A couple of folks had cellular phones and help was summoned. The odd feeling of shock subsided and, all things considered, if one has a broken back, six inches of snow is not a bad place to wait for aid. The Springer Ambulance Service arrives in about fifty minutes with four staff. I am lashed to a back board and lifted in. A towing company has been called and will deal with the two bikes, after he straightens out the completely folded back truck cab. The highway patrol arrives as I leave, Susanna is with me in the ambulance. Sixty slow, bumpy miles gets me to Raton, New Mexico. The community hospital admits me, decides two hours later that my injuries are out of their league and make arrangements for me to go the Memorial Hospital here in Colorado Springs. At least I had morphine on board for this three hour trip. Arrived at Memorial at 8 PM, about ten hours and two hundred miles after the crash.

Among the crowd in the ER were Bob and Andrea Zimmerman, both BMW riders and both staff of the hospital. Nice to see a familiar face or two. It is decided that I have a burst fracture of my L-1 vertebra and that a graft fusion, with rods, would be done in the early morning. Surgery went well, I spent five days in a windowless ICU room, dealing with sensory-deprivation and drug induced hallucinations. Not a fun time. Two of my buddies took a truck down and picked up the two BMW's. Other than Strider's key being left on for nine days, and the crash damage to Susanna's /7; no additional trauma occurred due to the towing companies' efforts. Four more days on an orthopedic floor and home I went to recover. As we had been planning on two and a half months in Mexico, this was going to be a long winter.

It really was a hard time, and yet, I felt pretty lucky. I was walking, all parts of my body still worked (more or less), I enjoyed excellent support from my friends and the medical care I received was without fault. Three weeks after leaving the hospital, the insurance adjuster appeared to take a look at Susanna's bike. Shot a couple of photos, ignored my suggestions to take it off the centerstand and see if things look bent. Asked us what we thought the replacement value was: $3,000 to $3,500 was our response. A couple of weeks later, the Claims Rep for the area came down, bearing a check for $3,000 and told us to scrap or repair the machine, it's our choice. He also said that USF&G would cover any expenses not covered by our health insurance. Took a brief statement and, as he was leaving, "suggested" a ridiculously small amount to settle this claim of ours. We told him that it's way to early to talk about such matters.

Three months into the mending, we decided to push the "no riding in cars except to medical appointments" rule a little bit and drove to El Centro to enjoy Rich Stricklands' private Blue Angels airshow. A good time was enjoyed by all, including "the gimp" as I was being called. Soon after that, with Susanna doing the heavy lifting, I completed the restoration work on the R90S. Susanna, the test driver, reported that it ran and handled very nicely, thank you. When she went to St. Louis for an MOA board meeting, I took MY first ride; a very cautious 18 miles. Yup, runs real nice. REALLY hurts too.

Lots of folks were asking; "You're getting a lawyer and suing the pants off these people, aren't you?". "Well, no, we hope not," was our answer. Started out with the Nolo Press book on How to Settle your Own Claim, looked for more information and ended up doing about 200 hours of internet and interlibrary-loan reading. There really weren't any bad guys in this story. Negligent people, yes; but no one had really behaved badly or had wanted to cause any harm. As there was no issue of liability (the New Mexico Highway Patrol, after I had been hauled off, had shot video tape, showing the bike and my body-print, almost under the wheels of the truck), the main question was: "what is this worth?"

June saw us drive, again, in the '74 Dodge Dart, to the Iowa Rally. Perfect weather (low 80s, bit of a breeze, no bugs) and lots of friends made Keith's gathering the usual good time. Then to Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Definitely worth a visit, if one is in the area. Stopped in at the Cleveland Law Library to take a look at a number of books mentioned on their Web site, took notes and rolled South. Visited a number of distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee, stayed with Vaughan, the most intense and organised party animal I have ever known, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Then, on to Fredricksburg and the National Rally. The good times, bike repairs, camaraderie, tech sessions and self-inflicted stabbings have been covered in a lot of postings at the time. Suffice it to say, it was a strenuous good time. July was Top O' the Rockies in Paonia. It really was a drag doing all this by car, but was sort of a novelty; since I was twenty-one, all my long range travel has been by BMW motorcycle. August was the Pyrotechnic and Hobo Conventions, both in Iowa this year. Labor Day weekend was the Burning Man Festival, in Nevada. As Dave Rankine terms it: "One of the worlds Greatest Parties". I have to agree. I hope we can set up an Airhead Theme Camp next year there. After that, we sort of settled in and rested, I was definitely able to travel by car, but it did take a lot out of me. I got a small bit of riding in, it was still real painful and limited in distance.

October saw me reach "Maximum Medical Improvement," the assessment says I'm at 33% disability. Now we had the data we needed to settle with the insurance people. With all the work we had done, we had a good idea of what it was worth so we approached the final negotiations with three figures in mind: 1.Our opening settlement offer (a little high), 2.what the injury was worth, and 3.the lowest figure we would accept (around 2/3rds of what it was worth). In late December, after a week of mailing and four hours of phoning back and forth, we had settled; at a bit more than 2/3rds of the median of what these injuries usually settle for. All medicals were covered, the bike was repaired to our satisfaction, and I got enough to cover foreseeable future problems and something for the losses and pain and suffering. I think that the 33% disability might be a little high, I consider myself "at the good end of the bell-curve of healing possibilities" for this type of fracture. So, this is one story where the hurt biker came out OK.

Now that I don't have to worry about vans with blacked out windows video taping me as I cut fire wood or shovel snow, I'm getting more active. Last year was one of recovery and regrowing bone, this year will be one of rehab and gaining strength. We are remodeling our house (Susanna gets a new kitchen, I get an enclosed, heated work shop), doing some of that work will help. I still get bothered by the cold (a lot), so I haven't ridden since early November. Strider sits, under a cover, with 349,827 on the clock, waiting. I have hopes of being able to ride to Missoula this July. And that, fellow Airheads, is how I put 350,000 miles on my /5 between 1972 and now. Thanks for asking, Thomas.

Matt Parkhouse