Life Happens!
Ray Crashes His Motorcycle in Baja — Twice
Five years after the ALL50 road trip, Ray was still living life at full throttle — on two wheels this time.
The ALL50 road trip ended in June 2003. Ray had driven 22,796 miles across all 50 states without a scratch on the Z06 or himself. Five years later, life had other plans.
In April 2008, Ray was riding his motorcycle in Baja California when he crashed. The injury was serious — a broken neck requiring a halo brace, the rigid metal frame bolted to the skull that immobilizes the cervical spine while it heals. It's as uncomfortable as it sounds.
Ray documented the experience with his characteristic humor — the halo, he noted, was decidedly not the angelic kind. He was laid up for weeks, the halo a constant reminder that even the most experienced riders can have a bad day on a bad road.
Then, three months later, it happened again. A second crash. Another injury. Ray was philosophical about it — life happens, even to people who've driven a Corvette to all 50 states without incident. The road gives, and the road takes.
By the time he posted this entry, Ray was on the mend and already thinking about what came next. The ALL50 spirit — forward motion, always — was intact.
The ALL50 Z06 — Still Going Strong
Through both crashes and the recovery that followed, the All50 Corvette sat safely in the garage. The Z06 that had carried Ray across every state in the union was in better shape than its owner — a fact Ray found both amusing and reassuring.
The motorcycle adventures were a chapter apart from the Corvette story, but they were very much part of the same life: someone who loved the road, loved the machine, and accepted the risks that came with both.