Another half ass attempt on my life. LOL

[earlfor]

A new one today. heh
I was out for a ride on a two lane secondary blacktop this afternoon and the road I was on Tee'd into a main highway. My approach to the highway was maybe a 10 degree up slope to the stop sign before turning onto the main road. I'm sitting there stopped and waiting for a line of four cars to pass. The line of cars will be passing me from my right to left. Three cars go past and then the fourth one decides to turn left onto the street I am sitting at. He doesn't look, just peels off, cuts the corner, is completely on my side of the road and fifty feet from plowing into me and putting the bike dead center on his front bumper. He sees nothing, and here he comes.
Fortunately, I was stopped on a steep incline. The only thing I could do to avoid him was let off the brake and let the bike roll backwards down the hill at about 15 mph. Had to ride the damn bike backwards for about 25 feet to get out of his way. SOB never did slow down or look, he just whizzed past and kept on trucking. I guess the moral of this story is it might be a good idea to get a bicycle and practice riding backwards until you can do it with a motorcycle. You never know what odd ball skill you might need.

 

[Allie]

I do ride backwards into parking spaces at times.

 

[7981GS]

Practice on a piston-port 2-stroke.
Easy to ride backwards and you can even shift gears!

Sorry to hear of yet another SAD EXCUSE for a human being in traffic.

Eric

 

[earlfor]

I think what annoys me the most is that you can be sitting still, out of the traffic flow and doing nothing more than observing and there will still be some blind clown charging in your direction with a spear pointed at your chest. If only I had an RPG and could stop the SOB for good before they do kill someone with their thoughtless BS.

 

[7981GS]

I think what annoys me the most is that you can be sitting still, out of the traffic flow and doing nothing more than observing and there will still be some blind clown charging in your direction with a spear pointed at your chest.
If only I had an RPG and could stop the SOB for good before they do kell someone with their thoughtless BS.

I would vote to make it legal!!

Eric

 

[Allie]

You can get run over in the safety of your own home even. Although for me to get run over in my home it would have to be an out of control Terex dump truck - but anything is possible.

 

[tkent02]

I heard of a fellow yesterday, who was sitting at a light, watching the cars behind him filling in, when a kid hopped out of his car to go into the 7-11 to his right. He didn't set his brake when he parked. This car was in this rider's 4 - 5 o'clock position. The car rolled back, out into the road and hit the rear corner of the bike. He totally didn't see it coming though he was scanning the mirrors, as it was coming from the side and behind him, silently. The car knocked him down and damaged the bike, the guy wasn't hurt much.

Yesterday I was riding across Northern Washngton, late afternoon, going slowly because there were trees down very close to the road, not even a shoulder, and I had seen deer around. Scanning for deer, alert and ready for anything, going slow, feeling good about it.
A huge black rabbit sprinted across right to left a foot in front of the front wheel, so quick there was not time to to anything but see it. If it was a deer doing that I wouldn't have had time to even grip the bars tighter before impact.


I don't know the moral of the story, maybe there isn't one. Y'all be careful out there, hear?

And the riding backwards, I've been practicing it backing out of driveways and such, trying not to dab at all. Sometimes I get it right. Never thought it was gong to be useful as an escape maneuver, just a little test of skill game.
Well done, Earl.

 

[earlfor]

You can get run over in the safety of your own home even. Although for me to get run over in my home it would have to be an out of control Terex dump truck - but anything is possible.

As long as they don't crush your muffin pans, you'll probably be OK. heh

 

[earlfor]

I heard of a fellow yesterday, who was sitting at a light, watching the cars behind him filling in, when a kid hopped out of his car to go into the 7-11 to his right. He didn't set his brake when he parked. This car was in this rider's 4 - 5 o'clock position. The car rolled back, out into the road and hit the rear corner of the bike. He totally didn't see it coming though he was scanning the mirrors, as it was coming from the side and behind him, silently. The car knocked him down and damaged the bike, the guy wasn't hurt much.

Yesterday I was riding across Northern Washngton, late afternoon, going slowly because there were trees down very close to the road, not even a shoulder, and I had seen deer around. Scanning for deer, alert and ready for anything, going slow, feeling good about it.
A huge black rabbit sprinted across right to left a foot in front of the front wheel, so quick there was not time to to anything but see it. If it was a deer doing that I wouldn't have had time to even grip the bars tighter before impact.


I don't know the moral of the story, maybe there isn't one. Y'all be careful out there, hear?

And the riding backwards, I've been practicing it backing out of driveways and such, trying not to dab at all. Sometimes I get it right. Never thought it was gong to be useful as an escape maneuver, just a little test of skill game.
Well done, Earl.

I've had raccoons dart across almost under my front wheel. Sometimes, there isn't time to do much about it. I seems no matter how many scenarios I store in the old memory banks, a new one will still come along every now and then.

 

[Allie]

As long as they don't crush your muffin pans, you'll probably be OK. heh

As long as they don't crush my muffin pans, THEY'LL be OK.

 

[lurch12_2000]

If we ever ride together, you can ride point and I'll stay a few extra bike lengths behind, even at stop signs.

 

[tatu]

Similar thing happened to me yesterday at an angled junction, the third or fourth car in the line peeled off at speed cutting the corner and right across my bows, I had not got to the corner but again I don't think the daft bugger even saw me. I was already slowing on the approach. If I was there one second sooner he would have collected me.
This time there was no 'out' there would have been nothing I could have done.

 

[earlfor]

Similar thing happened to me yesterday at an angled junction, the third or fourth car in the line peeled off at speed cutting the corner and right across my bows, I had not got to the corner but again I don't think the daft bugger even saw me. I was already slowing on the approach. If I was there one second sooner he would have collected me.
This time there was no 'out' there would have been nothing I could have done.

yeah, straddling a bike and walking it backwards is not the fastest mode of escape.

 

[Steve]

I've had raccoons dart across almost under my front wheel. Sometimes, there isn't time to do much about it.

On one of our Wing rides a couple of years ago, I thought I saw something move near/under me, but could not tell for sure. Later, when we stopped, the guy following me told me it was a a groundhog that had gone under my bike.
That's one lucky groundhog, I cleared him completely.

.

 

[earlfor]

On one of our Wing rides a couple of years ago, I thought I saw something move near/under me, but could not tell for sure. Later, when we stopped, the guy following me told me it was a a groundhog that had gone under my bike.
That's one lucky groundhog, I cleared him completely.

.

I had that same thing happen just last week with a Avon Lady.

 

[Guest]

Earl,
You need to mount a rocket on your back, hopefully one with a parachute also.
I don't know why, but more and more it seems someone does something stupid and ruins my ride. Last week I had a guy just about pull out in front of me before he saw me at the last minute and slammed on the brakes, my brakes were full on also and the guy behind me slammed on his as he was just feet behind me. For a moment I thought I was going to get sandwiched between the car pulling out and the car behind me.

 

[earlfor]

Earl,
You need to mount a rocket on your back, hopefully one with a parachute also.
I don't know why, but more and more it seems someone does something stupid and ruins my ride. Last week I had a guy just about pull out in front of me before he saw me at the last minute and slammed on the brakes, my brakes were full on also and the guy behind me slammed on his as he was just feet behind me. For a moment I thought I was going to get sandwiched between the car pulling out and the car behind me.

I'm beginning to think a bike accessory we need is a ejection seat with a parachute. When you're sandwiched between two cars like that, there is certainly no "I didn't see em" excuse for the cagers.

 

[hakuin]

Man, idiot cagers sure do make riding more of an extreme-sport...they provide risk well beyond that of rider error/mechanical/animal issues. Wish USDOT allowed for ECM pulse-disruptors for cutting power to the on-coming 4 wheel, but at best, they could still ROLL into you. Ordinance (rockets, etc) would probably be too hard on the pavement to be authorized.

 

[earlfor]

Man, idiot cagers sure do make riding more of an extreme-sport...they provide risk well beyond that of rider error/mechanical/animal issues.

Yep, by far the main risk on the road is due to blind people driving cars.

 

[oldgsfan]

Gotta add my two cents - I went on a long ride yesterday through Southeast Washington and, yup, had a few cars act stupid around me, but I've come to expect that.

What really me woke up was when a guy on a Kawasaki Concours riding two up in the lane of opposing traffic suddenly darted out of a long line of vehicles, on a curve, into my lane!

I moved as far right as I could to give him plenty of room to get back into his lane. Then he waves at me. Seriously? Who rides that way, especially with a passenger?