One of the scariest things when you are driving/towing the rig from place to place, is when drivers/passengers of passing cars are waving frantically at you. It has happened twice to us. Once very early in this adventure (2008), we drove the rig from the Anchorage campground through town to the shop for last minutes fixes/correction before we left Alaska. That time we had left a compartment door open. Luckily nothing had fallen out. And, then yesterday . . .
Having hooked up Saturday night, we got up early in San Diego, fed/walked the dog, we each did our final walk around (a habit we learned after the Anchorage hand waving mentioned above). The bikes were strapped on the bike rack, first Ruthi’s then Boots’. They were covered with a black canvas type of material with reflective sides for safety. We pulled out of Santee Lakes 7:45am ugh.
On Saturday (the day before we left Santee) after our bike ride, Ruthi was putting the bikes up on the rack at the rear of the 5th wheel when a neighbor came by and asked if our rack was sturdy. Indeed it was, Ruthi said. With the first bike, we had unsuccessfully hung it from the rear ladder. The bumps and vibration of the roads out of Alaska (or for that matter anywhere) eventually led to the bike riding inside the rig until we got somewhere with a new idea. Then we had 2 bikes and had bought the current rack we have. We had to have a “bumper” welded to the rig’s rear frame and then the hitch welded to that (Sept ’08).
One summer when crossing Montana in temperatures way above 100 degrees (July ’11), we made a pit stop and discovered that the bike rack itself was insecure, resulting in one bike almost touching the pavement and we again had to remove the 2 bikes inside the Rv. It seems that when work people had used our rear ladder to get to the roof they have inadvertently stepped on the bike rack and bent/loosened the rack’s frame. When we got to Illinois, Ruthi’s brother re-welded the bike rack back together. All of this history is in support of Ruthi’s comment that the bike rack was/is very secure. Now to what happened yesterday.
We had our first pit stop at the Camping World in La Mirada, CA (102 out of 296 miles). All 3 of us used the facilities and Boots, Ruthi and Karma did another walk around. We checked that the lights all worked (we had forgotten in our quest to get out of Santee so early). Everything looked good and off we went again. 15 miles later other vehicle occupants are waving frantically and pointing at us. So, we pull over immediately which puts us at the very end of an access ramp for traffic entering Interstate 5 going North. We put the flashers on and got out to look. As we do not have a rear camera (might consider it??), could see no problem from our mirrors. We just thought that we had left a door open, the steps down or the stair handle folded out.
Imagine our surprise to see the bike rack with the bikes still wrapped in the bike cover and securely fasten to the bike rack now at a 45 degree angle to their former position, being dragged along the highway!! Again the secure bike rack, bikes and cover were still packaged together but the “bumper” weld had broken on the right side and was hanging on by only an 1/8 of a inch. While the left side remained secure. Thus we were dragging the bike “package” along the highway for at least a couple of miles at 60mph. Yes, Ruthi was speeding as the California speed limit for towing vehicles with 3 or more axles is 55mph.
So, do we call Roadside assistance or start solving the problem ourselves and still get to Oceano before the office closes at 5pm. We got busy unlocking the bike rack from the hitch and were attempting to pick up and rock the package out of the hitch and get everything to the road side, when a group of 6- 8 young people appeared out of nowhere (well, probably not out of thin air but you get what we mean). They offered to help and they got the package to the curb. We thanked them and realized that getting everything separated would probably be simpler for just the two of us.
The whole contraption was separated into parts/pieces then stored inside the rig on the living room slide floor. The bikes were separated by blankets and cushions to prevent damage to them or the floor they were lying on. The bike rack itself was separated into its components and placed in the truck bed behind the fifth wheel hitch.
Then we looked at the “bumper” to determine did we need to have someone come cut it off or could we secured it for the remained of our trip up the coast and take care of it then. Using bungee cord and Velcro we secured both ends of the “bumper” to the rig’s frame. Just as we were finished and thinking about how we would ease back out into the I-5 North traffic (which by the way had not slowed down or eased up the entire time we were dealing with our crisis), a CalTrans (DOT) truck pulled up right behind us to check on what happened, etc. He helped us get back into traffic safely and we were on our way again!
Damage Assessment: The bike cover had only 3 holes ripped into it. These can be easily sealed up and the cover can be used again. The bike rack itself suffered some road rash on one of the wheel braces. This damage didn’t restrict removing the brace. Ruthi’s bike appeared to have no damage. Boots’ bike (only 4 or 5_months old) was on the outside and received the bulk of the damage. One of her handlebars had the outside edge smoothed down a bit, cosmetic damage only. The brunt of the damage was that one of her pedals is now about 1/3 of the length it was when we left Santee.
Now that we write this, we now realized a couple of things we didn’t: 1) put out our safety cone to support the vehicle flashers in warning oncoming traffic; 2) remember to always walk on the curb side of the truck/rig out away from traffic; 3) think to shake each and every hand of the young good Samaritans that stopped to help us get the package off the rig; and 4) take any pictures during the recovery process – no selfie!
Position of the Hitch
Right Side "Bumper" long cut
Left side "Bumper" small cut
Boots' bike pedal
