A fateful trip By rgmarsing (Read 1,136 times)

[rgmarsing]

Just sit right back and hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this western town aboard this tiny scoot. The scoot was a mighty 150cc the skipper brave and kind of sure, not knowing what lay ahead on his three day tour, a three day tour.

Well I headed back up into the Uintas of Utah for my last camping trip of the season and ran into a little trouble. When I got up there I stopped at one of the developed campgrounds to see if I could get some water. I rode around the campground and couldnot find any so started to leave for the highway to go on when out of the blue my front tire just flew right out from under me and down I went.

Luckily I was only going between 5 and 10 mph, but I still made a three point landing (my hands my head and my knee) with the scoot on top of my leg. Again luckily I had on my gloves and helmet so I wasn't picking gravel out of my forehead or palms, but my knee was chewed up pretty good.
I got my scoot back up and waited for a couple minutes to let everything settle back into place and then got it started back up. Being late in the day there wasn't much I could do so I went on and found a camping spot and the next day made what repairs I could (always carry a small roll of duct tape). Since I was already there I decided if my knee didn't stiffen up I might as well stay since my scoot was still running ok. Trip turned out ok other than my mishap. Only wish the Proffessor had been there to help, altough I don't know if he could have done anything without some coconut shells. Mary Ann and or Ginger would have been nice too.
Heres some pics. I think there would have been a lot more damage if it wasn't for the side bag with clothes and plywood stiffening panel and unfortuneately my solar charger cushioning the fall.

loaded and ready to go

my camp site

my camp kitchen

thank god for duct tape

at least the mirror wasn't broken

a plywood stiffener for the soft sidebags

my solar charger was in the bag

my recliner

the view from my recliner

[Alleyoop]

Good to hear your ok just a few scraps and dings, BUT you said that your FRONT WHEEL FLEW right from under you DID YOU MENA BLEW?
Alleyoop

[justbuggin]

i think it slid out on gravel glad you are ok and that you did not let the little mishap ruin your trip

[rgmarsing]

Yah, it was a gravel road and I think I was a bit top heavy with all my camping gear lashed on. Those highway tires just don't have any grip on gravel and I was braking on a slite downhill as I was about to leave the campground. I didn't see any large rocks or anything, I think it was just gravel acting like ballbearings and the front wheel just slide right out from under me.
It was still a great trip. Got in some hiking and found some nice walking sticks to whittle on while I was enjoying the views. Of course there's really no way to bring back the walking sticks to add to my collection while I'm on my scoot, but I leave them at the trailheads or campgrounds for the people that follow me to enjoy.

[LUKE]

damn, where is that place? colombia?...nice! i like the mini kitchen attached to the trunk.

[rgmarsing]

Thanks Luke. The trunk is made out of recycled barn wood and the work platform is just the right height to work on. It sure beats working on the ground or a rock. I live in Salt Lake City and try to get into the Uinta Mountains at least two or three times a summer. If you are familiar with the area it's on hiway 150 between Park City and Evanston Wyo. It's about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour ride because I really can't take the main hiways directly and have to go by the back roads, but that's half the fun anyway. I can cruise along at 40 to 50 mph most of the way even loaded down on my 150, except of course on the major climbs and some winding switchbacks.