Well Gang Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am grateful that I did not go down in that crash. I am also grateful that my partners that did go down are still alive. R100, thankyou for your concern. I really appreciate it. I know it is not Speed Triple related, but you really seem to care. Mahalo. I was swerving to avoid it as the bikes were tumbling and my friend was flying through the air. It was like they hit an oil slick. If I would have watched the crash for one more nano second and not started looking for an open space, I would have been bike #4. I am just lucky. When we escort we reach speeds of 'the bike can't go any faster'. I don't want to get into why it happened. Was speed a factor. Speed is always a factor during leap frog progressive escorts. The crash is just what can happen during a highspeed escort. All of us Solo Bike officers know and accept the risks. The road was super slick. I will leave it at that for now. What we need is your prayers and good thoughts. The critically injured officer is not out of the woods yet. He is fighting for his life. The problem with his crash was that he got ejected from the bike and smashed into a light pole crushing his hip and causing internal hemoraging that the doctors were unable to stop until earlier today. He has four small children and a loving wife and he is fighting with all he has for them. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
The President and his wife made a lasting impact and earned our respect by the from the heart concern and sorrow they expressed for the officers involved. Politics aside, they were really 'Standup, Good people'. There were 30 of us when we started on Monday evening and there were 26 when the mission was accomplished. Our unit was blooded again yesterday.
Take a look at the picture. You can see how narrow the road is. Both lanes are the same width. Now think of the motorcade being 30 vehicles long and traveling at a good clip. There are also untrained military personnel driving passenger vans in the motorcade and they are not keeping it tight, they are causing gaps. Now look at how much room you would have to get passed the motorcade and how fast you must travel in order to get past them all. Now try to picture that black asphalt road being wet with rain and that curve being at the end of a pretty long straight that you were using to build speed to get past the motorcade and block the next intersection. Think of how much apex you get to use to negotiate that turn. Think if one guy goes down in front of you, where are you going to go? Maybe these thoughts will help you understand how crashes can occur in these out of the ordinary conditions. Presidential escorts are not a Sunday ride in the park. Please pray for my partner and his family. I left his name out because I am not sure if it has been released yet. Aloha,
Dale
His name is Steve Favela. It was released last night. I will keep you posted. Thankyou for your prayers and well wishes.
I went to see the family today and told them of all of your support from around the world. They were very, very grateful. Believe me. They are a very humble family and are so grateful. Please continue your prayers and well wishes. Steve is improving but still not out of the woods. 11-24-06
[ This message was edited by: 3853 on 2006-11-25 04:16 ]
