Starting this story is a bit difficult. We wanted to share a recent experience with our fellow Gold Wing riders. We are relating these events, not for the safety factors, and not to relate yet another travel log, but to acknowledge the warm and wonderful people that are in this world.
We started out leaving Kankakee, Illinois, on the morning of June 21, 2004. There were three Gold Wings: Ed & Nancy Rogers in the lead, Mark & Penny Buchmeier (that’s us) in the middle and Ron Ewen riding tail. At first there was a little rain, but then the weather cleared up nicely. We were headed for the Shenandoah National Park, The Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smoky Mountains. We rode well for several days; saw the sights and enjoyed the riding. We certainly had our share of rain, but some days it would rain in the morning and then clear up by the afternoon.
On Friday we were headed towards Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Our plans were to visit “Mayberry” and then to continue on to Doughton Park.
We stopped for gas just outside Mt. Airy, as it had started to rain and we needed to put on our rain suits and might as well gas up. We no sooner pulled into the station than a downpour hit. We talked for a few minutes with two other couples who were riding and had also pulled off to suit up. They were headed to Asheville. We waited a few minutes and pulled out, continuing this leg of our journey. We rounded a small bend and, checking our rearview mirrors, saw a Lexus SUV passing our single rider, who was the last in our procession (we were in the middle).
The SUV was coming fast—too fast for the curve. I looked to the right mirror—the third bike was going down! The headlight was not where it was supposed to be. The SUV was passing us now—driving fast on a wet mountain road in a curve. We got on the CB. “Four wheeler coming up—it is past us—Ron is down.”
What an awful feeling in the pit of your stomach! It is a gut-wrenching, breath-taking feeling, that one of your riders is down. We had no place to turn around. We had no safe place to pull over. We had no safe place to stop. We had to go approximately half a mile ahead to safely turn the bikes and trailers around.
Finally we got back to the scene. There was a vehicle stopped, but we were in the curve and once again needed to find a safe spot to pull the bikes off. The driver of the stopped vehicle was stopping traffic as we attempted to turn and park. Mark, my husband, said, “Get off and tend to Ron,” and continued on to place the bike and trailer in a safe position.
The other couple traveling with us, our leaders, Nancy & Ed Rogers, had also turned around and were attempting to get safely off the roadway. A few other vehicles had stopped, but I was not paying much attention to the traffic. I was checking Ron: breathing, no obstructed airway, conscious, no protruding bones, no extensive bleeding. Ron’s helmet was lying next to his head. It was very bent and scratched on one side. I wondered if it had come off on its own, but Ron advised me he pulled it off after he was down. Once again, a helmet saved a life.
I heard a voice in the background say, “No signal.” No one was able to get a signal out on the cell phones. There was a house up on a hill, a mountain, I am not sure what it was, about a mile and half away. Someone drove there.
I continued tending to Ron. We had gotten the blanket from the trailer, wet wash cloths that I carry, some ice, and our first aid kit. I advised Ron not to move. While I was doing what I could for Ron, a state trooper arrived. We found out that since this roadway was not in his jurisdiction, we would have to wait for a park ranger, but an ambulance had been called.
The ambulance would have to come from 25 to 30 miles away. We waited. And we waited. Many wonderful people stopped to offer assistance, from shielding Ron with an umbrella to assisting with traffic. They stopped to offer any help, whatever we might have needed.
Several minutes passed. Each time I looked up, I saw a gentleman directing traffic and each time he looked at me he offered a “kindness” smile and nodded his head. I remember thinking how calm and reassuring his look felt even in this moment of craziness.
The ambulance arrived; Ron was transported to Mt. Airy Hospital. The park ranger had a lot of questions and things to tell us. The firemen assisted Mark and Ed with getting Ron’s Gold Wing out of the ditch. We retrieved his personal belongings and placed them in our trailers. The man with the “kindness” smile told us that the house on the hill is his house. Someone came to use the phone and he came down to help. He said we could take Ron’s Gold Wing to his place and leave it there for however long was needed. His place is a bread & breakfast; they had just opened for business in March.
With the assistance of about five fireman, Mark and Ed were able to upright Ron’s bike, and discovered it was very bent, but driveable. So Mark and Ed made plans to move it up the hill. The park ranger stayed to assist with traffic, while we got on our Gold Wings. We drove up the hill/mountain, we dropped off Ed’s Gold Wing and Mark and Ed drove off on ours, back to the scene to get Ron’s bike and bring it back.
What a feeling it was in my heart—already heavy with sadness and fear—to watch our men drive off, back to that scene of the crash! It seemed to take forever, but soon they were rounding the corner and coming up the drive.
While the guys were gone, Nancy and I waited with Sherry & Dan Foster, the owners of The Inn & Cottages at Orchards Gap. There were the warmest and nicest people we could have met that day. They offered us rooms, but then added that the fog was coming in, and because we would want to be with our friend, and since the hospital was 30 miles away, it would not be a good idea for us to stay there. We needed to get into town. Don helped move the bike under a carport, and told us not to worry about the bike, it could stay there for however long was needed.
They offered us anything and everything they could think of, including wonderful words of comfort and encouragement. But we knew we had to get back on the road, for we needed to be with our friend.
I am not sure if any of the wonderful people who stopped to help us that day will ever see this article. But you never know who knows whom, so, if by chance anyone that was there that fateful day sees this, we want to thank all of you for the assistance, care and concern you showed us.
Sherry & Dan Foster, you were truly wonderful and we will pass along your kindness if the need ever arises! Fellow Gold Wing riders, if you are ever in Fancy Gap, Virginia, plan on spending a night or two with Sherry & Don at The Inn & Cottages at Orchard Gap. (The Inn & Cottages at Orchard Gap, P.O. Box 355, Fancy Gap, Virginia 24328. 276-398-3206. www.bbonline/va/orchardgap)
As I wrote this article Ron was still at Winston-Salem hospital with the hopes of being released in the next few days. His injuries were extensive, but not life threatening.
