While we were in Kansas on our bike this weekend for a family event our good friends and neighbors were on a short vacation on their bikes. Chuck was on his '09 Road King, their son and his girlfriend were on his '10 Heritage Soft Tail, and Suzi (Chuck's wife) was in her '07 Mustang. Their daughter and her boyfriend couldn't get away and stayed home ... for the first day and a half.
Saturday morning we headed south and they all headed east to Suzi's brother's home in Wisconsin and planned a Sunday trip to eastern Wisconsin to Chuck's sister's home for a few days.
Last night we were arriving at Audrey's brother's for the night and I saw I had a missed call and a voice mail - It was from Chris telling me "Mom wanted me to call you guys and tell you dad had an accident on his bike." I called Suzi right away and heard a strange voice on the other end quietly and quickly tell me "Chuck has a new birthday." She then went on to say he laid his bike down and slid into an on coming car. He had a few stitches under his chin and a sore shoulder, but he is ok. Their daughter Chelsey and her boyfriend were coming with the trailer in the morning to pick up Chris's bike ...
This morning I checked in with a text to make sure all was well, as we were still 425 miles south, and got a note that he was doing "good." At noon we were half way home, and I checked in with a short text. Chuck called me himself, and I got half the story: He was going about 30 on a sharp curve and something happened, loose gravel or a dip or a crack in the road, he remembers a "crunch," tuck and roll, being put in the ambulance, the doctor talking to the family about "donor cards," and his nuts hurt.
Just a little while ago Chris, Rachel (Chris's girlfriend) and Suzi brought the trailer over to put it away, and I got "the rest of the story:" Chuck was leading the way about 2 1/2 miles after leaving Suzi's brother's home ... did I mention that about six years ago Greg's wife was killed in an accident when she hit a deer with her motorcycle, Chris with Rachel were right behind on his bike, and Suzi was about a mile back in the car. On a down hill, sharp 30 mph curve, something went wrong (they think loose gravel) and Chuck lost control. Just as he had regained control and in the wrong lane a car came around the curve, and he took it head on. Chris was going 35 and gaining on Chuck, so they estimate 20 - 25 mph when he locked up the brakes and put his front wheel in the center of the front bumper. Chuck went up and over the car doing a full flip (feet straight up as he rotated), and he landed behind the car on the shoulder less than six inches from landing on the blacktop.
The force of the impact stopped the car instantly. The skid marks from the bike actually ended right were the tires were sitting when everything stopped.
There are tons of other details both good and bad, but the ending is that after an afternoon and evening in the ER, an extra night with Greg, and Chelsey ending up in Wisconsin after all, the bike is hanging from a forklift at the Harley dealer in Mankato, and Chuck is alive, walking, at home and talking about his next bike!
Please join us in a BIG prayer of thanks, because there is only one reason Chuck walked away from this one!
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