February 12, 2017

DeAndra and I ride on Jolene, 2004 Honda VTX 1300C, from Campo California towards Chula Vista California on CA Highway 94.

California – New Beginnings

In January 2017 I moved from Montrose, Minnesota (about 37 miles west of Minneapolis, MN) and DeAndra (then girlfriend) moved from Los Angeles (North Hills) to Chula Vista, California. We lived in Chula Vista until October 2017, moving to Lake Elsinore, California where on November 1st, 2017 we were blessed with the birth of our son, well he was born in San Diego and he came home a few days later with mom.

A little history about Jolene

Jolene was my 2004 Honda VTX 1300C metric cruiser motorcycle I purchased in the spring of 2016 while living in Montrose Minnesota (about 37 miles west of Minneapolis, Minnesota). This motorcycle replaced my 2007 Honda VTX 1300C that I sold in October 2015 due to some cosmetic damage after a low slide in June of 2015 (the bike ran fine, it was just less hassle to sell it and replace it).

Jolene Crash – August 05, 2017

Sadly, I had a crashed on Jolene on August 5th, 2017 on In-Ko-Pah Park Road near the Desert View Tower in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. To this day, I am not 100% certain what caused that crash (and I still think about it, wishing I knew that exact cause(s)). The best I have come up with as often is the case, was a combination of factors leading to the crash.

1. Limited Suspension of the 2004 Honda VTX 1300C
2. High mileage Metzler 88 tires – hard rubber tires are less grippy than softer tires that wear out faster.
3. Towards end of day after riding in the desert heat all day – Fatigue and brain fog
4. Inattentiveness – from fatigue and brain fog (see above)
5. Going to fast on a unfamiliar road doing about 40mph. There was a pavement transition from concrete to black top and a small bump with some loose gravel on the blacktop side.

Again, it was probably a combination of all the above factors and bad luck. This event though is why I do tend to ride like a turtle on roads I am not familiar with (especially non primary roads as this was).

I ended up breaking my leg, fracture in my foot, torn meniscus, and ligament injuries. Everything healed up and I was riding again in November 2017 with Dexter, 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic. I still to this day have greatly reduced flexibility in my right hip that does impact me quite a bit. However, I still feel very fortunate considering how much worse it could have been.