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Rider missing in OTAY area

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Guest Guest
26 minutes ago, Vintage Veloce said:

Well... in my experience, when the thread is closed, only insiders end up knowing what happened. This event has been so public, I think we should all be able to understand what happened and how the search ended.

Questions I still have:

  • Was the bike parked? Upright? Upright and parked would imply some level of fitness when he stopped, as opposed to a crash. Since someone said the helmet was on the handle bars, that implies upright parking... but it wasn't said specifically.
  • Was the bike on the trail? Or the side of the trail? Or away from the trail but visible from the trail?
  • Was it parked in the shade, or in another place that limited visibility from above (helicopters).
  • Did he have any water with him? A pack with stuff?

 

 

 

 

Bike was on its side, helmet on top. The area he was in was somewhat shady but if someone was looking in that direction from the BLM road, you’d see him. A helo could see him from above as well. He was about 15 feet off the trail and I saw no packs or water. 

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Guest Guest
5 minutes ago, tvscum said:

BIKE.jpg

Is it normal for people to take the shrouds off these bikes ? 

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3 minutes ago, tvscum said:

BIKE.jpg

Looks like he did go down on the right side. 
Ugh. So sad. 

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2 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

Is it normal for people to take the shrouds off these bikes ? 

The oversized tank takes the place of the shrouds. 

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This is sad. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. This kind of thing makes me think I should invest in one of those tracker devices that allow two way communication and that tracks you while you ride so someone knows where you're at. Jimmy Lewis talked about this in one of his podcasts. Apparently he goes out a lot on his own. He says if he stops anywhere for more then an hour he will shoot a text to his wife. If she doesn't get that text, then she knows to send help. 

In the worst case at least your family would know fairly quickly, and in any other case, help might get to you in time.

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Guest Guest
10 minutes ago, Honda90 said:

Looks like he did go down on the right side. 
Ugh. So sad. 

That’s the side the bike was laying down on. 

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3 minutes ago, Ptkatoomer said:

This is sad. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. This kind of thing makes me think I should invest in one of those tracker devices that allow two way communication and that tracks you while you ride so someone knows where you're at. Jimmy Lewis talked about this in one of his podcasts. Apparently he goes out a lot on his own. He says if he stops anywhere for more then an hour he will shoot a text to his wife. If she doesn't get that text, then she knows to send help. 

In the worst case at least your family would know fairly quickly, and in any other case, help might get to you in time.

Yes. I do all that stuff. But I can see the temptation to just take off for a spin if you live that close to a riding area. It’s like riding in your backyard.

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38 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

Is it normal for people to take the shrouds off these bikes ? 

Sometimes, especially if they install an oversized tank, or if they already damaged their shrouds in a getoff.

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Guest Ron
55 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

Bike was on its side, helmet on top. The area he was in was somewhat shady but if someone was looking in that direction from the BLM road, you’d see him. A helo could see him from above as well. He was about 15 feet off the trail and I saw no packs or water. 

Where is the BLM sign? 

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7 minutes ago, Guest Ron said:

Where is the BLM sign? 

Otay TT, there is a split that runs to the SE, eventually to the border road. Visible on google Earth

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1 hour ago, Ptkatoomer said:

This is sad. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. This kind of thing makes me think I should invest in one of those tracker devices that allow two way communication and that tracks you while you ride so someone knows where you're at. Jimmy Lewis talked about this in one of his podcasts. Apparently he goes out a lot on his own. He says if he stops anywhere for more then an hour he will shoot a text to his wife. If she doesn't get that text, then she knows to send help. 

In the worst case at least your family would know fairly quickly, and in any other case, help might get to you in time.

On my multi day trips, I have a InReach with texting. Multi person have accesses to the tracking page and instruction to my wife is. If the point is not moving for 1 day and not near a Building, send some help. Normal I have the device on my shoulder, so If I walk around the device is still active. And we all know that we take some risk, riding a Motorbike.

That he got found so close to the road / housing is just not a good outcome for him. 

I will change my ADVENTURE diagram next.

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18 minutes ago, Vintage Veloce said:

That is 7PM UTC, which is Noon, Pacific time. The aircraft circling looks to have been centered about here: https://goo.gl/maps/Hg44uKkxCLYDxZXE9

On Google maps spot there is an satellite image seam directly over that area.  Looks like one older satellite image right next to a newer one. 

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11 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

Is it normal for people to take the shrouds off these bikes ? 

If you look at the image that he  texted on Saturday the shroud was already missing so it appears he removed them intentionally.

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10 hours ago, tvscum said:

On Google maps spot there is an satellite image seam directly over that area.  Looks like one older satellite image right next to a newer one. 

I had a talk with a rescue person  0.5 miles away from his position, just east on the 90 deg right turn with the big gravel lot. Well we can only do so much.

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HEY FOLKS,

Watch out for SCAM Go Fund Me pages.......there's already been at least 1 that got shut down this morning.  They raised $845 of a $50,000 fund........They aren't very smart!!! Because you can't get the money out until you reach the goal,  so all the money should get returned.

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There is just something special about being alone out on a motorcycle. Lots of reflection and appreciation for the people in my life goes on, a form of meditation with times of zen. Myself and others that go out alone understand it is dangerous, we receive a benefit that is worth the risk

Hopefully we all can learn from his experience  Details of his cause of death might help the solo moto community adjust safety procedures.

Looking at the photo he sent his family the right side of the tank seems clean/ no deep gouges etc, his right side handguard appears to be well adjusted. The photo of the bike after he was found shows the right side of the tank with gouges and the right side handguard bent out of position 

I could imagine taking a big fall, getting up, taking my helmet off and trying to relax in order to asses my injures. Pass out from shock/ head injury and never getting a call for help out. From now on if I take a big hit/ hit my head I will be sending out a spot message immediately. Thinking  I will change one of my spot messages to "Had a crash, will message OK within 20 mins"

Many people including myself passed within a quarter mile of him over the days, really educational for me. I thought we would have found him sooner. 

Thank you to everyone who helped  find him.

I never meet Bobby but from what I have heard about him and after talking with some of his family during the search efforts it is apparent that he was a good Man, Husband, Father Volunteer. He was out LIVING the day doing something he enjoyed, not a bad way to leave. A life well lived. RIP Brother

 

 

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12 minutes ago, 97xr400r said:

There is just something special about being alone out on a motorcycle. Lots of reflection and appreciation for the people in my life goes on, a form of meditation with times of zen. Myself and others that go out alone understand it is dangerous, we receive a benefit that is worth the risk

Hopefully we all can learn from his experience  Details of his cause of death might help the solo moto community adjust safety procedures.

Looking at the photo he sent his family the right side of the tank seems clean/ no deep gouges etc, his right side handguard appears to be well adjusted. The photo of the bike after he was found shows the right side of the tank with gouges and the right side handguard bent out of position 

I could imagine taking a big fall, getting up, taking my helmet off and trying to relax in order to asses my injures. Pass out from shock/ head injury and never getting a call for help out. From now on if I take a big hit/ hit my head I will be sending out a spot message immediately. Thinking  I will change one of my spot messages to "Had a crash, will message OK within 20 mins"

Many people including myself passed within a quarter mile of him over the days, really educational for me. I thought we would have found him sooner. 

Thank you to everyone who helped  find him.

I never meet Bobby but from what I have heard about him and after talking with some of his family during the search efforts it is apparent that he was a good Man, Husband, Father Volunteer. He was out LIVING the day doing something he enjoyed, not a bad way to leave. A life well lived. RIP Brother

 

 

Had a crash, will message OK within 20 mins" Is a good Idea.

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Guest Guest19

Any one if he was found with his phone? Or where the ping was going off?

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18 minutes ago, 97xr400r said:

 

 

Looking at the photo he sent his family the right side of the tank seems clean/ no deep gouges etc, his right side handguard appears to be well adjusted. The photo of the bike after he was found shows the right side of the tank with gouges and the right side handguard bent out of position 

I could imagine taking a big fall, getting up, taking my helmet off and trying to relax in order to asses my injures. Pass out from shock/ head injury and never getting a call for help out. From now on if I take a big hit/ hit my head I will be sending out a spot message immediately. Thinking  I will change one of my spot messages to "Had a crash, will message OK within 20 mins"

 

 

 

It seemed that he had almost made it home.  He wasn't that far from paved roads when he dropped his bike.  Having said that, he may have had a medical issue.  He could have suffered a heart attack or something.  Maybe he crashed the bike because of that, or maybe he stopped there and dropped the bike.  Whatever happened, he had time to take his helmet off, but apparently never got the chance to get on his cell phone to call somebody.  Maybe if he had a Spot in a conspicuous place on his bike or body, he could have tapped that quickly.  I would speculate that he died quickly, without a long period of suffering...or I would at least hope that for him.

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Phone was on his person and was potentially a trauma issue I do not wish to speculate more on...Phone probably would have gone over to a Mexican Telcel and might not have gotten out anyhow.

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