Anybody have a story to tell about on of these?
They come in all widths in pipe spacing/size and quality. We still have some installed on major County roads, even more on back county roads thru ranches.Just happens to be some of the funner riding areas of course.I was our riding last Friday and snapped a few pics of my friends in waiting. This one is typical for here and even with road surface...a lot are not and will jar the senses out of you.
My sister in law was up in Austin two years ago for a riding weekend on her Kawasaki Cruiser. Had been riding for about a year and a half.We decided to head out to the Willow City Loop and Enchanted Rock areas. Weather was typical spring here with showers in area and lasting only a few minutes. It had rained ahead of us and the roads were dry except near the shoulders and painted lines. On the Willow City Loop, there are multiple twisty turns with you guessed it, a cattle guard at the apex of the turn in a few spots. Karen had cleared at least 5 before the oddball one bit her. Top of a rise, 45 degree right turn and the spacing and diameter were not standard. Only traveling around 10-15 MPH when the bike decided to slide away...I watched in the mirror in what seemed like super slow motion as she went down. Wearing full gear, she hit her head hard enough to knock her out...Due to the terrain, no cellphones were working and after she came to and vitals looked fine, I drove (raced)back to local store to call 911, leaving Helen and my brother to monitor her and listen to her ask about the bike. The helicopter was there in a very short time, and they transported her to Austin. She had shoulder surgery a few months before this and of course landed on THE shoulder. We had several riders of other makes stop and help secure the scene( several LEO's in one group) Her bike lost some paint & lights, but her being OK erased any concerns about that.
I look at these hazards differently now and straighten up a bit more than I used too. Always treated them like RR tracks, but after looking at some of the 1940's era ones, I really look closer now, especially when it's wet.
As a side story, my bike was in the landing zone as I was down near Karens bike with the DPS trooper filling out forms. The rotor wash blew my RT over! Landed on it's side after scraping the barbed wire fence against the windscreen...the pilot came over later and said he was a BMW rider and sure hated to be the cause of that! I said no problem...will tell everyone the helicopter did it! Ran in to him at the BMW shop a month later in his flight suit...asked him if he had been to Willow City recently...he hung his head and said " that was you?" we laughed since the real story was a rider walked away from that day.
