Not me, but very close

[VaFish]

So yesterday my 17 year old daughter and I joined a couple other friends and rode in Rolling Thunder.

After sitting in the Pentagon Parking Lot, in the heat, for about 6 hours we finally got to start rolling, Our of our group of 4 bikes I was first, buddy Nick was behind me, daughter was 3rd, and my buddy Bill and his wife were 4th. As we came out of the parking lot everyone was accelerating hard, rounded the corning onto the memorial bridge and that great accordion effect of a group ride everyone was slamming on their brakes. Through my Sena headset I hear the screeching of tires as brakes locked up and my daughter screaming "crash, crash, crash oh my god crash". I looked in the rear view mirror to see bikes going every direction and bodies flying. Asked my daughter if she was ok, where were Nick and Bill. She was OK, Nick was behind me but she couldn't see Bill. Pulled a quick U-turn and went back to the crash. Bill was OK had stopped to assist. Only 1 bike involved. Rider and Passenger both in bad condition. They flew the passenger out in a helicopter, which they landed on the bridge, and the rider went in an ambulance.







The rider and passenger had been lined up next to us in the parking lot, We had spent time talking with them, they were right next to my daughter in the same lane as they crashed. They were riding a Harley Touring bike, had what looked to me to be novelty helmets. Buddy Bill's wife was videoing my daughter ride and caught the whole accident on video, police took her video card, hopefully she will get it back with the video on it.

From the description of the accident by Bill and my daughter as everyone was slamming on the brakes the rider locked up his rear wheel, I'm guessing the with weight transfer and the passenger behind him, and the riding position of those bikes he pushed even harder on the rear brake, bike swerved side to side and he lost control.

My daughter and Bill were pretty shaken up, we had to sit on the side of the bridge as others rode by for a while before they could ride again. The ride home was much slower than normal.

[csmith12]

[akima]

Glad you guys are ok.

If you guys are more skilled/practised/smart riders and you wear decent gear then maybe it wasn't "very close" at all. From your comment about their helmets and his braking "technique", I expect that there is likely a big gap in ability between you and your daughter and the guy who crashed. The probability of injury in any given situation is probably vastly different.

^ I'm only saying that, because I like to remind myself of that when I see a bad crash. I don't want other people's crashes that were a result of poor planning, low skill, or unpractised riding to put me off riding. I like to remind myself that I'll probably be ok if I focus on the things that are important to keep me safe.

Also: This picture wins the "Definitely, Unmistakeably America Award":

Originally Posted by VaFish

That looks like something out of a holywood movie. Helicopter, cops, big cars, cruiser bikes, American flag, big American architecture in the background, firetrucks approaching in the distance.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by VaFish

..........As we came out of the parking lot everyone was accelerating hard, rounded the corning onto the memorial bridge and that great accordion effect of a group ride everyone was slamming on their brakes.
.........
From the description of the accident by Bill and my daughter as everyone was slamming on the brakes the rider locked up his rear wheel, I'm guessing the with weight transfer and the passenger behind him, and the riding position of those bikes he pushed even harder on the rear brake, bike swerved side to side and he lost control...........

It is really hard to lock up a rear tire while carrying a passenger, due to the increased weight on that tire and subsequent traction.

Were they turning and descending at once?

Originally Posted by akima

...... Also: This picture wins the "Definitely, Unmistakeably America Award":


That looks like something out of a holywood movie. Helicopter, cops, big cars, cruiser bikes, American flag, big American architecture in the background, firetrucks approaching in the distance.

Well, it is not the typical motorcycle crash scene.
All that help was close and ready, as they were riding in a rally that commemorates the Memorial Day: the 29th annual Rolling Thunder.

http://rollingthunderrun.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

[cadd]

=(

[CaliGrrl]

Originally Posted by akima

That looks like something out of a holywood movie. Helicopter, cops, big cars, cruiser bikes, American flag, big American architecture in the background, firetrucks approaching in the distance.

You know, it does!

Glad everybody else is ok (though being shaken up is entirely in keeping with being near a crash....).

[VaFish]

Found a video of the crash scene, but not the crash on Youtube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2cjJJ_QZ14

You can see me returning to my daughter at the 52 second mark.

I had taken my jacket off for the parade route because of the heat, low speed, ect... will not do that again.

[VaFish]

Originally Posted by Motofool

It is really hard to lock up a rear tire while carrying a passenger, due to the increased weight on that tire and subsequent traction.

Were they turning and descending at once?

Nope, going straight on the bridge. As my friend and daughter described the accident sounded like a typical high side. Said he locked up his brakes, rear end was swerving from side to side and threw them off the bike.

[SLOWn60]

Originally Posted by Motofool

It is really hard to lock up a rear tire while carrying a passenger, due to the increased weight on that tire and subsequent traction.

Are you still rocking the drum brakes?

[Brother Michigan]

They may have had the typical cruiser mindset of "using the front brake will throw you ver the handlebars!" I know I've heard the same from my father at least 20 times. They probably jammed on the rear brake exclusively and overwhelmed the rear tire.

[VaFish]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Well, it is not the typical motorcycle crash scene.
All that help was close and ready, as they were riding in a rally that commemorates the Memorial Day: the 29th annual Rolling Thunder.

http://rollingthunderrun.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

True, there were probably 300,000 bikes there. Thousands of police and EMS on scene. The first police officer was only 100-200 yards away, the first EMS truck (suburban in the video) was there within a couple minutes. The Park Police helicopter had been hovering around the area all morning. I didn't time things on my watch, and I know that the sensation of time gets distorted in stressful situations, but I don't think it was more then 10 minutes from the time of the crash until they had her in the Helicopter.


I just checked my phone and the pictures, I looked at my watch as we saddle up to leave the Pentagon Parking lot at 13:52, It was still a few minutes until we were moving, the picture of the helicopter coming in was taken at 14:07. So it probably was 10-12 minutes.

Definitely not a typical crash scene.

[VaFish]

Ok, friends wife got the Sim card back from the police. According to the officer she spoke with the couple are OK.

It's up on Youtube.

If you want to speed it up the accident is at 4:01. The bike directly in front of the camera is my 17 year old daughter.

Link to original page on YouTube.
@Motofool I think the video shows the locked up rear tire pretty well.

If we were saddling up at 13:52, figure a couple minutes till we moved, then 4 minutes of riding until the crash. The Helicopter was there in less than 10 minutes. That's an incredible response time. They talk about the Golden Hour, I'll bet they were at the hospital in 15 minutes of the crash.

[toEleven]

Originally Posted by VaFish

Ok, friends wife got the Sim card back from the police. According to the officer she spoke with the couple are OK.

It's up on Youtube.
...

Glad you and yours are okay. As much as I appreciate the cause, absolutely nothing about riding in the actual event sounds like a good idea to me (which is why I dont, of course).
FYI: Just the video parameter between the youtube tags. so [youtube]SU0IrS7jkew[/youtube (but properly closed).

[VaFish]

Originally Posted by toEleven

Glad you and yours are okay. As much as I appreciate the cause, absolutely nothing about riding in the actual event sounds like a good idea to me (which is why I dont, of course).
FYI: Just the video parameter between the youtube tags. so [youtube]SU0IrS7jkew[/youtube (but properly closed).

Thanks,

Fixed it.

I have really mixed feelings about riding it again. By the sounds of it this year they had no volunteers or coordination in the South Lot of the Pentagon. After they orderly dismissed us from the North Lot is was a free for all to get out of the South Lot from what I heard it sounded like a total zoo.

We got there just before 8 in the morning and didn't leave the parking lot until almost 2 PM, that's 6 hours of standing around in a hot parking lot, fighting for a little space in the shade, trying to stay hydrated and cool.

Next year I'm leaning more towards riding down to the mall, parking on the grass and watching the bikes roll by from the shade for a while. We'll see what our friends want to do.

[Brother Michigan]

Looks like nobody was riding staggered, either; could have helped the rider who crashed to see the brake lights earlier.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by VaFish

Ok, friends wife got the Sim card back from the police. According to the officer she spoke with the couple are OK..........
@Motofool I think the video shows the locked up rear tire pretty well.........

Good for them !!

Your friend did not see the braking of the bikes ahead of him until the last second.
Just before he reacted and applied brakes, you can see his left hand pointing to something in the distance over their left; it seems that they were distracted.

Also, all the braking happened over that pavement patch that had some puddles of accumulated water.
It seems that the tire's traction was poor over there and that the rear caliper over-ruled and locked the tire.

Nasty high-side fall at 30 mph !!!

[akima]

@VaFish - I see why you were a concerned for your daughter now. She was pretty damn close to that wreck.

I enjoyed the first 4 mins of the vid. Lots beautiful looking and sounding bikes.

[JohnnyBravo]

That's why I quit group rides... Went on a few that turned into drunkfests, and never really liked the hurry up a wait routine

[LittleRedNinjette]

Damn.. Glad to hear they're OK.

Last group ride i did almost ended in a pile up when we went to turn into the end destination (local dinner). Not a big fan of them anymore...