Somewhere back on the coast a day or so before, I had managed to pick up a bit of a head cold and the day wandering in San Christobal was also spent continually wiping a runny nose. Overnight, the nose had got a little better but I had a bit of a headache and had not slept well so I ended up getting up late (about 8:30). This was in fact good since it meant there were some helpers to get the bike back onto the street. This was a far quieter and less exciting effort than when we got the bike inside. With the bike in the street I loaded up my luggage and then headed off.
The sky today was looking very grey and as I headed out of town and started climbing in the hills again, I got some light drizzle - So I slowed down and rode more cautiously (This was the first rain I had had since Utah).
And that nose of mine was being a problem too... It was both blocked and running at the same time which is not pleasant at the best of times but when you have a motorcycle helmet on it can get down-right disgusting!
Anyway, about half way to my destination (Palenque) there was another small town with some ruins there so I stopped and spent an hour wandering around and then got back on the bike and kept going.
I´m in real alpine jungle now, and there are lots of vines, and bromeliads and orchids seem to grow like weeds on every available tree branch - quite exotic... Not to mention hot and humid!
I stopped for some tacos for lunch at a road side stall and then headed on with only about an hour and a half till I reached my destination, with one planned side trip to go see some water falls at Agua Azul.
The drizzle is on and off but its very light and more mist than rain... but I am cautious anyway. The road surface is excellent with good texture, but there are still plenty of tight and blind corners.
I´m headed down hill around one tightish corner and am well within my lane and going only about 60Kmh when all of a sudden my front wheel goes out from under me. My reflex is to straighten up the steering and this gets the bike back in control but I´m now heading through the corner rather than around it! - I try the turn again but it immediately slips again... This time with both wheels!... And this time we "go down" (me and the bike that is)!
So, there I am sliding along the road with my bike and wondering how this can be?... I don´t spend long on that thought though since the sliding is continuing but the bike and I are also twisting. I had started the slide out by being behind and free of the bike (good situation - typical for this type of slide out) but pretty quickly, the bike and I have switched positions and I am in front of the bike and slowing up more quickly than the bike. So now, the bike is up against me and in fact starting to "get on top" of me ... not good! This means that if we come up against an immovable object, the 250Kg+ of the bike will likely "squish me like a bug"... between a bike and a hard place!
And that's another thing! Why are we still sliding? The road is really "grippy" and I can feel it really grinding into my left shoulder as well as making all sorts of nasty noises as the bike panels and protruding bits take a real grinding! I struggle away but the bike and I remain "locked in combat"...
But, eventually we do come to rest... Upside-down and back-to-front and in the bottom of a steep concrete gutter on the opposite side of the road and the far side of the bend!
It takes me about 30 seconds to get out from under the bike as I was pinned by one hand with the bike partly on my chest...
OK, Am I alright?...
Seem to be able to move everything...
Right hand hurts a bit and so does the left hip...
Visual check...minor scrape to right wrist - no problem...
All my favorite fingers, limbs and joints (ie all of them) accounted for and functioning normally....phew!
What about the bike!, the bike!... Yep, upside down in a ditch!
A little collectivo (a pickup that locals pay a few pesos to get from A to B) has passed by and everyone is looking at me. They pull up about 50 meters down the road and they start getting out and coming towards me with their very big knives! Actually, Its no big deal, everyone here has a big knife... including the women and kids! - They need to keep the jungle at bay somehow. They come over and I jibber away in broken Spanish and ask for a bit of assistance - After indicating that I´m fine and the bike is the one that needs the help, we manhandle the bike upright... I start the engine and it fires up but blows quite a bit of blue smoke (to be expected after a couple of minutes in the inverted position). The smoke dissipates and I ride down to where their truck is, thank them and then they head on their way and I "take stock".
Bike damage report:
Broken indicator (a-$"&%*+ing-gain!), broken brake pedal, deeply gouged right luggage case and missing latch mechanism, skew-wiff instrument panel, gouges in paint work, broken right mirror, twisted up right hand set (not broken since I keep the bolts a little loose to allow for this sort of thing)
- All in all, not too bad considering.
Personal gear damage report:
Broken camera case strap, broken right boot buckle, torn and abraded right hip pocket of trousers, hole worn through right glove at wrist, tears and abrasions in jacket back/skirt, and one hell of a nasty big abrasion hole in the left shoulder - well into the hard armour protection - Yep, I could feel that happening. No marks on helmet or hard armour knee pads.
Personal damage report:
Scraped right wrist, bruised hips, stiff neck and slightly pulled groin - no big problem, this injury is not unfamiliar to me ;)
So, I limp back up the road to see if I can find that luggage latch and to see what caused the slide...
It turns out that some generous soul (it would have been an accidental spill of course) has liberally coated the entire corner with gasoline or diesel! You can see the sheen on the wet road from the downhill side but not from above.
So, there was really not a lot that I could have done other than going at sub-30kmh speed for the whole journey. It is a truly treacherous corner in this drizzle... and just to make the point, while I am standing there a big truck comes around and gets half sideways before the driver gets it back under control. I was right in his path and I could see his eyes get all wide - as did mine! :). So the corner is clearly bad even if you have four or more wheels... but lethal if you only have two...
I smarten up and get the hell out of there after quickly locating the missing latch.
I have security straps on my luggage cases so that if the latch fails they don´t come off completely (Thanks for the suggestion Ron) so I just lash things up tight and then ride on gingerly toward Palenque.
I stop at Agua Azul and limp around looking at the lovely cascades for a bit (but I admit I`m having a bit of a hard time appreciating them at the moment). While I am there, the clouds decide to get enthusiastic and instead of the wishy-washy drizzle, they really open up with a tropical down-pour... Oh well, at least its not freezing cold!
After about 45min, the rain lightens up a bit but doesn´t look like stooping so I decide to ride on to my destination and get a dry room for the night.
I ride on for an hour or so (slowly and carefully are a bit of an understatement here!) and I get there fine and I find a room and I get some food and things are more or less back under control.
Not much I could really have done about this one, but I am very glad there were no hard objects to hit and no traffic coming the other way - or ít´d be "Game Over"!
I´m also very glad that I have been toughing it out in this tropical heat and am always wearing my full set of hard armour and the gloves and the big jacket - Definite life saver this time!
Not a good day, but then, they don´t call it "Adventure Touring" for nothing!
Suck it up winner! ...Ride On...:)
