- This topic has 18 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 6 months ago by Andrew.
My Squirrely Ride Home Last night
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October 15, 2008 at 12:37 pm #2252CandiceParticipant
So, I new I was getting a cold yesterday morning but it didn’t seem that bad when I left on my bike but by the time the end of my work day came I was downright sick. So, now I have to drive my bike home an hour and I don’t feel good. So, I came to the part of my ride where it is a stoplight with 2 left hand turn lanes, I always get in the right lefthand turn lane because then I have to make a right onto the next street. Well, I didn’t realize that a Semi truck had just recently pulled up behind me in the left lefthand turn lane and when we got the green arrow with a green light, I started to go (there were 2 or 3 cars ahead of me) and make my left but this semi starts to make his left and honks his horn, I thought to myself, shit, is he going to turn in my lane and he’s honking at me to go or wait or get out of the way or what? So, a quarter of the way into turning left I jumped ship and went straight instead of making my turn. I don’t know if that’s really what I should have done, but I’m still here so that’s good.
THEN – later on in my trip, I come to a stop light, it turns green and I go and some AHOLE in a minivan is waiting to turn right into my lane from a gas station, he looks at me and I know he sees me because I saw him hesitate but then he goes right in front of me. WTF? So, I was anticipating that and everything was fine, but I have heard that so many times that they look right at you and then they just do what they want anyways, I just hadn’t experienced that until now.
Then after that it was like I never rode a bike before and my clutch working was bad and my turns sucked and I was so happy when I pulled in my driveway and that it was going to rain today so I wasn’t tempted to take the bike out to redeem myself today. This was the worst ride I’ve had yet. I suppose some of you have had worse experiences but this was my first not so good ride. Had to share, thanks for listening!
October 15, 2008 at 1:00 pm #13873JimParticipantGlad you made it home in one piece. Don’t ever trust a cager to make the right decision. I had one last night also riding home from work too. First real idiot I’ve ran across in my 4 months of riding. She swings into the middle lane to merge into traffic, I slow down a little because I’m not sure if she sees me. She looks over her shoulder, looks right at me, she is only 10 yards ahead of me. So i think good she sees me, I proceed on. Then the idiot pulls right into my lane, I swerved right, we end up lane sharing as I goose the throttle to get ahead of her,,,,,sigh.
October 15, 2008 at 1:03 pm #13874Sangria7ParticipantCandice – glad you made it through that. I agree with Jim, lots of idiot drivers out there. I am in the opinion that anyone who rides a motorcycle becomes a better car driver.
Goes to show you how very little respect bikers get on the road
October 15, 2008 at 2:03 pm #13875CandiceParticipantI am totally convinced I am a much better car driver now that I ride a motorcycle. Even my husband commented on how much better I drive since I started riding. I think people who don’t ride or don’t know someone who rides that is close to them just really don’t get it. Even my friend, when she was driving in the city, she drives like a maniac and there were tons of motorcycles on the road they day I was with her. She barely looked when changing lanes, yelling at everybody, driving really frisky, OMG, I was appalled.
Jim – that sounds pretty scary, glad you were able to get out of that one.
October 15, 2008 at 2:30 pm #13877briderdtParticipant“THEN – later on in my trip, I come to a stop light, it turns green and I go and some AHOLE in a minivan is waiting to turn right into my lane from a gas station, he looks at me and I know he sees me because I saw him hesitate but then he goes right in front of me. WTF? So, I was anticipating that and everything was fine, but I have heard that so many times that they look right at you and then they just do what they want anyways, I just hadn’t experienced that until now.”
I get that all the time around here, whether I’m in my car or on a bike.
October 15, 2008 at 3:14 pm #13878CandiceParticipantYes, you are right, it does happen in the car too, I suppose I just felt much more vulnerable since I was on my bike.
October 15, 2008 at 3:19 pm #13880BuddParticipantRiding when you are tired or have a cold is like learning how to ride all over again. Not suggested unless you have to in my book. Of course being at work and having to get home is a have to. Good job on anticipating the stupidity of others. Keep it up.
“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine
October 15, 2008 at 4:33 pm #13882eonParticipantGlad you got home safely, that is the main thing!
There are days when it seems you meet every idiot on the road and there are days when your coordination seems to be off, to get both at once and survive it is good going. The best thing after a day like that is to hang up the helmet and watch tv.
I’m glad you had the gas station incident (and survived it of course). It is one thing to read about this blindness and another to experience it. It happened to me once when I was driving a CHEVY BLAZER!!. Guy pulling out of gas station, we make eye contact, I am certain he sees me so I even speed up. Of course, as soon my truck starts accelerating he pulls out and then stops in my lane (he was trying to get into the next lane full of stationary traffic). I have never been so convinced I was going to hit someone than now. I hit the brakes full on, ABS kicks in, my nose is planted in the steering wheel, time slows down, I wait for the impact, 2 years pass by, still waiting for the impact, I get thrown back in my seat as I come to a stop. I look up and I have stopped 6″ short of him. I still cannot believe I stopped in time. As much as that scared me at the time I have never forgotten that moment when he looked me in the eye and then proceeded to not see a friggen SUV. Makes me extra cautious now I am on 2 wheels.October 15, 2008 at 4:51 pm #13884CandiceParticipantPeople are in a hurry to go nowhere. I love when when in the car they pull out in front of you and there is absolutely NO ONE behind me, like they couldn’t wait the 2 seconds for me to pass and the way is clear. That bugs the crap out of me. And to pull out in front of you and then stop? How ridiculous! I think because I was on the bike I expected people to KNOW that it is doubly dangerous and they shouldn’t pull out in front of me. If only it was a perfect world.
October 15, 2008 at 6:17 pm #13886Clay DowlingParticipantI have a silver honda accord as my main vehicle. I have the body shop receipts to prove that the car is nearly invisible on anything but a bright sunny day. Two collisions with other vehicles last winter, and both times my vehicle wasn’t moving. People just didn’t see me there.
My advice? Drive and ride like they’re out to get you. They aren’t, they’re just not paying attention. But evil and stupid are nearly indistinguishable, and both have bad results.
October 15, 2008 at 7:19 pm #13889RidleytheRedParticipantI’ve had the same thing happen to me not too long ago, I was actually honking my horn and blinking high-beams at the guy to make him see me before he just pulled out. I swerved and avoided him in time (thank god for MSF courses) and he got the finger after I pulled over.
October 15, 2008 at 7:34 pm #13890AnonymousGuestI had one idiot drift into my lane (another this morning) and two idiots cut me off on my commute.
One, in a minivan, cut into my lane immediately in front of me and then *jumped* on the brakes and did an emergency stop !! I didn’t even have time to honk the horn as I was so busy emergency braking. I just managed to stop in time, in 3rd gear, and held up traffic as I tried to get it back into first from a stop.
When I did, I could see the offending minivan up ahead so sped-up to catch it and landed the heaviest kick I could on it’s door panel and sped-off.
Hopefully I dented the panel and scared the shit out of that dipstick as much as his/her impromptu “lane change” scared me. I doubt that though. Drivers in modern SUVs etc, feel invulnerable and that gives some of them license to drive like a-holes in their opinion.
I’m not advocating revenge of this sort as it’s stupid and dangerous, but I definitely felt better for it…
October 15, 2008 at 7:51 pm #13891briderdtParticipant…that person driving the van that you kicked had no idea that you were behind them when they did the e-stop. They won’t make any connection between the two events, and now you’re just an a-hole to them (most likely along with all the other a-holes on motorcycles…).
Broad generalities suck.
October 15, 2008 at 8:03 pm #13892bob250Participant“Hopefully I dented the panel and scared the shit out of that dipstick”
Reading that made me feel good. Wish I had the nads to do that but I usually just pull over when that kind of stuff happens.October 15, 2008 at 8:59 pm #13894JimParticipantAs much as you want to beat the crap out of these dumb asses who almost kill us. Kicking their car can get you a visit from Johnny Law and they walk away laughing at you, and dialing your insurance company to pay for repairs.
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