We unload on the old #11 highway. We are headed to
St. Louis for lunch and
our plan is to visit a few places that we hadn't taken the time to visit in
years. It's always one thing or another, such as "we're on a 200 mile ride"
or "we're going to do some exploring some 90 miles out", as a result,
roses 2 miles from the truck don't get smelled to often! There is a
pretty big group of us, and one of our stops is the old
buffalo jump,
a point of interest that offers a good view of the South Branch River
valley. On route to the buffalo jump I noticed a spring in an otherwise
fairly hilly pasture, looking across the pasture I see a way over what looks
like a culvert and road way that has been built up. While checking out the
scenery at the buffalo jump I make a point of mentioning this to every one,
to have a heads up, because something about this part of the country has
changed. This not being a guided tour, but a ride with friends and our kids,
a couple of the guys go tearing over some hills and across the pasture. The
Renegade didn't have time to flag down the white S.E. ZR. The ZR hit the
little gully so hard that it turned upside down in mid air, and continued
really still "straight ahead". The inverted driver found himself under the
sled in flight and threw himself clear. The ZR landed upside down and
continued on for another 50-75 feet on ice (remember in the middle of
a pasture) pushing a small pile of snow ahead of it. It seems to me
that the windshield wasn't even broken just bent back where it rode on the
ice with the weight of the sled on top of it! But the ZR didn't move under
it's own power very well, the frame was collapsed from the impact causing
the clutches c-c to be reduced,
until the clutches were just about touching each other, and the belt no
longer rode the clutches in the right place. Confirming that, we noticed
that the hood although unscathed now closed several inches closer to the
handlebars interfering with most major components. The cat limped back to the
truck. Had this one landed on it's feet it may not of made any difference!
Someone was going to have to drive around to St. Louis in his truck to meet
us for lunch!
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