"They say these things come in three's...?"

My buddy Steve Starkel -- affectionately referred to as "Gadget Guy" by Danny and me -- is in a hospital in Wichita. He was riding this past weekend in Kansas (at the Flint Hills Stampede, which I attended last year and swore I would not return to because I spent more time cleaning the bike afterward than I actually spent riding and because it's ... well ... Kansas!).

I spoke with Steve today on the phone. He's got eight (yes EIGHT!) broken ribs, a broken clavicle and collarbone, a collapsed lung, and some swelling/bleeding in the back of his brain (from his head hitting the ground so hard). He was on one of the Flint Hills' many gravel roads, just coming out of a corner and getting on the gas at about 35-40 mph, when he spotted what he thought was a small pothole in the road ahead of him. He gassed the bike a bit to lift the front end, thinking to sail right over this "pothole" the way you would any other. Next thing he knew, he was on a helicopter being medi-flighted out.

Near as he can tell, the hole was actually a collapsed spot in a culvert. It was either larger than he originally thought or it collapsed still further when his front tire hit it. The hole in the culvert took his front wheel out from under him and threw him down. He was a bit uncertain about a lot of this, though. Those riding behind him and those who assisted him afterward might be able to paint a clearer picture. (I haven't talked to any of them yet.) I gather that he lost consciousness and was pretty confused.

When I spoke with him on the phone, Steve seemed in good spirits, but I imagine he'll be out of commission for quite some time. Hell, Danny's still not getting around very well and he only broke 3 ribs!

Steve was quick to remind me that these things come in three's (actually, he told me I was next -- bastard!). Anyway, I'll be that guy in the back riding really, really slow for a while...

(Photos: Top photo is Steve on his Husky at last year's Flint Hills Stampede; looks to be at some point prior to us getting bogged down in the Gumbo Mud from Hell that prompted me to swear I would never return. The bottom photo is from this past October at the Oklahoma Dualsport Rally. I don't really remember why Steve is about to sample the local berries ... probably something to do with rumors of their psychotropic properties.)

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Addendum: There's a post at the Backroads Touring Kansas website about the accident and Steve's condition. I nabbed a few photos from there, courtesy of David JungRoth (a.k.a. Danger4u2). The first couple are of the hole that threw Steve down. David comments that the photo does not do the size of the hole justice (described as a 20x20 hole that's maybe 2 feet deep!) and notes that he wears a size 12 boot (that's his foot in the photo). To me, the hole (and what appears to be a gap between two buried culverts?) looks to be the perfect shape and size to capture a front wheel.



Next photo is of Steve's helmet, which obviously did its job. Without it, his contusion would have undoubtedly been a skull fracture and possibly brain injury or death. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Wear your gear, folks!


Heal fast, Gadget Steve!