Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Jun 26/98) - Ride for Sight biker Mike Muller would be dead today if he had not worn a helmet when the Inuvik biker group hit the highway for the June 12 ride to Rock River and Eagle Plains.

On a straight and level part of the Dempster Highway, between Rengleng River and Tsiigehtchic, Muller noticed his motorcycle's front wheel starting to wobble.

"In the instant I recognized what was happening, it was over and I was unconscious," the 10-year motorcycle-riding veteran said.

"The next thing I knew I was being helped into a pick-up truck."

Muller stressed he rode under the speed limit and he dressed for safety in heavy boots and gloves, pants, a leather motorcycle jacket and a good helmet.

His left hip bears a wrap-around bruise but his injuries could have been far worse.

"I actually hit the ground hard enough to break the foam in my helmet," he said.

"And it takes a lot of force to break the high-impact foam inside helmets."

After sliding with the motorcycle several metres, Muller separated from it before the bike blew up in a ball of fire, feeding on flammable camping gear Muller stowed on the back.

"Unfortunately I missed the whole thing. It was quite impressive apparently," Muller joked.

"(The bike) is in stupendously bad shape."

Ride for Sight organizer Craig Kaulbach said the next outing for the Inuvik bikers is a ride in the Canada Day parade.

The Eagle Plains trip was part of the 14th annual National Ride for Retinitis Pigmentosa in which community bikers have taken part for the previous 11 years.

This year, 10 bikers rode motorcycles followed by 10 support vehicles to help carry gear and provide medical help if needed.

"It's a family thing for us," said Kaulbach, 21, who has been riding a motorcycle since before he was of legal age.

"A lot of people bring their families out."

Muller said the first chapter of the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a good description of the thrill of riding, but Kaulbach said words cannot describe the sensation.

"Myself, I enjoy it. It's just something you feel when you're out there and you can't really describe why. All you know is that you like it."