Tragedy Ends Our Ride - Fri 4/13/12

Today, Friday the 13th, we crashed, ending our voyage.

The day started well as we cruised out of Monticello for about 5 miles.  Then a mid-sized dog ran silently from his yard and locked his teeth on our right front pannier, causing the wheel to swerve, and throwing us to the asphalt at 15 mph.  I saw the dog coming and expected him to stop, as hundreds of others had, or at worst attack my leg.  He caught me off guard by going for our luggage.

As we lay on the ground stunned, 2 good Samaritans stopped to help.  One helped me get our bike and gear out of the road while the other helped Ruth to a seat in her car and called 911.  Eventually, a fire truck arrived, then an ambulance and deputy sheriff.  Our new friend, Kathy Reams, offered us a ride to an urgent care facility in Tallahassee so we declined the ambulance.  The firemen kindly took our bike with them, and one offered to bring it to us tomorrow.  As we were leaving, the dog's owner came out and met the deputy.  Then a woman and 2 kids came out.  I don't know what he was doing while the fire truck was there.

X-rays showed that Ruth has a broken collarbone, so she can't ride for about 3 months.  They put her arm in a sling and gave her pain meds.  I have a big hematoma on my elbow and a painful hip joint, so I can't ride either.  We both have major road rash.  I treated myself.

Then we rented a room for a week at an extended-stay hotel, Kathy gave us a ride to it, and we settled in to recuperate.

We regret ending our ride 245 miles short of our goal after traveling about 2800 miles, but we had a great time and a lot of memorable experiences.  We are thankful that our injuries aren't worse and for the kindness of strangers.

Photos:
Ruth recuperating.
Bike after crash moved from road.
The dog that attacked.
Ambulance.
Dog owner meets deputy.
Jeff's elbow.

The truth from Ruth:  I feel very blessed that our accident was not worse.  With the medication I'm on, I'm not in pain.  Jeff is taking care of me, and we have a place to stay until we fly home.  I'm so grateful to the people who stopped to help.   I hope the dog owners will tie their dog up so this doesn't happen to someone else.