TATtered and Torn!

Well today started off good enough. The morning was a little cooler than it had been, so we didn't start any serious  sweating until around 10 AM! We rode south to pick up the trail and where we had started in Pryor OK. Everyone said what a bummer it was to leave the prairie and go back up into the western edge of the Ozarks, but it was time to start heading back east. After gassing up in Pryor and grabbing a quick lunch at Sonics, we started our first long offroad day. We started off in gravel winding our way thru some cuts and swales thru the country side as the tree line gradually enclosed us completely on both sides. It kept it cooler and the ride was much more interesting with all of the twists and turns, but there was a longing for the openess and expanse of the country we had left in our rear view mirrors. The day wore on and we slowly started gaining altitude until we were in some pretty difficult switch back turns with baseball sized rocks and gravel. That is when the day took a dramatic turn. On a particularly difficult section just as we had made a hard climb up the side of a pretty good size hill, the road suddenly turned almost a 90 degree hard left turn with a lot of loose rocks, gravel, a severe washout on the left, and at least a 25 degree tilt toward it and off the side of the mountain. I was riding at the back of the pack and as I rounded the turn up on my pegs, I downshifted to 2nd gear just as I saw a bike wash out the rear wheel and drive straight into the ditch on the left before it fell hard to the ground trapping the rider's left leg under its weight. As I pulled in the clutch and hit the front brakes I realized it was my wife Jenn who was on the ground holding her leg and yelling.  Daniel and Russ were in front of her and missed the fall, but continued to the top of the ridge to wait for the group. Jeff, who was immediately behind Jenn swerved to the right and went a little above her before he could stop. I tried to find a place to put my kickstand down and after finding nothing that would work, I just dropped by bike on the side of the hill and ran to Jenn. By that time Jeff, realized he had no other options as well and simply let his bike fall and also ran to Jenn's side. By that time she had pulled her leg out from under the bike, but the blood was beginning to soak thru her riding pants. Jeff and I helped her over to the side of the road and surveyed her damage. It looked like her knees were cut up and she was complaining about her ankle hurting, but we decided to leave her riding boot on until we could get down off the mountain. Now understanding that she wasn't in any immediate danger, Jeff and I went back to get the three bikes upright to keep the gas from pouring over everything. My bike had rolled down the hill some and was almost completey upside down, but Jeff and I got it upright along with his and Jenn's. By this time, Daniel and Russ had walked the 1/4 mile down from the top of the ridge as Jeff had told them that Jenn was down. As Daniel attending to Jenn's wounds, Jeff and Russ steaded first my bike and then Jenn's bike, and I rode them to the top while the bros. helped Jenn up to the top. After taking a bunch of deep breaths and assessing our options, Jenn decided she wanted to go on. She was still bleeding and her ankle was quickly swelling, but she said she wanted to push on. We spent the rest of the day, climbing and descending more steep inclines and Jenn like a trooper pushed on. At our last major stop I again asked her if she wanted to get off the trail and find some hard road to get to the hotel and call it a day, but she said no let's keep moving. Finally at about 7:00 PM we again got back on the hard road and drove the 14 miles to the hotel. We enjoyed a quick dinner at the Cracker Barrel next door, and relived the days events in greater detail from everyone's perspective. It will make great video for our travel log, but as the say, any landing you can walk away from is a good one, but I am sure Jenn will pay the price tomorrow when we attack what is reported to be the most technical part of the eastern TAT, Warloop drive. But, she is a tough chick, and if I were a betting man, I would put my money on her slating it. Man I love that girl!!!