Close encounters

Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 2:05 am

We have all read about the misfortunes of a number of our members this spring. Has anyone else had any near misses?
Yesterday I got on the freeway, which I normally try to avoid, because I was in a big hurry to get home. The traffic was heavy and I was trying to get into the far left lane and suddenly an object appeared which was blocked by the car ahead passing over it. It looked like a piece of wood about two of three inches tall and I ran right over it. There was absolutely no time to react. Luckily it didn't upset me other than a big bonk sound. I once saw a rider go down on the freeway because a driveshaft appeared about as quickly as that wood did for me.
Today I was riding for fun on a twisty country road and just as I was about to give it the gas at an apex, I saw this truck starting to back out of a totally hidden driveway at the end of this tight turn. In this case, timing was everything Shocked

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Normally this stuff doesn't happen very often. Twice in two days has got my attention. I really don't know what I can do to lower my risk factor, other than diminish my fun factor, which I don't see happening. I mean I'm already riding far from the edge of my envelope.

Guest

Last week, ten feet from the entrance to where I work - I heard screeching (spelling?) tire sound and glanced over my right shoulder in time to see the nose of a nice new silver mercedes hovering about 5 feet from my back side. I gunned it right into the driveway and stopped. The guy pulled over and started yelling at me - he thought I was going left, seconded guessed me and tried to squeeze past me on the right - hence the near mishap.

Hey dumbass! My right signal was blinking !!

Lucky....

Dodged a bucket falling off a truck this morning. It's nice when you have enough time to react. The ones I hate are pot holes during rush hour traffic when you have to ride close to the vehicle in front of you (else everyone assumes that space is ment specifically for them) and POP! Bam! Hit the damn thing !! Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 3:53 am

once hit a roadkill, a large racoon. sent me into a heavy tankslapper 90 mph slid into a ditch , then high-sided so far i had to look for the bike! puked , pissed myself when i landed flat on my back 100or so feet away! found it ,righted it , it started and rode my grass caked nighthawk. home!left a trail. not the first , or the last . call me luckynugget! Shocked

Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 12:15 pm

Yep, all that is pretty much normal if your going to ride.
grow a few more sets of eyes, xray vision, sonar, .0000001 second reflexes, and mind reading... and biking will be much different... until then, I guess we just have to expect these type things (and all the others you can and can't think of). NOT only that, but, assuming that everything is not all bent up and in the ditch, not get rattled/mad/whatever, get over it, and still have a great ride.

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 4:13 am

A friend of mine recently hit a deer on the highway here on Vancouver Island. Had enough time to straighten the bike up and cleaved the poor thing in half. Did not even come off his bike. Parked it, cleaned his pants and called the police on his cel phone. They come out, look the area over and tell him he can take the carcass if he wants it. Calls me up and we put his bike in the back of my pu truck and he drinks beer the whole way home, shivering like a leaf. Left the deer.

No BS.

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 12:14 pm

Riding to work yesterday.
Construction zone passing under a bridge being renovated.
A concrete form falls through the bridge deck as I'm going underneath!
2 feet in front of me and 5 inches to my left.
It was so heavy it didn't even bounce.

Sometimes you just have to be lucky. Shocked

Gord

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 2:39 pm

It's nice to know the U.S.A. isn't the only one with sloppy construction workers. Embarassed

REAL GLAD it missed you Gord. Mr. Green

Posted: Wed May 19, 2004 2:55 pm

Your not kidding, just seen where one fell on a SUV and killed a whole family.

Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 2:18 am

Two times..two different roads in SE Alabama riding with my 15 year old son as a passenger we have had deer encounters...1) came over some rolling rises and spot the doe on the right hand berm. Came down hard on the brakes but not enough to lock anything up. My kid goes, "what are you doing?" and I point to the deer. I tell him you never know what direction they are going to go - you stop and let them move. She went back into the woods. The second time was way tooooooo close. Moving about 70 and all I saw was a flash out the corner of my left eye...bingo there is another doe blowing across the road in front of us...grab the brake and just miss her hind quarter. We pulled over after that one for some CPR on each other from the close encounter -

It can happen...so far, we've been lucky.