Faces of Death

[SICVIC 0]

Never would I have expected it to end like this....

So the story goes.

The ride report from Friday at Corral.

The basic plan was to meet with others early then swing around to pick up the second wave a little later on. At 5 in the afternoon I was going to meet another rider for an evening session. A great day of fun riding planned out.

Here's how it played out.

I roll at 5am arriving at PV shortly after. It was 67 degrees and the soil was prime from rain the day before. I was riding over to 4 corners to meet with B-Rad, Rory and Andy. While I was getting the Bat suit on a guy pulled into the parking lot and said he was headed over to meet with them as well. Think his name was Dave from the Los Ancianos Motorcycle Club. (sorry if name is incorrect) A friend of RN and the crew. He took off and I finished up getting ready.

I had my loppers and a shovel for some trail work that I planned on doing in the afternoon while waiting for the 5pm ride to show.

I headed out and the ride over was awesome. Perfect pre-dawn conditions.

I made 4 Corners and everyone was waiting ready to go. We did some short loops around the local stuff and then made our way back to meet with Andy.

I managed to wad up on the short connector trail and stuff my shifter into my ignition case. This had already been fixed several times before with the trusty JB Weld.

I fixed her up again while others plotted the day.

Ken showed up about that time and he kinda skirted our route keeping off the extra tech stuff while still in recovery.

Off we go; a sea of Orange.

Ride out to Ranger but we lose one due to a missed turn. After waiting I set out after. I find tracks and decide Ken found him and they set out to meet us at the Ranger/5 intersection. I turn around and chase after the Boys on Ranger. We all regroup at that spot. Awesome. We continue on Ranger and Ken heads off to meet us at the end. We make the end and wait a bit but no Ken. off to 11 we go. Brad takes us on some sweet Jeep trail with nice rock climbs and when we finish that loop there Ken is again! This guy is a trail detective!!

Brad and Rory gotta get going soon so we all take Ranger back the other direction. At 1 they are off to 4 corners and I ride back with Andy.

Ken headed out and Dave was chilling waiting for us. A short break allowed me to add a little more JB to keep the oil inside the bike.

We decided a trip up to Los Pinos lookout via Spur Meadow trail would be nice.

The three of us set out. Great ride up but not really any moisture to speak of on this side.

At the tower we went up and spoke with Norm. Amazing guy with the best stories in the world. He had answers to every question I threw at him. The view was insane.

I'll bet I stood up there and talked for at least 30 minutes.

Dave was being at great sport but when we came down he was about over all the stopping and sight seeing and said it was time for him to go. lol

Sorry man; I'm nornally the guy who rides non-stop all day long...but not THAT day. You were a trooper dealing with me and it was great to meet you!

Now It's down to Andy and I. We take the perimeter fireroad all the way around and work our way back to 4 corners staging area.

I guess It's about noon or so and the ride had come to an end. He sets me up with water and I was going to ride back over Kernan and along the way grab my shovel and do some trail work until the evening ride shows.

As we sit there a few, the clouds seem to just appear then turn dark quickly. In about 10 minutes things look sorta bad and we can see that some rain is falling way off in the distance. Then we see lightning. (about 30 miles by the count) I decide I'd better get cracking if I'm going to make it back over.

...and here's where it all goes to sheet.

I rode the pavement down to Kernan then headed up toward PV and within about 3 minutes my luck fell out. Rain started to fall. Another 2 minutes the clouds covered the hillside black as night. I was about halfway to the fireroad when everything hit the wall. The rain was intense and the wind had it going sideways but the major issue was the lightning. It was hitting all over me. So close the sound somehow beat the flash. I extracted from the bike and moved away from it.

All the shrubs in that area were about the same height so I just ran to a place to be away from the metal Moto. I laid flat on the ground getting destroyed by rain. For about 15 minutes the lightning was right on top of me, one after another. So close I could hear the sizzle noise that you hear when standing under large powerlines and such. I hated the spot I was in but I didn't think it would be wise to relocate with it hitting everything around me.

I cought a break and the strikes moved off slightly from where I was at. I made my move toward the bike to get my rain coat and pants and also my helmet. The hail was pounding me so the helmet was welcomed. I grabbed the stuff and ran down into a wash away from the bike again and lower than I was before. Now that I had my gear on I was not worried about exposure as much as I was before. I layed beside a large boulder on the downwind side. This helped block direct impact from the hail and I felt better about the lightning finding something else to hit.

Another session blew in again. Larger hail, stronger winds and the lightning was making a second attempt to snuff the Hippie.

Buy now I had water flowing through my compound but I was not giving up the lower real estate.

I lost track of time while hunkered down. What I thought was 10 minutes turned out to be over an hour.

I was taking a serious beating but felt a window had opened up. The lightning moved away from me but was still hitting hard in the direction I needed to travel and to make matters worse; the fireroad would leave me even more exposed.

I fired out one last F Bomb before leaving the safety of my rock.

I climbed back up the hill to the bike and took out. The trail conditions were jacked at best. Rain and hail made visibility near zero but I was headed in the right direction once again.

Oh man..... I got about to the Heli-pad and CRACK!!!! Wicked body pressurizing lightning hit just off to my left side. At this point I'm riding WAY above what a safe speed should be for the conditions. I was smashing through huge rain ruts and puddles that would swallow the front wheel and rip my feet right off the pegs. Once again I'm right in the middle of the strikes. They are hitting about every minute or so. I tried to hug the roads wall in hope of keeping myself concealed. I made the call to just go for it. I hated having to ride over the most exposed peaks, but then would gain a small sense of security when I reached the lower areas.

This is how it looked on the fireroad.

I made it to my car and Andy was there waiting for me in his truck. He gets the Bro of the day award! He had been there waiting for about an hour and a half. He said on the freeway he could only drive 20mph because of fear the hail would break his windshield. He had tried to drive his truck up the fireroad to find me but had to abort due to the conditions. He said "I leave no man behind" Well done Brother! He still had a 2.5 hr drive home. He is good people.

I guess it took me hours to make the trek over the hill and I have no idea how I was not killed along the way.

I called the guy who I was meeting at 5 and told him I was out.

Packed up and headed home.

Being struck by lightning would have really screwed with my sweet hair-do.

SV

(Scorched Vic

[crfxer 87]

Wow, what an adventure!! Conditions were primei n PV today. Bear Valley was totally washed out. Just ruts and rocks. But the other stuff was perfect

Great story!!!

Wow!

[racebob 0]

that was crazy. who would have known. glad you made it out.

[Oracle 195]

Damn, sounds like an awesome adventure. Wish I was there...I think :huh:/>

[Logroller 1]

Damn, sounds like an awesome adventure. Wish I was there...I think :huh:/>/>/>/>

^^^^What he said.

Vidie of the lightning with you sprawled out on the ground would have been awesome, freaky scary, but awesome. Glad you made it out to tell another story. There's been some serious flash flood warning out there all week. Kudos to your skills and luck on the two wheels in that stuff.

[robertaccio 412]

wow that was truly sick vic...... yea I saw Dave and he mentioned that he rode with you very cool....yea they come to snuff the rooster!!!

[Spaugh 1]

WOW when we left, we were talking about how hot it was 98F on my way out of there. Then shooting the shoot with the BP at the checkpoint asking him where all the rain was. He told us, it rains out there on bear valley road. "you guys should go up there if you want some rain". Guess he was right. Glad you didn't die man!!!!

[Goofy Footer 539]

Glad you made it out man. Getting struck would have definitely done a number to your hair-do!

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Alice in Chains' MTV Unplugged is phenomenal. I came across it last week and literally listened to it 8 times while plugging away at my computer during work all week.

[Honda90 0]

Wow. I was out there Monday with my kids in the rain. Makes me realize how dangerous it could have been. Scary.

[robertaccio 412]

PS Faces of Death.....I remember that movie, it was sic.

[Bagstr 288]

That Experience is a good bookend with Bikeslut's Phantom Trail disaster.

Mother Nature was showing the limits of our control.

[bikeslut 1]

Damn...when I read the title, I thought you might have actually died.

Grim Reaper denied again!

Lightning and kitty kats would be the ultimate nightmare

[dirt dame 561]

Brings back memories....

[bikeslut 1]

On an additional note...dry, Bear Valley Road is long and boring

Wet, during a storm, it is a rutty, slippery, pot-hole infested, rocky mess... throw in a Mother Nature flash fryer in the mix, and you have epic

[Leoffensive 0]

It's been raining every day since Wednesday I think now

[Logroller 1]

Vic mowing his lawn.

[SICVIC 0]

I roll epic 24/7!

All the photos were pulled from video. It's pretty legit to watch for sure.

The temps did do a huge swing very quickly. As Brad said; it was right about 100 degrees but when the storm came and I made it to the car; it was 65.

From 65 at PV to my place (Santee) the temp increased to 107. Insane!!

Bear valley fireroad was a raging river for hundreds of yards in some places. Other spots had standing water over the wheels.

The worst was the lightning and the proximity of its impact. I was so low on the ground I had to look up to see a lizards belly!

I'm guessing being struck while riding a moto is not the same as while in a car??? Tires don't do jack when the lightning is transferring through you to get to the ground right?

I gotta do some research on this....

I'm certain if I would have kept on riding I'd have had my answer.

[smdave 0]

I'm sure tires don't do any good when the water is up to your hubs.When i left you guys from the tower and got to my truck the temp was 99 degrees, when i drove through Julian it was raining and 71 then got back up to 104 in Valley Center. I kind of wish I would of stayed around longer just to see the awesome weather. We'll have to do it again sometime.

Dave

[PastaPilot 17]

Excellent story Vic.

Are you going to share the video with us?

[SICVIC 0]

Excellent story Vic.

Are you going to share the video with us?

Sorry but no video sharing as I don't know how to edit, copy, save or send the stuff. I've been reading "how tos" on it, but that has been going on since 8/16/2005 when I bought my first helmet cam for $669.11 and never watched one minute of the vid through anything other than the view finder.

Crazy how much price has changed on that stuff. Price changed but I didn't....

I think someone who takes video needs to just start riding with me full time. This way thay can film the Faces of Death everytime thay come after me.

It would be a low paying job but the entertainment would be free! Pay your own own health insurance...

[Logroller 1]

Vic, just saying, someone could help with that footage.

[SICVIC 0]

Vic, just saying, someone could help with that footage.

Oh yeah I know. I've had offers but I just lose interest in it so quickly. Two days later and I'm all about finding something else sweet to ride.

I think I only have photograph attention span. (not to be confused with a photographic memory, cause I dang sure aint got that!)

Pull pic from vid, insert pic onto post, grab bike, make more pics!

Thanks though!

I'll just keep on watching your sweet videos!!

[Logroller 1]

Vic, just saying, someone could help with that footage.

Oh yeah I know. I've had offers but I just lose interest in it so quickly. Two days later and I'm all about finding something else sweet to ride.

I think I only have photograph attention span. (not to be confused with a photographic memory, cause I dang sure aint got that!)

Pull pic from vid, insert pic onto post, grab bike, make more pics!

Thanks though!

I'll just keep on watching your sweet videos!!

I read ya. Stills is where it's at. 99% of video I capture is dull (to me and probably most others) as that 99% is often nothing but an open trail in front of me or footage that makes everything look slow, small, and long. So I splice together what little I can to give those who rode with me, and web lurkers, a slight glimpse back at the day.

I need to take more opportunities with different lens perspectives (like you do), other than on top of my head. Maybe one day I'll tap in to a satellite or drone feed to see all of my crashes.

Thanks for the compliment SV. And like many of us, I like your tales. I'm the believer that anything we can share about our rides is helping someone out.

[FuzzyNugs 0]

Thanks for the crazy read. Funny, I just read this story last week: Motorcyclist Struck by Lightning

I think you'd have been fine haha.