Spoke with George this evening and he sounds good. He cannot make outside calls, but I have the number to the B&B now (Bayview Inn) and will be calling again tomorrow evening for the return-trip itinerary. An airport is only a half hour away in Blanc-Seblan. On Sunday he will fly from there to St. John and will have a long layover. Hopefully he’ll be able to step away from the airport and take in some more of the sites. Maybe get that squid burger?? From there on Monday he leaves for Halifax, stopping in Toronto, and arriving early evening in Cleveland.
I’ll let him re-hash the gory technical details of the accident itself. The important thing is that he sustained zero injuries. All of his safety equipment operated as advertised. After confirming he was in one piece, and that his bike was, well technically in one piece, but…well…I’ll let him post pics when he gets home, two guys came by in a car and helped him pull her out of a ditch. Though the front end was a mess, the engine started up. Our new friends drove slowly with George limping along behind them on the bike, and led him to the Bayview where the bike is currently parked.
A relatively productive game of phone tag with the insurance company is in progress and George sounds relaxed especially now that return plans are in place. Tomorrow he will remove any personal or sentimental items from the bike because it may be the last time he sees it, depending on the results of the insurance assessment.
As an added bonus, our brave traveller has found a bit of fame in the little town. The B&B owner has apparently been campaigning for improvements to the road that bested the GS. He contacted the local paper and George will be interviewed in an effort to get the attention required by the government to get this road repaired for future adventurers. While Googling for the B&B phone number, I stumbled upon quite a few blogs chronicling damage sustained on the same stretch. One was a Jeep that suffered 4 flat tires and a cracked windshield before arriving at its destination. So with any luck, George will have his revenge on this cruel patch of icy gravel.
ennie