We got in real late(650 miles later) and ate dinner even later so we decided we wouldn't leave Chicago quite as early as we have left the other mornings. Before leaving Chicago, Todd led us down to Wrigley Field in hopes to get some pics of the Nomads with the stadium in the background from the McDonald's parking lot. The lot is used for paid parking when there is a game. Well guess what? There was a game. We pulled in and were told by the parking guy we couldn't stay where we were. Todd told him all we wanted to do was take couple of pics and we would be out of his way. He fussed a bit but we got some pics before we pulled out.
CoachA and Tammy in front of Wrigley Field
Our (Todd, Mike and Amy) destination is Huntington, WV. Ron and Tammy were heading to David Jones' place. We pulled out onto the interstate and hauled it fast and hard. Heading to Indiana was rough. The interstate is horrible. The state should be paying people to drive on that thing instead of us paying them to ride on it. We were all tired of the interstate. We stopped for gas and decided to eat some lunch at the buffet place that was there. While we were inside, it rained a bit. It had stopped then started rain a little by the time we were ready to pull out. We said our goodbyes to Ron and Tammy as we weren't sure we would be able to stop again before they split off from us. We started down the interstate and the rain picked up. I didn't care about getting wet, but was having trouble seeing so I let Todd know I needed to stop and put my rain sheild on my helmet. I did that and a few miles down the road, the rain stopped. That figures. Tammy and Ron split off from us as we got close to Indianapolis. We made it through Indiana into Ohio and out to catch the corner of Kentucky and back into Ohio again. We rode along the interstate then picked up Hwy 52. It goes right along the Ohio River. Neat road to ride. We stopped for gas and decided to ride a little longer before grabbing dinner as we were still a ways off from Huntington. We were told there weren't any places on the river to eat until we get to Ripley. We got to a stop light and Todd suggested we turn and get right down to the river and take some pics. Once we got down there, we were looking around for a good place to take pics and a guy on a Nomad comes riding down the road. He was on a blondie. He turned around and chatted with us for a few minutes. Of course we told him about KawaNOW. He said he would check it out. Maybe we will have another new member soon.
Crossing the Ohio state line
The Indiana state line sign across the highway to prove we were there.
Nomads with Ohio River in the background
We got a few shots by the river and even got a couple of kids walking down the street to take pics with us with our bikes. They used Todd and Mike's cameras so I don't have copies yet. We pulled out in search of a place to eat. We stopped at one spot and they didn't serve food. Only alcohol. The second place we checked told us to go to the Boat House. It's right on the river. Cool place to sit and watch the sunset and eat a burger.
The bikes on a street in Ripley, OH
It was 9:30 before we were ready to leave Ripley and still had well over an hour to get to Huntington. Hwy 52 is not one you want to fly down especially in the dark. We looked at finding a way to a route that would get us off 52 but we were pretty much committed at that point to staying on it. We rode slower and cautiously looking for deer as we rode along. We rode through several little townships along the way. We got into Friendly and were moving along and were about 7 miles away from Portsmouth, OH. Todd and I were rolling along trying to light up the road and watch for deer. We both realized at the same time that we no longer had Mike's headlight behind us. I found a drive to pull into and got turned so I could watch the vehicles coming down the road. No single headlights. We decided to head back to check things out. We rode about a mile or so and saw vehicles pulled over, my stomach dropped. Then I saw a dead deer in the road. My stomach dropped again. We got stopped and Mike was lying on the other side of the road. The deer ran out in front of him and he tumbled off the bike and slid down the road on his rear and some on his right arm. His bike apparently continued forward, hit a mailbox which knocked it down to the left side where the clutch cylinder dug into the highway then the bike flipped several times and landed at the bottom of the slight ravine. It was a very scary sight! I was extremely concerned about Mike. He was talking and worried about his bike and us finding his camera. Bless his heart. He said what was hurt was the same ankle that had gotted twisted real bad about 2 years ago when a deer hit him on his bike. He was taken to the local hospital and Todd and I stayed at the scene to help gather up his belongings and make sure the bike was towed. His stuff was strewn everywhere. We couldn't find the camera in the dark. Todd said he would go back in the daylight and look for it. We got the hospital and checked on Mike and got his stuff put in a security room. A guy who was in a pick up behind Mike took his stuff over there and showed us where the hospital was. Once we took care of that, we left to find a hotel and told Mike to call when he was released. It was about 2 am. He called and was on his way out to the hotel. He has a broken ankle. One bone broken and the other fractured. He has some road rash on his right arm. The bike looks to be totalled. We're just glad he's okay and not hurt anymore than he is. He's in great spirits.
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