A 24-year-old Texan had spent days riding his Triumph motorcycle across the country, detouring through Utah for repairs, crossing Idaho and climbing into Wyoming on what he hoped would become a journey through all 50 states.
As Caleb Batista crested Teton Pass on Tuesday morning, he lifted the visor on his helmet and looked out over the valley below.
"I remember just thinking, 'Oh my God, I rode my bike all the way from flat Texas to this place'," Batista told Cowboy State Daily. "It's a beautiful valley. I can't believe I made it. I'm finally here."
Hungry after skipping breakfast, he started wondering whether Jackson had a McDonald's where he could grab a cheap hamburger.
Seconds later, he was flying through the air after an out-of-control dump truck slammed into his motorcycle from behind.
"I didn't hear an engine, didn't hear brakes, didn't hear squealing or anything," Batista said. "Just boom."
A Better View
For Batista, the trip wasn't just a vacation.
He told Cowboy State Daily he had recently lost his job and was going through a divorce. Rather than sit at home, he decided to chase something he'd always wanted to do.
"I love to travel," he said. "I decided to go on a motorcycle trip because I have a lot of big things happening in my life right now ... so I decided, 'Why don't I take a trip and get my mind off things?’ "
The journey had already thrown him a curveball days earlier when his bike was having mechanical problems that forced him to stay in Salt Lake City waiting for replacement parts before continuing north.
He spent Monday night in Idaho before setting off toward Yellowstone National Park through Teton Pass.
"It was actually a really beautiful ride," he said.
Because he was on a motorcycle, he was able to pass slower traffic in designated passing zones.
Near the summit, he overtook a dump truck hauling asphalt.
As Batista started down the east side of the pass, he slowed to take in the scenery.
He raised his helmet visor for a better view.
"I was just thinking, 'I'm finally here'," the 24-year-old said.
Then everything changed.
"I wish to God there was some warning," he said. "It's my worst fear, getting hit from behind on a motorcycle."
Airborne
Batista said the impact launched him from his motorcycle.
"I thought maybe I was dreaming," he said. "I thought that I would hit the guardrail, and then fly over the guardrail, and then fly off the cliff. I thought that for a second."
His motorcycle cartwheeled nearby.
Blood streamed down his face after striking the asphalt.
"I could feel my bones crunching. Like, I could feel, you know, my back every time I hit the ground, my helmet,” Batista said. "Thank God I was wearing my gear. I would probably not have survived, or I would be paralyzed if I didn't have it on, because I hit my head so many times on the ground."
"I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to die’."
As Batista lay injured on the shoulder, another motorcyclist who had been riding behind him rushed to his side, reassuring him like "a father figure" and telling him, "You're OK, man. You're OK."
From the gurney, Batista could see what he described as "all the carnage ahead." He asked an EMT what had happened, but the medic didn't want to say much, telling him only that "some people aren't going to be the same after today."
The full weight of those words didn't hit until Batista arrived at the hospital and learned two people had died.
Survivor's Guilt
A Wyoming Highway Patrol crash report shows the Kenworth dump truck that struck Batista lost its brakes while descending Teton Pass near milepost 6.8 shortly before 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Investigators say the truck first rear-ended Batista's Triumph motorcycle before continuing downhill, striking five more vehicles.
The chain-reaction crash killed Nicholas Besobrasow, 66, of Tetonia, Idaho, and David Page, 57, of Mammoth Lakes, California.
Four other people were injured.
The crash remains under investigation.
"That's probably the hardest part for me," he said.
He paused.
"I have a lot of survivor's guilt."
His voice broke as he explained why.
"I don't have a lot of people depending on me," he said. "I'm just a single guy. It should have been me."
Doctors treated him for a dislocated shoulder, a foot injury he believes is fractured, road rash across much of his body and facial injuries requiring stitches.
"If I hadn't been wearing my gear," he said, "I probably would not have survived."
His Triumph motorcycle was destroyed.
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help Batista with mounting medical bills, temporary living expenses and replacing belongings lost when his motorcycle was destroyed in the crash.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
