey streak appeared five feet in front of me coming from the left. A car had suddenly turned directly in front of me. I remember trying to stop, then nothing. Time had ceased to exist.

I don’t know how much time passed. I remember waking up flat on my back with the sun in my eyes. I could feel the warmth of the road thru my riding gear. I realized I had collided with what must have been a car. My next thought was to try and move my fingers and toes to determine if anything was broken, they felt like they moved. I could hear a young male saying over and over in a very panicked voice “oh my god, I hit him, I hit him. oh my god I hit him.” I heard the sound of sirens in the distance, they sounded as if they were getting closer, a few seconds later I blacked out again.

Next thing I remember was waking up in a very bright room. I looked up and saw nurses and doctors, I asked where I was. They said I had been involved in a motorcycle accident and that I was in the emergency room. I asked what time it was and they said 7pm. I asked if any bones were broken. They said no. I asked again, and they said you are a very lucky person. No bones were broken, not even a fingernail. They explained that I had a lot of soft tissue damage and bruising, but other than that I was fine and would be going home soon. They explained the doctor was waiting on the results of the last of the X-Rays and MRI’s to come back. As I lay there I heard a man at the door ask if he could come into the room for a few minutes. It was the Police Officer that responded to the call. He asked how I was doing and said he just wanted to stop by and check on me. I asked if the other driver was using the cell phone when he hit me, he said no, he was returning with his Mom from the store. I asked about my bike, he said it looked really bad and said he was surprised to be able to talk with me. He said he expected me to be dead when he arrived. We had a nice visit. As he was leaving I thanked him for stopping by to visit.

I felt my phone laying by my side and picked it up, it hurt to move. I managed to start Facebook and hit check in. I managed to enter two words “motorcycle accident” to the check in line and pressed post. The doctor finally came in and said all the tests were negative and that I would be able to go home. I asked how many X-Rays were taken, he said 29 total including the MRI of my head. We talked a while and he confirmed that I would be going home. The doctor asked if I had someone I could call for a ride home. About this time Suzy walked into the room, I looked at her and she said, I saw your post, are you OK? I said yes, I knew you would come, thank you. Doc said I can go home. Suzy looked at me laying there on the bed and at my clothes, no torn material, no dirt, nothing. She looked at my riding jacket and saw the same thing, no torn material or dirt. Then she looked at my helmet and saw the scrapes, cracks, and damage. As Suzy looked at the helmet I heard a small faint gasp and I saw the expression on her face change.

When I looked at her and said it was time to put my boots on for the trip home, she looked at me a little puzzled. Then I sat up on the bed, turned, put my feet on the floor, stood up walked to chair and sat down to put on my combat boots for the trip home. Suzy looked at me in disbelief and asked, how can this be? You were just in a motorcycle accident with a car. How are you standing there and walking with only a small cut above your eye? How is this even possible? I looked at her and said I have no idea. Next thing I know George is on the phone, he said he saw my post and that he was 15 minutes away.

I spent Tuesday in bed resting. On Wednesday I called the Avon Lake Police department and asked where my bike had been taken after the accident. I got in the car and drove to the towing company. I wanted to see the damage and take pictures. When I arrived I asked if I could go back and see my bike. After they expressed their surprize that I was standing there two days after the accident they took me back to see my bike.

It was standing upright. From a distance it didn't look that bad, there was hope. Then I got close. The frame was bent, the forks were pushed back toward the frame and crushed, the safety roll bar was pulled completely to the right and bent against the engine. The fuel tank was dented on both sides. The handlebars were bent, the main headlight was broken, the front turn signals were missing along with one of the two fog lamps and the front brake lever was broken off of the handle bars and the mirrors were shattered. There was fluid leaking from the engine and transmission. It was bad, really bad.

Then they showed me the car that turned in front of me. The uni-body frame was bent. The entire right side of the car was torn open and damaged. The passenger side door window was shattered and the mirror was torn from the door. The top section of the door frame around the window was bent and cut open near the impact point of my helmet on the windshield. The windshield was broken where my helmet hit. I stood there in total disbelief.

I thanked them for their time and allowing me to see both my bike and the car then headed home. A couple days later the insurance company called me and told me they would be totaling my bike because it had sustained $21,000.00 in damage. They explained they also totaled the other person's car because of the amount of damage caused by my bike

I still don’t remember anything after turning left at the traffic light or the events of that fateful day other than what I described. When I look at the pictures from that day, and think about the events that took place, I wonder; why am I still alive? How did I walk away? By all rights, I should be dead.

Maybe one day I’ll know the answer, but for now, I’ll just have to wait. Now Sarge’s Lady lives on only in my memory.

First to Solve: gmarkusic on January 20th, 2016 at 1930 hours

CO-First to Find: gmarkusic and pfatsie January 23, 2016 at 1318 hours