Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Motorcycle Safety and Awareness
Welcome to think bike, the podcast about all things motorcycle and the voice of motorcycle safety and awareness in Alberta. Your host is Liane Langlois.
Liane:Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of think bike. Today, I welcome Doug Fulchamp to the podcast. He is a member of the AMSS and, and grateful for that. Had a bit of an incident last year that I'm not gonna get into the details on this in the intro.
Liane:We're just going to talk with Doug and let the story come out. So welcome to the show, Doug. How are you today?
Doug:I'm wonderful today.
Liane:Awesome. So tell me a little bit about who Doug is and what got you into riding?
Doug:Well, Doug spent most of his life in Edmonton. Was born in Leidenster, Saskatchewan, because the hospital's on the Saskatchewan side of the border. Grew up elementary school in Camrose, and then from junior high on, been in Edmonton. That was a long time ago. I'm 72 years old now, so it's been a while.
Doug:Yeah, most of my life around the Edmonton area currently in Sherwood Park.
Liane:Awesome. Yeah, tell us about how you got into riding.
Doug:In junior high, during those years, we could get our motorcycle license at 14 years old. Anything under a 100 cc's, so the Yamaha TwinJet 199 cc bike was very popular. I got it used, I think it was around the nineteen sixty four, sixty five Honda 65 Sport. Rode that when I was 14, but kinda had to cheat a little bit because the bike didn't run really good, and I failed my my exam the first time through because the bike kept stalling. So I basically just rode it around the block and and back alleys and stuff.
Doug:Later on, I got a Honda three fifty. Rode that for a little while, and then I I bought a brand new 1975 Honda seven fifty, c b seven fifty. So that was a a beautiful bike. Then I got a '79 Goldwing GL 1,000 when it was still a a 1,000 cc. Got out of riding for a while while, you know, my son was growing up, and and the bike kinda got parked and and got busy with with work and things.
Doug:Sold the Goldwing, but kinda kept up with I I had a a dirt bike and a few dirt bikes, Yamaha two fifty four stroke before four strokes had any power. And a y y Yamaha y z four ninety, the the single cylinder two stroke. That was a handful. And then a Husky 400. Got rid of that.
Doug:Kinda stopped riding again for a couple years, but one day I walked into Skona cycle, and on display, they had a Honda room sitting right in their front display. Fell in love with that bike, put it on my screensaver. It took me quite a few years, but after looking at it on my screensaver, I finally ended up with the the time and money kind of came together at the same time and and I found a used one in Grand Prairie. So in 2013, I bought a 2,005 Honduran. And if you're not familiar with that, look at Ryan F nine Honda's, whatever it is, multimillion dollar mistake.
Doug:It's a very, very rare bike. They only made about 3,000 of them, but it was a machine. It had the Goldwing drivetrain, so six cylinder 1,800 cc shaft drive, But it looked like a full custom bike. Road that for for quite a few years. I I don't own a museum.
Doug:So I actually wrote the bike when I bought it in '13 being an eight year old bike. It had 5,000 kilometers on it.
Liane:Wow. I
Doug:sold it a couple years ago, and I think I had somewhere around 50,000 kilometers on it. So I I took it camping. I took it on lots of road trips. I was looking for something that I didn't have to polish quite as much, because a bike like that, always have to present it clean and it had lots of chrome and fancy paint. So I ended up going for a test drive on a BMW GS 1,200 adventure bike.
Doug:Bought it after the test drive. It it was a couple years old. Absolutely loved that bike. Made it up to Alaska. Was heading to Alaska a couple years ago and and it it broke on me so it was gonna take a while to get fixed.
Doug:So my my wife says I don't trust you riding all the way up there on a bike that's gonna break. Go buy a new one. So I think that afternoon I was down at the dealership and bought a brand new one.
Liane:And every man out there is like, that is the perfect wife.
Doug:Yeah. So Took that one up to Alaska. Did the the dusted on in Dawson City with both bikes. Was heading out to the island. Last year and things went wrong.
Liane:Things went wrong. Yeah, we'll get into that in a second. Before we get there, what were some of your favorite places to ride? You had sent me some pictures and there was some camping pictures and there were some, you know, very different bikes and very different ways of traveling. What are some of your best memories out there?
Doug:I love going out to the Kootenays. My buddy and I, you know, he's a young 79 years old right now, but he he ended up after after having a few cruiser bikes and crashing them because he learned to lie ride late and and was not a very good rider. Finally convinced him to take mine for a little bit of a spin, and he ended up finding a used one down South Of Calgary, which coincidentally was the same year as mine and one serial number off.
Liane:Oh, wow.
Doug:Both both of them apparently were sold out of Blackfoot in Calgary. So we rode those together. But, yeah, in the Kootenay area, we'd we'd go out and and camp at Toad Rock, stay in different, you know, Ainsworth Hotel, had a buddy that has a place out there. So Caslow, New Denver, Neckusp. We'd we'd spend a week just riding around in that area.
Doug:Been down through through the Northern States, rode around in there quite a bit, Washington, Idaho, Montana. I I like getting into roads with curves. Yeah. The problem with riding in Alberta is you have to ride for three hours and then you turn, and then you ride for three hours and turn. So I, yeah, I really enjoyed the twisties.
Liane:Yeah.
Doug:Once I started going up to the northern area in Yukon, and that I really enjoyed that also. Camped most of the time, you know, probably mostly to save money because it gets a little bit expensive if you're shelling out a couple $100 a night for a motel to be gone for, you know, two, three, four weeks at a time. I I ride with retired people, so usually the the time constraint isn't there, more of a budgetary thing. Yeah, I enjoyed riding in BC and Yukon.
Liane:Yeah, BC is definitely one of my go to's as well. I'm in the Kootenays, at least once you're that new Denver Caslow 31A, you you can't beat it. It's just such a fun road.
Doug:Exactly. So
Liane:mentioned you were on your way out to the island last year. I believe you had said it was in August, I think.
Doug:Yeah, yeah. August And you
Liane:were just on your way to have, I would imagine your next great adventure. What happened?
Doug:I'm going to back up a little bit and go to December '23.
Liane:Sure.
Doug:My wife and I were heading to a friend's place, actually my riding buddy's place out at Mammio Beach from Edmonton, and beautiful sunny day, driving along, and she's chatting with me. I'm in the right hand lane, cruise control set at 01:15 on my car, and she as she was chatting with me, she noticed I wasn't responding to the conversation, and the car was drifting over from the right hand lane through the left hand lane onto the shoulder. I went into the median and hit the cable barricades. My memory of it was I was driving in the right hand lane and then saw my mirror disappear off the side of the vehicle when I was hitting the cables. So I was lucky there was a an overpass.
Doug:I cranked it pretty hard, got onto the exit ramp, parked. My vehicle was basically a write off. It was written off, but at that point, I knew it wasn't drivable. But what had happened was I apparently had a seizure. I didn't pass out because I didn't slump over.
Doug:I was sitting up. I was hanging onto the wheel. My wife said at one point in time while she was screaming at me, I turned and looked at her and looked back at the road, but didn't react. After I saw the mirror go flying by, came to right away. So it was probably about fifteen seconds where the switch went off and then came back on.
Doug:I had no pre warning, and I had no repercussions after. So that was a scary event. Went and saw my doctor, got into a neurologist, all sorts of tests have been run. I've had lots of brain scans and heart tests and everything else, and they put me on a anti seizure medication. The neurologist said, yep, start taking these meds.
Doug:Don't drive for three months, and you'll be good to go. So I did that. Three months later, I'm driving a little bit again. About the four month mark, I had a couple episodes at home. They weren't as serious.
Doug:I didn't black out immediately, but I kind of felt it coming on, but I still went down on the floor and and passed out very briefly. Saw my neurologist again. He increased the the anti seizure medication. Same thing. Don't drive for three months.
Doug:You'll be good to go. Three month mark, and I think it was probably to the day. I was on my bike, packed up, rode up to Grand Cache from there down to Radium, and back home, had a great ride. Started planning the next trip. So probably a couple weeks after that, I was all packed up heading to my buddy's place in Kamloops.
Doug:The two of us, we traveled together up to Alaska a couple times. We were going to do North Vancouver Island for a week. I got about 30 kilometers this side of Hinton. Beautiful sunny day, not very much traffic on the road, got the music going on in my helmet, trying to wear out the chicken strips on the sides of my brand new tires as I'm dancing to the music going down the highway. Like I say, no traffic.
Doug:Next thing I know, I'm looking up and there's branches and leaves in my side of you like like right over my head. And I started to sit up, and somebody yelled, Don't move, I've got your head. And then the first responders started coming, and if you saw the pictures I sent you of my riding gear, they proceeded to take the scissors and cut everything off, much to my objections.
Liane:They just don't know how expensive it is.
Doug:Exactly, and how insurance companies don't appreciate how expensive it is, and you know, they should want you to ride with gear, but they don't compensate you well. Yeah. So basically after the first responders got there, they put me on a backboard, transported me by ambulance into Hinton. Very, very fortunate that somebody had seen me go off the highway, because where I went off, there's a wide divide in the highway with trees in the middle. Yeah.
Doug:A very steep ditch. Couldn't see where I was from from the roadway. So if somebody hadn't seen me go over, I would have been there a lot longer. They transported me to the by ambulance to the Hinton Hospital. My wife and and son were there very shortly afterwards.
Doug:Actually, I had talked on the phone to my son while I was awaiting for the ambulance. They found my phone, and and one of the attendants, first responders, had phoned my son, let him know, and he says, we're already on the way. My Apple Watch and my iPhone had sent an alert. I had emergency contacts as my son and my wife sent an alert to both of them. My son was kind of familiar with false alarms because I had a set of gloves that would trigger the stem on the watch and send one an SOS once in a while.
Doug:But he noticed that I wasn't moving, so they got in the car right away and headed out, met me at the Hinton Hospital. Luckily, there was a doctor on duty. Hinton does not have a full time doctor. There was somebody there that I guess grew up in the area and knew the need, and he would volunteer one or two days a month. He was somewhat familiar with the kind of injuries I had, and they had the equipment there to run some tests.
Doug:He transported me air ambulance fixed wing to Edmonton. I was in the trauma center there for a week. Had a series of doctors coming through running various tests. I was in and out of more machines, and the basic outcome was I kind of sprained my ankle a little bit. I tore up my ACL, MCL, on my right knee.
Doug:I broke my left thumb, probably as I went over the handlebars, my left thumb got caught. But the biggest thing was I broke a couple vertebrae in my neck, and that basically caused trauma in the nerves running down to my arm, so I have three muscles in my shoulder and arm that no longer function because of the nerve damage. One of them being my bicep, the other two are up to my shoulder. I can still wiggle my fingers and use my hand, I can still bend my elbow, but as far as shoulder action, my arm is just dead weight, so wearing a brace to kind of keep my arm up into place. Your shoulder is not a ball and socket like your knee or your hip.
Doug:It gets held in place by ligaments, if there's no muscles to keep it up into place, it just falls down. So I have to wear a brace to keep my arm up in. I've been going to rehab for, well, ever since pretty well. I started off not being able to walk very well. Oh, I was in a neck brace for six weeks.
Doug:So, eight weeks? Okay, eight weeks, my wife says. Try and get used to sleeping on your back when you're a side sleeper, because with the neck brace on you couldn't roll over, and my shoulder being all banged up, my knee being banged up. Started walking a little bit with a knee brace and a cane. Rehab now, I can actually single step going up and down the stairs.
Doug:So the walking is coming better. Ongoing rehab for my arm didn't really produce a lot of positive reaction as far as I could tell. I mean there was incremental changes, but nothing drastic. The tests revealed that. Well, let's go back that the the the surgeon said there's been nerve damage coming out of the spine going to these muscles.
Doug:They may regenerate on their own, and if they do, then might get your normal function back in your arm. There's about a twelve month window if the nerves don't regenerate and start activating the muscles again, they probably never will. So the surgeons at about the nine month level, eight month level tested me again, said, Nope, there's nothing happening. So they went in and did surgery, and basically what they did was rewired the nerves going to those muscles. So, I mean, I can't thread a needle, I have trouble splicing twelve gauge wire.
Doug:A team of three surgeons went in and took one of the nerves going to my tricep and wired it to my bicep, so now I guess I would have a bicep and a unicep, and a couple other nerves up in my shoulder. So the hope is, I haven't had any action yet, but they say it might take a year or possibly two years before the nerves hopefully find their way back. Anticipated best result would be I'd be able to lift my arm up to put it on the table. I'm never going to be able to comb my beautiful hair again. Slowly the best result is a slow recovery, so every day is a new experience, I guess.
Liane:Well, mean, as we age, we don't bounce like we used to, so there's that part too. Recovery can take a bit longer. So everything really stems from these seizures that just started happening.
Doug:Yeah, out of the blue, never had any anything like that ever before. Yeah. My neurologist said that they suspect that they might happen to about ten percent of the population. Probably more prevalent as we age, but most people either don't know or don't report it. And that's one of the reasons I wanted to come on here is to highlight the importance of reporting things like this.
Doug:I mean, I've been over a year seizure free now with the meds. Meds took a little bit of getting used to headspace wise, but a year later now, I think I'm back to normal, as abnormal as I am. The number of people I've talked to that either have had things like this happen to them, or know somebody that it's happened to, it's alarming. It's surprising and alarming. So, I just want to bring awareness.
Doug:If something like this happens, go talk to your doctor, get into a neurologist, and see if they can, if not find out why it's happening, maybe get you on some meds so it doesn't happen again.
Liane:Yeah, that's super important. I mean, there's a lot of people that ignore either small pains or what might be considered a seizure and just say like, oh, that's a one off, that doesn't matter. And things like that being ignored progress. And then all of a sudden you are out enjoying something that you love and your whole world changes in a flash.
Doug:Yeah. As tragic as it was, it's been a big inconvenience. People have had a lot worse happen to them that have been more life changing. I mean, I haven't driven for over a year. I used to be a professional driver.
Doug:I love driving. I really miss that, just driving my car, never mind.
Liane:Yeah.
Doug:I will never drive a motorcycle again for two reasons. One is I promised my wife I wouldn't because the trauma on her was probably worse than on me, but the other reason I just watched a video yesterday of the new 2025 GSA, the new 1,300, and it has no clutch lever. So it it's basically a a dual clutch transmission, self shifting. But even without using the clutch, I don't feel comfortable driving not being able to use my arm. Mhmm.
Doug:I I don't feel comfortable riding a bicycle. I now have a recumbent tricycle. Riding with two hands when you can't use one of them, one of them is just dead weight, it would be too uncomfortable for me.
Liane:Yeah, everybody has their different comfort levels. I mean, I'm sure I can hear some people listening to this going, well, there's always a trike and that's not always an answer too, because it's still controlling a vehicle and know, and your comfort level.
Doug:Yeah. Don't think I would I never really did
Liane:It's okay to say it.
Doug:Never did really like trikes, I enjoyed motorcycles. But even just driving just driving the vehicle, the process I have to go through now, I've reported to Alberta Transportation to the traffic safety board or whatever. I need approval in order to put a spinner on my steering wheel. I need a letter from them or probably a special condition code to put the spinner on, to put an extension on the turn signal lever so I can use it from driving with my right hand. So now I'm waiting for, I've sent in all the medical reports.
Doug:I did a simulator test at Glen Rose with the spinner knob and a and a turn signal extension. I'm waiting for approval back from Alberta Transportation to put the spinner on, and then I have to go for a driving test to make sure that I can drive. I used to have a class one, class six. Now I'm going to be going back to probably a restricted class five, And I don't know when that approval is gonna come, so it's still a waiting game.
Liane:So how has this been? Like you mentioned your wife and the respect of not riding again as part of her requests. I can imagine, well, I can't really imagine what that's been like for her to be there with you and your son helping you through all this. I think that's one of the things that perhaps the more younger generation and maybe you can help me with this who feel they're invincible. They always say things like, oh, he died doing what he loved or whatever.
Liane:And they don't understand the repercussions of what your family goes through with you. So can you maybe help me drive that message home?
Doug:If you die doing what you love, that's one thing, but what about all the people you left behind? Their life will be changed forever. This little inconvenience for me has definitely altered my wife's life. She has to drive me everywhere, haven't been able to drive. Simple things like, you know, it's taking me a long time to get dressed, to have a shower, to get dressed, to do a number of things around the house.
Doug:So she is not comfortable yet, even if I do get permission just to drive a car again, she's still going to be hesitant because she was screaming at me when I crashed the car the first time. Also, my son is over 40 years old. He wasn't living with us, but he was one of my emergency contacts, so it's not like I was raising a young son or anything, but it's affected his life too. Can't go over and help him around the house or do some of those things on my own. I need a ride everywhere I go.
Doug:Everybody I talked to in the trauma unit, like all the nurses that come through, all the doctors that come through, they'd look at my file and go, Wow, were you ever lucky? I was that far away from either dying or being a paraplegic or quadriplegic, and that is definitely life altering. I can still get up and walk around and do most of the things on my own, but something like that where somebody else has to do everything for you would definitely be life altering. I just want back up again, and you saw some of the pictures I sent you. I'm an agate, all the gear, all the time.
Liane:Yep.
Doug:I have a good friend in Whitehorse that, for medical reasons, stopped riding a few years ago. That wonderful BMW riding suit that you saw in the pictures was a gift from him, because he couldn't ride anymore. I had a BMW jacket. I had good pants before that, but this was a wonderful suit. I had actually upgraded the padding in it, and and doubled up on some of it, wearing a really good flip up full coverage helmet.
Doug:I was wearing motocross boots. So I had all the gear on. If I wouldn't have had all the gear on, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Liane:Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You're like, I tell from the pictures that you sent me as well as you explaining like that you're a class one six, obviously solid driver. You had all the gear on, you did everything right. We always say that cause there's people like, well, gear only does so much.
Liane:That's true. But look at your situation. Gear probably is the number one reason why you're alive today. And with minimal injuries, although be it significant life altering, you know, as you called it an inconvenience, you know, other people may not function as well with losing, you know, the use of one of their arms, but the gear does make a difference. And that's the point of proper gear.
Doug:Absolutely, absolutely. Like I say, I don't think I would be here if it hadn't been for the gear. I had my cruise set at one fifteen, so it wasn't like I was doing one sixty or one fifty or you know, I was driving a reasonable speed. There was very light traffic on the road. The app I had from the BMW app showed me going basically going off the road, and the app stopped at 80 kilometers an hour in the ditch, so I probably sailed off the road at one fifteen.
Doug:I was lucky also that it was soft ground. It was kind of muskiggy. I was kind of laying in a little bit of water because all my gear was soaked, but I didn't drown. I didn't lie face down, but I think that absorbed a lot of the impact. I think I went over the handlebars and basically landed upside down on my neck, So reading up the types of injuries I had were probably caused from my head being thrown over sideways and landing and the impact on my shoulder.
Doug:So I think without the extra padding and the good helmet and stuff like that, it would have been a lot worse.
Liane:Yeah, I've got one last question for you, which is you chose to continue support the AMSS in what we do. Why was that important for you?
Doug:You've probably seen it too, but when you go out into the Kootenays for for a few rides every summer, how many how many times do you see bikes in the ditch or recovery units, or hear about somebody that that has died? One I recall was a big cruiser sitting in the middle of a a creek just off the road, and talking to a few people afterwards, he kinda went wide on the corner and flew off into the creek, and he managed to somehow pull himself back up onto the road and get help, but it was early in the spring and a big snowpack that year, and the rivers and creeks were running very fast and high, and his wife perished in the the instant. So lots of people I I have a friend right by by the Kootenai Bay ferries, and he says, yeah, every week there somebody is is killed. People coming out and trying to ride in road conditions that they aren't used to, on a bike that they're not used to. You see so many big cruisers for sale that are 15 years old that have 5,000 miles on them, and you know, somebody from the Prairies heading out into the Kootenays that only puts on a few 100 miles a year trying to keep up with some of the other people, the skill level isn't there.
Doug:So I I think you guys promoting training, increasing your skill level knowledge. I I I talked to you once at at at one of the events, out of Blackjacks, I think, about the conditions of the roads. Some of the tar snakes, you know, on the corners and that, people that aren't used to that, that can throw you off. Just basic awareness, your advocacy to the government to make the roads safer for motorcyclists. Just awareness for all the riders out there.
Doug:Think it's really important to learn how to ride and to have somebody promoting safe roads on your behalf.
Liane:Well, you very much for that. I certainly appreciate it. And that is one of the, like all those little tips and stuff. One of the reasons why we started the podcast and then of course a couple seasons in why we decided to throw in like a mailbag for those quick tips or like quick questions on there. And Doug, I just, I wanna thank you for coming on to share your story.
Liane:I think it's a great awareness to paying attention to your body and what's going on with that and making sure you're in doing what you can to stay in a healthy space to, if what you enjoy is riding is that. Yes, thank you so much, Doug. I appreciate your time today.
Doug:Sorry if I ran on a little bit, but thank you for letting me voice.
Liane:No, was perfect. Thank you so much. And to everybody else, just hang tight for the mixed bag.
Leroy:Hey, this is Leroy with another helpful tip from Moto Instincts. We rely on several senses to operate our motorcycles effectively. Hearing helps us monitor the bike and surroundings. Touch lets us control the bike and feel its feedback, and sight is crucial for identifying safe routes and potential dangers. Of these senses, sight is the most important for managing risk.
Leroy:Sight allows us to detect danger early, giving us time to plan for imminent danger. However, sometimes we're given little warning, and these situations with minimal time to react carry much higher risks of crashing. In these cases, immediate action is forced, causing decisions to be made before options can be considered. Hazards with small time windows can happen due to Murphy's Law, but these situations are more commonly caused by poor riding habits. The most essential step in evasions is identifying a hazard and recognizing it as a threat.
Leroy:Any motorcycle practice is significantly undermined if you don't detect danger until the last second. Be mindful and avoid riding in ways that restrict your line of sight. Motorcycles have the advantage of being small, allowing you to micromanage lane position for the best possible visibility around vehicles and obstacles. By maintaining great sight lines, you can spot hazards at the earliest possible moment, giving you more time to make decisions and act. That's it for this week.
Leroy:Make sure you visit us at motoinstincts.com for more information. Ride smart, ride safe.
Liane:And that's our show for today. To make sure that you don't miss out on any of our upcoming podcasts or listen to previous ones, make sure you click on subscribe or follow wherever you get yours. If there's a topic you'd like us to cover or a guest you think would be great on the show or even a question for the mailbag, let us know. You can connect with us on all the socials, Email us at info@ab-amss.org or reach out through the website at a b dash a m s s dot org. Thanks for listening to Think Bike.
Liane:From us, always remember to ride smart, ride safe, and Think Bike. See you out on the road.