Gabe Holcomb spent Wednesday doing what he loves — riding his motorcycle across Wyoming.
The 21-year-old Casper man went to Lander, ate lunch and rode home through the Granite Mountains, past Muddy Gap and Alcova.
It had been a good day. He was nearly home by 2:53 p.m., with one last item on his agenda.
“I was coming home to buy flowers,” Holcomb told Cowboy State Daily from his hospital bed Thursday.
At CY Avenue and West 14th Street, Holcomb said a Mercedes suddenly pulled out in front of him and stopped in his lane.
He grabbed the brakes. Then came the impact.
“I remember it hurt a lot,” he said. “And then I was out.”
Holcomb says he didn't wake up for roughly four hours.
‘Absolutely Nowhere’
Holcomb said he was traveling on CY Avenue after getting a green light at Poplar Street and was going about 35 mph.
As he approached 14th Street, he noticed a vehicle ahead of him beginning to slow.
He didn't immediately understand why.
“And then I saw the Mercedes come out of absolutely nowhere,” he said.
Holcomb guesses he was about 100 feet away when he realized what was happening.
There was nowhere to go, he said. Another vehicle occupied the lane beside him and traffic was approaching from the opposite direction.
“She came to a complete and full stop in my lane,” he said. “I had no braking time whatsoever, and I couldn't evade either.”
Casper Police largely corroborated Holcomb's account Thursday. They said officers were dispatched to CY Avenue and West 14th Street at 2:53 p.m. Wednesday for a motorcycle crash.
“Through investigation and interviews, officers were able to determine if the vehicle involved failed to grant the right of way to the motorcyclist,” police told Cowboy State Daily Thursday morning.
A summons request was issued for the Mercedes driver for failure to grant right of way.
Cowboy State Daily has asked police to identify the driver, but they had not responded by publication.
Airborne
Holcomb doesn't know exactly what his body did after he hit the Mercedes.
Someone who witnessed the wreck later contacted him and told him he went airborne.
Then he hit the pavement.
He wasn't wearing a helmet.
Police described his injuries as life-threatening. Holcomb was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center, where he was admitted Wednesday.
Holcomb said he suffered a broken scapula, a broken pelvis in two places, a broken hand, a concussion and a wound in the back of his head that had to be closed with staples.
“I feel like warmed-over shit on toast,” he said, the pain audible in his voice as a hospital monitor beeped steadily in the background.
Then, more seriously: “I’m in so much pain right now.”
Doctors were still evaluating whether he would need surgery, and Holcomb expects recovery to take about six months. He believes he'll eventually be able to return to work normally, although he worries the pelvic injuries could leave him with lifelong problems walking.
Still, he knows how much worse Wednesday could have been.
“I'm really lucky to be alive,” he said.
‘Is This His Bike?’
While Holcomb lay unconscious, his girlfriend found out about the crash after someone posted it on Facebook.
Tristan Harns rides motorcycles herself. One of her riding friends saw the post first and asked, “Hey, is this his bike?”
“My heart dropped,” she said.
She contacted one of Holcomb's close friends and headed for the hospital.
By the time Harns arrived, Holcomb was awake. She waited another 15 or 20 minutes before she was allowed to see him.
Harns said she generally doesn't worry when Holcomb takes long rides. He's been riding for nearly seven years, and she considers him an attentive rider.
“He's actually a very safe rider,” she said. “He's the main person I ride with when I ride my motorcycle. He taught me pretty much all that I know with riding.”
Wednesday was the first serious crash involving Holcomb that Harns has experienced since they've been together.
'Thinking About My Mom'
Holcomb rides through the stretch of CY Avenue virtually every day, sometimes repeatedly.
He believes the intersections along CY from Poplar toward Ash Street can be particularly difficult for riders because of poor visibility, traffic and drivers in a hurry.
His broader message after nearly losing his life Wednesday is simply "Slow down."
“There's no reason to rush to Albertsons. There's no reason to rush to Wendy's. There's no reason to rush to Walmart,” Holcomb said. “Because guess what? It's still going to be there when you get there.”
Casper Police offered much the same warning Thursday, adding that the return of students to school, ongoing road construction and closures are putting additional traffic on Casper streets.
“A little extra attention and patience behind the wheel can help keep everyone safe,” CPD said.
There are pieces of Wednesday that Holcomb knows only because other people have filled them in.
Witnesses told him strangers rushed toward him after the crash. One man held his head and neck still. A nurse stopped and helped care for him until emergency responders arrived.
The last thing he remembers before things went dark, he said, was “Impact”.
Just before that, “Thinking about my mom.”
Freedom
This isn't Holcomb's first motorcycle wreck.
He said he's been in three crashes during his nearly seven years of riding, and the danger isn't abstract to him. He has watched friends die doing the same thing he loves.
“There's been a couple fatalities, but most of them are my friends too,” Holcomb said.
Among them was 20-year-old Casper rider Jakob Michael Wildermuth — “Jake” to Holcomb — who was killed July 30 in a single-motorcycle crash at King Boulevard and West 13th Street.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol's crash summary says Wildermuth was riding south on King Boulevard around 9:40 p.m. when he lost control approaching the intersection. The motorcycle went onto its side, struck the curb, and launched over a culvert. Speed was listed as a possible contributing factor.
Wildermuth was more than another fatality statistic to Holcomb.
“Jake and Ryan were both my friends,” he said.
Wildermuth's obituary says he left behind a wife and young daughter. He had joined the Army shortly after graduating from high school in Natrona County in 2024 and hoped someday to become a firefighter.
Ryan Howsden, 29, another Casper man Holcomb identified as a friend, died Aug. 2.
For Holcomb, what happened afterward says as much about Casper's motorcycle community as the deaths themselves.
When Ryan died, Holcomb said riders came together for a memorial ride with Mills police and emergency responders. Holcomb estimated 70 to 80 people participated; Harns put the crowd closer to 100 bikers, with others following in vehicles.
That's what they do, he said.
“Every ride could be your last,” Holcomb said. “But you really have to understand that, you know, this feels like freedom to some people.”
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
