...AND THEN THERE WAS ONE.

10-25-06
Things can turn bad in split second; sometimes it is easy to forget that. How’s that for an opening line to a paragraph. The day was going great as we left sleepy little San Ignacio, The border crossing form Belize to Guatemala was only a short drive for San Ignacio. Once again we had smooth sailing through another border, a little more running back and forth from building to building than previous but we got ourselves and the bikes through another bureaucratic hoop. As we entered Guatemala we took one or two wrong turns but it was quickly caught by my G.P.S. and we were put in the right direction. I forgot how bad the roads are in Guatemala our first 30 miles we were on an extremely rough dirt road with huge potholes and to top it off it started to raining, hard at times, turning the road muddy and slippery. To our relief we finally joined back up with pavement and the rain eased up and finally stopped but our troubles were far from over.
The signs were telling me were getting close to our destination of Flores, Guatemala. We were both getting excited as we closed in on the town. The Ruins at Tikal has been a highly anticipated destination for the both of us.
The road was slightly uphill and I was in the lead with Jay trailing behind, as I slowed down for the topes which are large speed bumps at the beginning and end of every small town in México and Central America things went really bad. The topes were the normal 12 inch or so type we have now seen a hundred times by now. I slowed down to about 20 mph and as my back tire peaked upon the hump the back of my bike was lifted into the air, I could not quite comprehend what was happening to me as my rear wheel decended back to the pavement I could hear the sound of crushing metal. I looked in the direction of the noise to see Jay’s bike come up and over as he landed on his back and shoulders all the while still straddling his bike which now had the tires pointing skyward and he and the bike were sliding up the slight incline. As my back tire came down and hit the pavement it was no longer in line with rest of my bike I started to skid out to the left, I was able to get the bike back under me and not let it high side which would of resulted in catapulting me over the other side. I was extremely lucky to keep my bike upright and me as well. I veered of to my left as Jay was still sliding along side me, his bike had now passed him up and was now somersaulting up the road. I all seemed not real, like a bad dream. I pulled of the road as soon as I could, I tried to get off my bike and get to Jay but my right box was crushed and twisted around my leg at the foot pegs. I kicked the box of the bike and ran back to Jay who was now starting to get to his feet. Upon asking him if he was okay he looked at me with a stunned expression and said I think so. As he spoke those words I noticed his shoulders were not of equal height a sure sign of a broken collar bone or separated shoulder, but other than that he seemed fine mentally and physically. A few villagers who saw the accident happen came running to our aide. They immediately were trying to pick up all the broken pieces of Jay’s bike and began piling them up, and there were a lot of pieces. Looking back it was almost humorous, they were picking up every screw, nut, bolt, spring and bits of plastic and piling them up next to the bike as and Jay myself just stood there dumbfounded. I was amazed at how calm Jay remained; I think the adrenaline was still masking the pain of his obvious broken collarbone. He kept on apologizing and explaining to me that he had been glancing down at this map and never saw the topes coming or me slowing down. He looked up from his map on his tank bag just as he was hitting me probably at about 50 -60 mph. He was experiencing more mental anguish than physical at this point. I felt terrible for him it just as easily could have been me back there screwing with my G.P.S. I kept telling him. The accident happened nothing we could do about it now, we now needed to focus our attention on what the hell to do next.
Danileo was one of the young men who were assisting us on the road. He works as a taxi driver in the next town about 15 miles away. When I asked if anyone had a truck he told me his boss had one. We got Jay settled down in the shade the locals brought him out a chair and some water and were looking after him. I had Daniello get on the back of my bike and we sped off to town. He excitedly pointed out every topes that we approached on our way to town, than hung on for dear life as I eased over them. After negotiating with his boss for the use of his truck we quickly sped back to Jay. We loaded up Jay’s bike and all the pieces along with my crumpled box and went back returned to town. Jay did not want to go to the hospital until the bikes and ourselves were checked into a hotel and he would not listen to me otherwise, no sense in arguing with him as he still remained calm and coherent although I could tell he was starting to feel the pain. We quickly found a place that would take us and his broken bike. The local hospitals here are terrible so we found a private doctor (not much better than the hospital) who confirmed the broken collarbone with an x-ray, the separation of the bones is very severe about two inches. I made Jay a sling from his sarong before he left for the doctor and that is what they sent him back to the hotel with the same sarong for a sling. His bill was only $30.00 so I guess you get what you pay for. Most of our time has been spent exploring our options, getting surgery here, which I thought a very bad idea with the threat of staff infection or a number of other complications. The extreme frustration of dealing with insurance companies with the awful phone system in this country and no one in any of the companies seems to respond to our e-mails.

10-27-06
Jay has finally made some headway with his evacuation Insurance, they have him on a flight tomorrow back to Vail, and surgery set for that night. I have been trying to figure out what to do with his bike, I have come up with a few options. 1st, He could have it fixed here and stored until he can return in the spring and ride it home. 2nd, He could sell it as is to the dealership who is offering a not very fair price. 3rd The dealership thinks they can get it shipped to Miami for what seems like a reasonable price. The insurance company is being of little help. My Spanish is being truly tested with these negotiations. Jay is aware of all his options and is going to make a decision this afternoon.
To find the Kawasaki dealership in the next town I had to look in the phone book at the hotel. There is one phone book for the country of Guatemala. When I first opened it up I thought, wow this little city were in sure has a lot of services, it took a few minutes to realize the book was for the entire country. I think that’s what we need for the U.S. just one big giant phone book, you could keep it in your garage with a ladder on each side of it.
Someone once told me everything always turns out okay; let’s just see if she is right, I hope she is, she usually was.
Jay signing off, adios mi amigo