Ride to Cosby, TN or Mashing Bikes

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014.  Had made plans with three East TN Bikers to make a run today as it was going to be warmer than tomorrow.  Sarge lives near Cosby and I had never met him.  Chris lives in Maryville and I had never met him either but did know his son Ian.  Paul, I ride with often.  So Chris was going to meet me in Seymour and we were going to ride to Cosby to meet Sarge and eat some BBQ.  Paul was leaving later and was going to meet us.  Sky was definitely sunless, slightly foggy with a mist hanging in the air.  At 10:10 a.m. we pulled out of Seymour.  Destination, ride US 441 to Sevierville, run US 411 for a few miles and then take TN 339 a nice well surfaced back road across to US 321 into Cosby.

Leaving Seymour, TN for Sevierville.

Jones Cove Rd., TN 339, from Sevierville to Cosby.






Road surface is great as it was resurfaced about a year or two ago.  Still a lot of color but this rain and cold will kill that soon.

The dampness really pulled the darker colors out along the way.  Lots of old farm buildings and houses, some still in use.

Since the road was wet we were taking our time riding this route.  Chris had not ridden this road before.  He's an avid rider but does most of it in Europe where he taught school on military bases.

Some soybean fields have already been harvested but saw one that may get lost with the rain and snow.

We took our time, went to the BBQ place and it was closed so we decided to go to Carver's, an apple orchard, store, restaurant not to far away.  We ordered our food and then Paul showed up.

After a lengthy time of eating and talking we decided to leave and go back via Interstate 40 due to the weather and dropping temperature.  Paul was going to ride back via some back roads.  Sarge led off, I was next and Chris followed me.  Sarge was going to turn off to go to his house and Chris and I would continue on to the interstate.  About 3 miles before we got to the interstate, a red pickup stopped due to on-coming traffic to make a left turn.  An old Toyota pickup was stopping behind him.  Then I was stopping, going real slow but had not actually stopped yet.  Unfortunately, Chris didn't stop and ran into the rear of Sweet Thang.  The following pictures are the result.   

Right rear saddle bag and bag guard rails destroyed.  Inside the saddle bag was some rain gear, tool bag, air compressor (badly damaged) and other sundries carried for short or long hauls.  All of this hit the highway.

Another view of the right saddle bag.  The Red cover beneath the rider's seat is also broken as the saddlebag guard rail hit it and the back of my right leg.

The impact drove my front wheel beneath the rear bumper of the pickup, which was being driven by an off-duty TN State Trooper.












 


Another view of the front fender.












Since the metal was driven into the tire it cut a 3' ribbon of rubber out of the tire down to the cord.  The impact also caused me to break the end portion off my right throttle grip.

I had a hit to my right calf and feels like I strained my ACL on the left leg probably catching myself to keep the bike upright.  I came out very fortunate as the bike can be repaired (expensively).  I had just had the front tire, rotors and pads replaced on the bike.

However, my friend Chris was riding his son's restored 1975 Suzuki.  Chris was thrown over the handlebars and landed on the grassy shoulder on his left shoulder, head and side.  He was transported to the hospital nearby and later transported to the University of Tenn. Medical Center in Knoxville.  He sustained a broken collarbone, several broken ribs and a damaged spleen.  The off-duty state trooper called in the 911 call and aid was there quickly.  However while waiting those few minutes, I noticed the headlight on Chris' bike was still on and gas was dripping out of the tank.  So I walked over and switched off the key, pulling it out at the same time and the bike caught fire.  The ambulance attendant used up a 10 lb. dry chemical extinguisher but it didn't put out the fire so when the fire truck arrived a minute or so later they put it out with a fire hose from the pumper.

The day started out with several guys that had chatted with each other over a forum but only two had actually met.  Our meeting was great, our lunch was great but the days ending sort of sucked.  A tow truck took Chris' bike to Sarge's to be picked up later.  Sarge came back and stayed with me until my tow truck arrived.  I rode back to my bike shop with the tow truck and called my old riding buddy Ron, to pick me up.  All in all, we were very lucky.  I always try to get God to ride with me and again he was there.  It goes to show that when you're trying to be careful, you can't necessarily count on everyone else doing the same.  Would I ride with Chris again, you bet.  Am I thankful for both of us being alive, you bet.  Will I ride again, you bet.  I have come to the conclusion that I may need to remove the right saddle bag from my bikes as this is the second time I have been hit from the rear and the right saddlebag took the brunt of the blow.

As the weather chills, conditions change.  Make sure you change with them.  Ride safe.