It's not often that the sexy granny and I can spend an entire weekend together, so we decide to make the most of it by riding roughly 100 miles to the Coleto Creek State Park and relaxing with a little light camping.
Well, we got all the way across town before Jill pulled off the expressway. Seems her bike wasn't handling. Seems the rear tire was flat. I seem to have this power that cracks valve stems.
We limped the Magna back to the house, reloaded the Valkyrie and restarted our adventure.
We rode through Goliad, turned on US-59 and finally turned at the highway crossover to the park. That's when the tires slid on that coarse sand found around highway construction. They slid quickly, too, right out from under us, but I tried to minimize damage to the bike by sliding on my elbow and hip. Jill was scratched a little; she elected to wear a riding jacket while the last thing I did before leaving was to hang mine up. I figured there was little need for the armor once we cleared the city limit. That armor would have been between my elbow and the pavement instead of just the long sleeve shirt I wore.
Needless to say, the incident put a damper on the day. Jill dressed my wound at the ranger station and we went to the Cajun restaurant for some medicinal gumbo, then rode on home.
Later, while changing my bandage, Jill discovered that one particularly unpleasant looking raspberry was actually a hole in my skin. At the emergency room, I got two stitches and the nurse gave me candy and a roll of first aid tape. Jill is OK. In a surprising reversal of rolls, I made her stiff, but like the nurse said, she’s a tough cookie and doesn't crumble under pressure.
The bike suffered minor cosmetic damage, mostly to the windshield and engine guard. Jill put me on light duty, though, so I can't get the Magna's wheel fixed or fool with the Valkyrie, this week.
As you might guess, there are not very many crappy days in paradise, but Saturday came pretty close. Still, my worse day under a motorcycle is better than my best day under a mini truck.