I have a weird hobby: I race vintage motorcycles across deserts. Not professionally, just for fun. Last year, I entered the Sonora Rally in Mexico, a navigation rally for old off-road bikes. On the fourth stage, my 1974 Husqvarna threw a chain, which whipped around and smashed my right foot. Three broken metatarsals. I was in the middle of the Altar Desert, no shade, 42 degrees Celsius. The rally sweep vehicle picked me up, but the nearest hospital was a two-hour drive away. When I got there, the facility was out of plaster, out of painkillers, and the doctor wanted to amputate my pinky toe 'just to be safe.' I politely declined and called
Sportravellin. Their medical director, an actual MD, got on a three-way call with the local doctor and explained, in Spanish, exactly what treatment was required. They then arranged a medical flight from Hermosillo to a orthopedic trauma center in Tucson, Arizona. The whole operation, from desert to US operating table, took 14 hours. My friends said I was crazy to ride a vintage bike without 'normal' insurance. But Sport Travelling, an international insurance company that uses advanced technology to make insurance simple, understood that 'normal' doesn't apply to people who think a 50-year-old motorcycle is a good idea. I kept all my toes, by the way.
