Unknowns When Riding a Known Road

[RockOn]

 

[Kojack1970]

That's magical

 

[Stillserving]

Holy crap, a ladder!!! That would be a real bad day.

That just takes things to a whole 'nother level..

 

[Sparky59]

While riding an event in Chicago named "Midnight by Chicago" over 30 years ago, my older brother rode over a Queen sized mattress......He didn't miss a beat.....While cleaning off the undercarrige of his leaky BMW /6. I had just enough room to go around it on my GW. Highway garbage!!!

 

[atomsplitter]

I'm pretty sure I know he's confused.......

 

[stingray]

I'd just left the house Monday morning going down an all familiar road when I see this magnificent bald eagle swooping across the field in front of me. I just rolled off the throttle to watch and was in awe as it flew right in front of me. The whitest white and brightest yellow colors as the rising sun was behind me. I wish I'd had the gopro setup to catch it. What a great ride it was.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Lucky. In fakesville California even the Bald Eagles wear toupees.

 

[Boog]

On today's episode of morning commuting, I offer the old and sage reminder to always be mentally and physically alert when riding.

DISCLAMER: I do not intend to be doom and gloom and I realize I am preaching to the choir: safety is for us all.

One of two on the forum have chastised me either for my riding style or decision to ride all year. I appreciate all my brothers and sisters and take no offense to any criticisms. I try to learn something new in life everyday.

With that said, allow me to talk about Northern Virginia congested roads.

While merging onto north bound I-95 from Rt 234, I had to wait for a fast moving truck to clear the right most lane of the three lanes going north. I have approximately 1.5 miles to cross over to the left (passing) lane for my exit onto the express lanes. Traffic was roughly 60-65 mph at this point. I had just shifted into fifth gear on Buzzy and began merging left into the slow lane. Another fast moving pick-up passed me on my left and I merged into the middle lane while accelerating to around 60 mph. As I began merging into the fast lane, traffic in front of me stopped. Every vehicle ahead was emergency braking and changing lanes to avoid hitting a car ahead of them.

I felt the adrenalin dump and my mind shifted into fight mode. There was no time or space to escape too so I grabbed a hand full of brakes while merging from middle to left lane. I felt the force of physics taking over and adapted to the change in forward velocity as the front tire began to lock up and skid. The tire was in full lock as well with only a slight side movement to my right. I rode the bike to a full stop a few feet from a car that veered in front of me to avoid rear ending another vehicle.

A pick-up behind me was also merging from middle to left and was now parked directly next to me on my left.

I never want to lock the brakes up on a bike, but have done so many times in the past for practice to help understand what is at play. The experts say to ride the rear brake to a stop when locked up so as not to force a high-side dismount when the tire begin to rotate once more from a skid.

In the end, all was well and no one near me hit anyone else.

Be safe and aware folks...

 

[Boog]

Funny thing happened on the ride to work this morning. You know how we always try to expect the unexpected? I try anyway.

Well, as I was approaching the freeway, I noticed my phone going off in my pocket. It was my alarm reminding me to go to work. Since I was taking the long route, I didn't want it buzzing the next 40 minutes, so I pulled onto the shoulder.

It has rained during the night and the roads are wet. As I came to a stop and put my feet down, I noticed there was a layer of mud under my right boot, darn it. I shut off the alarm and put the phone away.

Traffic is busy but I'm on the big bike. So, with much gusto, I rolled the throttle on with reckless abandonment. Braham's back tire took off in a direction I was not expecting, and the engine revved like I was in neutral.

I initially thought my clutch had gone out, but then I remembered the mud. I had to abort the launch to maintain control.

Braham straightened up, I found a less muddy spot and relaunched safely back into traffic.

One of the hazards of riding a single bike (remember I have three daily rides) for many days in a row is that I get accustomed to a certain level of power. Rex (the Roadking) has been the primary ride at least 4 days out of each week. (I am building miles to wear out the tires before a big trip in May which should also coincide with the 15K mile checkup). In doing so, I forgot just how much more powerful the old Triumph is and it surprised me in the dark today. But happily, I often practice surprise emergencies in my head and was ready without really thinking about what to do, I just did what was needed to avoid dumping that heavy machine.

Ride safe and often folks!

 

[Dr.D]

Funny thing happened on the ride to work this morning. You know how we always try to expect the unexpected? I try anyway.

Well, as I was approaching the freeway, I noticed my phone going off in my pocket. It was my alarm reminding me to go to work. Since I was taking the long route, I didn't want it buzzing the next 40 minutes, so I pulled onto the shoulder.

It has rained during the night and the roads are wet. As I came to a stop and put my feet down, I noticed there was a layer of mud under my right boot, darn it. I shut off the alarm and put the phone away.

Traffic is busy but I'm on the big bike. So, with much gusto, I rolled the throttle on with reckless abandonment. Braham's back tire took off in a direction I was not expecting, and the engine revved like I was in neutral.

I initially thought my clutch had gone out, but then I remembered the mud. I had to abort the launch to maintain control.

Braham straightened up, I found a less muddy spot and relaunched safely back into traffic.

One of the hazards of riding a single bike (remember I have three daily rides) for many days in a row is that I get accustomed to a certain level of power. Rex (the Roadking) has been the primary ride at least 4 days out of each week. (I am building miles to wear out the tires before a big trip in May which should also coincide with the 15K mile checkup). In doing so, I forgot just how much more powerful the old Triumph is and it surprised me in the dark today. But happily, I often practice surprise emergencies in my head and was ready without really thinking about what to do, I just did what was needed to avoid dumping that heavy machine.

Ride safe and often folks!

Note to self, don’t forget to remember which bike you are riding. The newer bikes with traction control might have prevented that but you also would not be getting the power to accelerate like you expected to.