By J.
Kendall Benzing
GWRRA
# 104961
Having received NO trip stories from others to add to my “Trip Stories “ page I decided to write another account of a more recent trip of mine. First of all, let me assure you that not all of my trips have ended like this one, or the first story. I have taken many trips without incident.
After not riding for about 35 years I had a chance to buy a Yamaha 750 Maxim. I added a trunk and saddlebags with the idea of doing some traveling, but it was not very comfortable for two of us to go any great distance, so about a year later I traded for a new Yamaha Venture Royale with all the bells and whistles. This bike proved to be a very comfortable ride. Shortly after trading bikes my wife and I took off for the Black Hills. (My wife’s first long distance trip on a motorcycle). Really enjoyed it and the following year we rode the Blue Ridge Parkway with a couple of biking friends.
Together with our friends we made plans to go touring in Colorado the following year. After planning the route, making reservations, etc. our friends informed us that she had cancer, needed immediate surgery and would not be able to travel that summer. So my wife and I decided that we would make the trip by ourselves.
We left Monona, Iowa late one afternoon after my wife got off work and rode only as far as Clear Lake, Ia. We stopped to see my wife’s sister who wasn’t in the best of health. Left there the following morning and rode all day as far as York, Nebraska, about 400 miles. Really enjoyed the motel pool and hot tub to ease our aches and pains from the first long day of riding.
The next morning we had a quick breakfast, gassed up and rode until we arrived at Ft. Morgan, Colorado for the next night.
Waking the following morning, we could see the mountains coming in to view. I have always loved the mountains, having done some camping, hiking, etc. in previous years with our family. We rode through Greeley, Loveland and through the Big Thompson Canyon. Stopping several times to take pictures, my wife decided to try videotaping from the back seat. She did a pretty good job of taping but as we found out later, the wind noise was terrible. (I later dubbed in some music to eliminate much of the noise. Found out later we could plug in an external microphone and just lay it in the seat between us. This would pick up a little sound of the motor running but not all the wind noise.)
After spending a little time in Estes Park we headed up the “Trail Ridge” road. Stopped at Bear Lake for some pictures and then continued up to the summit. It kept getting colder and colder, started raining and then sleeting. We arrived at the summit of the pass, cold, windy and almost snowing. Stayed only long enough for a couple of pictures and then headed down the western slope. Rode past Grand Lake, Winter Park and then on to Georgetown for the night.
Our motel room in Georgetown was on the west side and the sun was beating down making the room like a sauna. My wife said, “ Start the air conditioner.” I said, “Can’t find the controls.” She called the office and they told her there was no A/C but to use the ceiling fan instead. Well, that didn’t help very much until the sun went down. Then it did cool off nicely.
The next day we continued west on I-70, through the Eisenhower Tunnel, past Vail and down through Glenwood Canyon to Glenwood Springs. Beautiful ride on a motorcycle. We stopped in Glenwood Springs intending to go for a swim in the hot springs. A few years earlier we had ridden the Rio Grande Zephyr train from Denver to Glenwood Springs and spent a day and a night there, swimming and sightseeing. However, when we arrived at the pool, two busloads of youngsters were just unloading to go for a swim. We decided it would take us too long if we waited to swim as we wanted to go over McClure Pass and get to Montrose for the night. Arriving at our motel in Montrose, we opted for a dip in the outside hot tub. Was that ever refreshing! The crisp mountain air and the warm soak in the tub, I gave serious thought to installing one on my deck at home for use in the winter. ? ? ?
The next morning dawned bright and sunny with just a few puffy clouds in the sky, a perfect day for riding the “Million Dollar Highway”. At Ouray we started up Red Mountain Pass on the “Million Dollar Highway” eventually coming to Silverton. We spent some time shopping and then continued on to Durango. We had been unable to get reservations in Durango but had a room reserved for two nights in Farmington, New Mexico. We planned on riding the Durango-Silverton RR the next day. As we were leaving Durango I thought I would stop at one of the motels to see if they would have any cancellations. Luckily, they had just received five cancellations. We could have a room but only for that night. I would have to check again the next day to see if there would be anything available for the next night.
The next morning the desk clerk said he wouldn’t know if there would be any cancellations for a couple of hours. I explained that we were going on the train and wouldn’t be back until late in the day. He did some quick checking on his computer and finally said yes, we could have a room for the next night. What a relief! We hurriedly cancelled our last reservation at Farmington and rode down to the train station for the trip to Silverton. I have ridden all the trains in Colorado but this ride is by far the most scenic and interesting. I have been on this train four times as of 2004.
Late in the afternoon when we returned to Durango it had rained heavily and our helmets hanging on the back of the bike were full of water. We emptied them, rode back to our motel and took them inside to dry out.
Heading for home the next day we planned to stop at our daughter’s home in Hutchinson, Kansas after one night in Lamar, Colorado. We rode across Wolf Creek Pass, LaVeta Pass and on to Pueblo, Colorado. Then started east along Highway 50.
We were about 15 miles east of Pueblo, near the small town of Avondale, when a car parked on the side of the road suddenly swung left, right into our path. I hadn’t seen anyone in the car or beside it and the car wasn’t moving. I suspected nothing. As the car cut across our path I hit the brakes, swerved to the left but saw the car wasn’t going to stop. I leaned a little bit more and we hit right behind the front wheel of the car on the driver’s side. My wife, who had been sleeping (yes, sleeping) was thrown to the left side of the road. Witnesses said I lay there for about 30 seconds before I crawled over to see if she was injured. No sign of any blood and she was breathing normally but was unconscious. Almost immediately a couple of EMT’s were there checking on her. Then she started talking - - “Get this helmet off. It’s hot.” (The sun was beating down right on her face.) One of the EMT’s attempted to unhook the helmet but her helmet had a different type of clasp. I said I would unhook it but not to take it off until an ambulance arrived. An ambulance crew was soon there, carefully removed the helmet and put a collar around her neck. (Then she complained about the collar. Ha! - - Doesn’t remember any of this.) As the ambulance crew was putting her into the ambulance I thought I’d better get up and see if I had broken anything. Luckily, I just had a skinned elbow and a big bump on my left leg. My leg had hit the clutch lever and bent it. Could have had a broken leg. After a short discussion with a couple of patrolmen we headed for the hospital in Pueblo. The fellow that pulled out ahead of us was a local priest. Said he did not see us. He was very apologetic and called the hospital several times to check on us.
After getting checked at the hospital I tried to get a rental car, pick up our bags from the bike where it had been taken, get a motel for the night and cancel our reservations in Lamar. Seems there were NO rental cars available at any agency. After much hassle I explained our situation to a girl at one agency. She asked what type of car I needed. I said it didn’t matter, just so it had four wheels and ran. She had one that was spoken for for the next day but she said there would be another one in by morning. Even came to pick me up at the hospital.
While my wife was being x-rayed and checked I picked up our luggage and came back to the hospital. She was being released but I was to wake her every couple of hours and make sure she was coherent.
We checked in to a motel I had called and phoned our children, telling them what had happened. One daughter lives in Hutchinson, Kansas, one daughter in Liberty, Missouri and our son lives in our hometown, Monona, Iowa. We had planned on using the rental car to drive to Hutchinson the next day. About 10 minutes later our daughter in Hutchinson called back and said they were coming out to get us. She and her husband along with their two little children drove all night and were in Pueblo the next morning, about 400 miles.
We rode back to Hutchinson with them that day. The next day our daughter from Liberty, Mo. and her family came to Hutchinson and brought us back to Liberty. A day later our daughter in Liberty drove us to Des Moines, Iowa where our son’s wife happened to be shopping. Rode back to Monona with her. (Nice to have children strategically placed along our route. Ha!)
Well, the bike was totaled. My wife did suffer a cracked rib. (Discovered after more x-rays locally.) Three Weeks to the day after the accident we were riding a new GoldWing GL1500.
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