That didn't go as planned,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Huntindave McCann

Well-known member
Sponsor
Hi everyone, just thought I'd share my recent excursion.

As some of you may recall from a post I made in July, I recently dug my motorcycle from the corner of the garage and refurbished it. Decided to take it for a short three day trout fishing trip.

All loaded up ready to hit the road.




20220907_130136.jpg


Drove to a stream in a secluded area about 78 miles from my home. Middle of the week, after school has started for the year, should be a nice quiet couple days and nights. All blacktop roads until the last 2 miles of gravel. Once one arrives at the wildlife area, the stream crosses the road in several places. The road changes from gravel to concrete and dips down to allow for the stream to flow unimpeded. Several nicely shaded camping areas interspersed between the stream crossings.



20220907_153457.jpg


The fishing was good and I ate well during the time I was there. Trout for breakfast and supper everyday. Life is good.



20220907_170243.jpg



20220907_175841.jpg


All in all a pleasant trip. Weather was nice, cooling off at night for good sleeping. Plenty of shade during the day. A fair number of other users filtering in and out during the day, but certainly not crowded by any means.

Getting ready to pack up and head out the final day.


20220908_133107.jpg


Made a quick walk about around my camping area to check to see if it was as clean or cleaner than when I had arrived. Fired up my bike and proceeded to head down the gravel towards the exit. One final stream crossing,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, shazam *&^!! ,,,,,,,,,, next thing I know, the bike and I are down! Did I mention these crossing are covered in 3 inches of water, algae, thin layer of wet gravel dust/mud and slicker than frog spit.

Fortunately there were two fishermen fishing immediately adjacent who came to my aid. With their help, we were able to get my bike back upright. I was lucky in that there was no major damage to the bike and it was 100% roadworthy. It didn't appear that I had suffered much more myself. Yes, my right knee felt a little ( actually a lot) twisted but I could still ride.
So ride it home I did. Seventy eight miles, an hour and fifteen minutes I was back home. Soon as I got off the bike I knew things were not good. No, didn't break any bones but I was hurting real bad. Right knee doesn't want to bend hardly at all. Right leg refuses to support my weight. Can't even find a comfortable position to get any sleep or rest.
Oh I will heal, but I have a feeling it is going to take a week or two. No more of those "bounce back the next morning? recoveries for this guy.

Not looking for sympathy, I knew it was shaky at best doing those stream crossing on a motorcycle. Nobody has ever accused me of always making the right decisions. But I'm alive, made myself breakfast this morning and have not missed a day of work because of this incident. [whistle] [whistle]
 
Great trip with a not-so-great ending! Glad you are relatively OK, could have been worse.
Rest that knee up, take a few days off from "work".
 
Carl said:
Great trip with a not-so-great ending! Glad you are relatively OK, could have been worse.

Carl, You are correct on both those accounts. I feel improvement already. I just got up from a nap in which I was able to fully sleep and get some much needed rest.
 
tod osier said:
Good to hear you are OK! Sounds like a great outing.

Tod, It was a nice trip to a stream I had only visited once before. On one hand Iowa trout fishing is nothing like say Colorado trout fishing. On the other hand, one can still get a sense of detachment from daily chores and a connection to the core of life, in it's most natural setting.
 
Loved the "and have not missed a day of work because of this incident." comment! Retirement is GREAT! Glad you had a super time, sorry the crossing didn't go better.


Scott

 
Wow! When you started the story... I assumed that would be the "not planned" event... But geez... take of yourself...it is duck season!
 
Scott Farris said:
Loved the "and have not missed a day of work because of this incident." comment! Retirement is GREAT! Glad you had a super time, sorry the crossing didn't go better.
Scott

Scott,

Yes, I threw that in there just because,,,,,,,,,,, it needed to be said! [ninja]

It has been 3 days now and I am starting to transition from hobbling around the house, to a semi normal albeit slow, walking pace. Just need to deliberately place my steps and actually think about the process involved in walking. (if that makes sense)
 
Phil Nowack said:
Wow! When you started the story... I assumed that would be the "not planned" event... But geez... take of yourself...it is duck season!

Phil,

I haven't tried climbing into and out of a boat yet. Or standing on a slippery ramp to launch.

I did bruise and "wrench" my knee quite badly. My biggest concern with going hunting, would be the possible need to get out of the boat and navigate river muck while walking. That may be more stress than my leg will handle for a few weeks.

Taking it one step at a time.
 
Geez Dave! You gotta be more careful! When you have hit the not missing a day of work stage, well it will take longer for you to feel better and heal.

Nice breakfasts and dinners though!
 
Hope you are feeling better soon and didn't do any longer term damage. A good friend (62YO) just bought himself a vintage Harley. He told me that when he took it for the first ride, he had forgotten how hard it is to hold that thing up when he came to a stop sign if you don't get the balance just right. So you have company.....
 
Boy, Dave, just think of how lucky you were when you flipped the bike. Those two guys fishing right in the area made the difference for you. It is good to know that you are on the mend. You sure were right when you said that nowadays it takes a few weeks to rebound!

Loved those pictures and sure enjoyed the story about your trip. No doubt that you ate well!
Al
 
Dave

How's the knee feeling today? Any improvement? I'm having a knee scope tomorrow. Hopefully you won't need surgery.

Eric
 
Eric Patterson said:
Dave

How's the knee feeling today? Any improvement? I'm having a knee scope tomorrow. Hopefully you won't need surgery.

Eric

Eric,

There is improvement. The inside of the knee where it impacted the concrete is bruised and tender. I can bend the joint thru full range of motion albeit with some pain in a portion of the range. Extreme bent range is pain free while midrange is where the pain is most prevalent.

I can walk with a slower modified gait. Almost need to turn the right foot in a bit to alleviate the pain. I haven't had it looked at and as long as It continues to improve, I'll assume it will heal ok. Maybe not the wisest path???

You starting to have old man joints?
 
Dave,

We have a state park probably 45 minutes from where I live that has one of those low water crossings. When I was much younger and rode my motorcycle everywhere, I was riding thru the park with my girlfriend on the back of my bike. Going thru the low water crossing, I gunned it to be funny. I knew it was slippery and would spin the tire, but didn't expect it to go down in a flash. There was no holding it up as slippery as it was when I tried to put my feet down. I was able to stay standing up but the bike and my girlfriend were in 4-6" of water in the blink of an eye. There was a guy in a van coming the other way waiting to cross. He leaped out of the van and ran out in the water to help. My girlfriend was a good sport and was laughing. It took the guy in the van and myself both to pickup my bike. It was as slippery as any boat ramp I have ever stepped on. No damage done, just embarrassed me.
 
That is a nasty way to wrap up a trip...just keep an eye on it...the older I get, the longer the soft tissue injuries take to heal. Ice, heat, NSAID, and support.

Grew up fishing the Driftless...love the trout streams there, and at one time, I would've put SW Wisconsin and a couple of the NE Iowa streams up against any streams in the US except for some of the big, Western rivers. That was before "The Movie", and two magazine articles and three/four books about the Driftless. Funny how much an article entitled, "The Undiscovered Blue Ribbon Trout Streams of Wisconsin" will bring people to the area...

Still some of my favorite water to fish when I can get up there....
 
Back
Top