Is it easier to disappear than you think?

[RVFRick]

:gsxrgrlI went on a solo ride Thankgiving afternoon. Traction was poor in the hills because of the recent rain and wind making the roads all slippy with water and leaves. I rode the pace and had only one minor pucker moment out of 110 miles of riding.

My route was: Page Mill, Alpine, Pescadero, PCH, San Gregorio, and La Honda. When it was time to stop playing and head home for turkey I went eastbound on 82. Just as I crossed Skyline I saw flashing lights down the road. Not a good sign. A CHP road blockade preventing my return home via Woodside Road. The attending officer said we could wait or find an alternate route. Not knowing how long it would be I decided to head north on Skyline and take Kings Mountain back to the valley.

Ominously while on 35 I saw an SUV that had careened off the road and into the trees. Luckily a Park Ranger was already on site standing with who I assumed was the driver. She seemed to be okay. Good thing someone saw her and was able to lend assistance.

I was thankful for an enjoyable ride as I came home safely and was able to enjoy dinner with family.

At breakfast today I read about the Woodside Road incident in the local paper:
Deputies make ‘miraculous’ Thanksgiving rescuehttps://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/22/deputies-make-miraculous-thanksgiving-rescue/
:wtf I know this area and it's not that rural. It's right near Alice's. Can a car in the crowded bay area go missing so easily.

I ride mostly solo but wonder if I am tempting fate. One of my fears is having an incident in the twisties that takes me off the roadway and into the brush or down a ravine, unnoticed, trapped, unconscious, can't reach my phone, etc. and help arrives too late.

And yet another recent and local incident further stokes my fears. A woman was reported missing when she mysteriously vanished without a trace. A $25,000 reward was put out for information regarding her whereabouts. And then, after a month went by with no clues, she was randomly discovered to have driven off of the road and into thick brush. Route 84 again though on the other side of the bay.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/24/dead-driver-old-wreck-highway-84/

Remember, these are cars big metal boxes with 4 wheels. Shouldn't there be a higher occurrence of disappearing riders? Why don't I read about it? Are we not missed? Are there missing riders in the ravines, gorges, bramble along my favorite riding routes?

Is dropping a breadcrumb trail when I ride a dumb idea? Seriously though, what strategies do you practice?

 

[RightCoastBias]

This is why I rock a spot and my lady had the tracking link.

 

[ejv]

There was a guy on here a few months ago touting some software or app that helped with this sort of thing. He was a city councilman somewhere and kept linking his blog which apparently got him in trouble. Kept changing his name too so I don't recall exactly. I thin one of them was chairman mao. He mostly spent time arguing about the rules then threatening to leave. After many threats I haven't seen him on anymore so I suppose he left. Anyway he had an accident on pescadero I believe where whatever technology he was touting helped him out. Maybe look into that. Sorry not much help.

 

[moto-rama]

This is why I rock a spot and my lady had the tracking link.

As long as you behave yourself!

 

[dravnx]

I carry a Spot Gen III when I ride solo. Bread crumb every 10 minutes and an SOS button.

 

[johnparjr]

I carry the inReach mini when out by myself

 

[Cornfish]

For me this is part of the appeal. My fate is (mostly) in my hands. That thinking puts an emphasis on making good decisions and forces me to ride within myself. I don't have any family or too many friends locally so it really is up to me to come back safe. But, I also used to own and operate my own commercial fishing boat in Alaska and ran it for 4+ months of the year solo. At this point it is just who I am. YMMV.

 

[WWWobble]

But, I also used to own and operate my own commercial fishing boat in Alaska and ran it for 4+ months of the year solo. At this point it is just who I am. YMMV.

Ah, very good. No wonder you don't need an electric vest. :laughing

Sorry, slight thread creep here. Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[dravnx]

For me this is part of the appeal. My fate is (mostly) in my hands. That thinking puts an emphasis on making good decisions and forces me to ride within myself. I don't have any family or too many friends locally so it really is up to me to come back safe. But, I also used to own and operate my own commercial fishing boat in Alaska and ran it for 4+ months of the year solo. At this point it is just who I am. YMMV.

We prepare not for the mostly but for the rare occurrences when chit happens. Are you saying you didn't carry on board an Epirb, a fire extinguisher, an extra generator belt, water pump impeller, a bandaid? When the hand of fate smacks you up side the head, it's kinda nice to have plans and the tools to implement those plans.

 

[seadog]

SPOT for me + tracking app.

You could go off Redwood, Skyline, Grizzly Peak or Pinehurst and not be found for years.

 

[Cornfish]

We prepare not for the mostly but for the rare occurrences when chit happens. Are you saying you didn't carry on board an Epirb, a fire extinguisher, an extra generator belt, water pump impeller, a bandaid? When the hand of fate smacks you up side the head, it's kinda nice to have plans and the tools to implement those plans.

Of course I carried all of that, and was well versed in using all of the equipment. Dying on the water is especially brutal and something I avoided at all costs.

I personally am sick to death of all the technology. Strava for tracking every mile pedaled, pics or it didn't happen, GPS tracking every single activity, traction control, ABS. Not into it, even though I am no luddite. If there were someone at home that felt better if they could track me that would be one thing, but I really don't care how long it takes the authorities to do a body recovery. If there is no one to track your SPOT signal, how would the authorities even know? I am also an avid backcountry skier and am well versed in avalanche protocol. When I ski with others, you can be damn sure I am checking beacons before we go out and making sure everyone in the group knows what is up. When I ski by myself (which I do often) what difference does a PIEP make? Zero. And just like when I ride solo, when I ski solo I have a different approach.

As I said, YMMV. By no means am I shitting on the SPOT concept or telling people they should not use such a device. Just relaying my own experience and approach.

Be safe out there, whatever that means to you.

 

[GetOuttaMyWay]

I looked into getting a spot when I did a 3,200 mile solo tour through 8 states this summer, so many places I had never seen. The comments on barf indicated the technology was iffy and maybe misleading in terms of how effective it is. I went without it. Riding solo I always ride more conservatively and base my level of conservativeness by how remote i am. I usually give my wife my route or an idea of what areas I'll be in and let her know when I'll be on legs without cell reception. On multiday tours a daily text if not call.

The fear of sliding off the roadway and not being noticed always remains.

 

[dravnx]

I looked into getting a spot when I did a 3,200 mile solo tour through 8 states this summer, so many places I had never seen. The comments on barf indicated the technology was iffy and maybe misleading in terms of how effective it is. I went without it. Riding solo I always ride more conservatively and base my level of conservativeness by how remote i am. I usually give my wife my route or an idea of what areas I'll be in and let her know when I'll be on legs without cell reception. On multiday tours a daily text if not call.

The fear of sliding off the roadway and not being noticed always remains.

That's too bad you didn't go with a Spot because of the misleading information you got here on Barf. Many thousands have used and use Spot and there are thousands of saves worldwide. Like any technology, it's not 100% perfect but it sure works for a lot of people.
Here's a trip I did last September. I programmed one of the buttons to send a text to my SO "Still having fun". I hit it at each of my overnight layover locations. It marks my location with a green flag.
https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=1aff65b8cae034f63f&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes
While having the Spot was not necessary, it was fun. Fun for me and fun for the folks that follow my travels. It also adds another layer of safety and I'm satisfied with the cost vs benefit ratio.

 

[budman]

Glad that they found the dude!!

I have noted many place where going off the road meant likely death. I am still sucking at carrying a notification device.

Maybe a new years resolution.

 

[GetOuttaMyWay]

Nice route. Mine was similar territory but out to SLC, Yellowstone and through BC to Vancouver then down. With those check in points were they real time or updated later? Ie if you're in an area without reception can it send the spot or did it send miles later when you were out of the woods so to speak?

 

[dravnx]

Because it's satellite based, the check in points and all the bread crumbs are real time. The Spot is a transmitter so there is no reception issues.

 

[3B43]

I've done almost 90,000 miles in 6 years and ride solo 99.99% of the time. Three months ago, I had an 'incident' with a deer, on Hwy 36, with both of us going off the edge....but only about 5' (its only about 400' to the bottom...). Bike was 'hurt', but I was uninjured (other then my Dainese leathers). Point here is this: my SPOT was attached to my bike and if I had been hurt, getting to it would have been very difficult. So, I've ditched the SPOT and purchased an ACR PLB, which will be on ME from now now.

 

[RVFRick]

I've done almost 90,000 miles in 6 years and ride solo 99.99% of the time. Three months ago, I had an 'incident' with a deer, on Hwy 36, with both of us going off the edge....but only about 5' (its only about 400' to the bottom...). Bike was 'hurt', but I was uninjured (other then my Dainese leathers). Point here is this: my SPOT was attached to my bike and if I had been hurt, getting to it would have been very difficult. So, I've ditched the SPOT and purchased an ACR PLB, which will be on ME from now now.

Thanks for sharing your thought process. Is the SPOT not wearable?

 

[dravnx]

When I'm solo, I wear my Spot.

 

[3B43]

According to the folks that have used/tested both (SPOT vs ACR), the consensus was that in an EMERGENCY, the ACR was absolutely the best choice. So.....