Skip Moore

Skip Moore,

Here’s a story from around 2006 here in Healdsburg, CA:
Skip Moore was a Vietnam veteran. He lived in Santa Rosa, CA, where he had a machine shop. Skip was single and a serious bicycle enthusiast. Skip made his own bicycle frames and rode his bicycle everywhere in Sonoma County.
I was also a bicycle enthusiast. I rode my old Schwinn World out to Yoakim Bridge in Dry Creek and back almost every day (24 miles.) Once in awhile I’d see Skip come flying by me on his bike. He could go as fast and as far as the bike racers in the Tour de France.
At the far end of my route, where West Dry Creek Rd. meets Yoakim Bridge Rd., which is a blind corner. I was always careful going around this corner to stay on the far right side of the road as I couldn’t see the traffic coming west up Yoakim Bridge Rd.
One afternoon, there was a strong tailwind from the south. This pushed me quickly north on West Dry Creek Rd. towards its junction with Yoakim Bridge Rd. (BTW. The Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) vineyard is at this intersection. Burr’s Emmy’s, along with old B &W photos, are on display in the tasting room of the vineyard.)
When I came around that corner that afternoon, I saw orange police markings on the pavement. Something happened there. Some kind of accident.
The next day, I read in the local paper that a bicycle rider had been killed on Yoakim Bridge Rd. by a Mexican illegal who was driving a farm truck without a license (that’s for Rikard’s info.) It was a head-on collision.
The police took the bicyclist to the morgue and the Mexican to Healdsburg Hospital. He was in shock. The Mexican snuck out of the hospital and was never seen again.
…
A week later, I rode my Schwinn around the Yoakim Bridge Rd corner, and there was a man and his wife putting down a vase of flowers. He was riding a Harley. He told me all about Skip Moore. They were best friends. That’s how I knew Skip’s backstory.
The Harley owner told me that years ago, their son had been boating on Lake Sonoma, just up the road, and had been thrown out of the boat. His body was never found. That is common. Lots of trees down there at the bottom of the reservoir, and they catch bodies. The trees don’t give them up.
Skip Moore helped his Harley friend and his wife get through the tragedy of losing their son.
Lots of sad stories that day.
TJM