well, i haven't ridden since my last post but i thought i would share something i experienced yesterday...
we were driving home from our weekend visit in virginia when we decide to take the "bumpy" road. my daughter dubbed it the "bumpy" road several years ago, probably because that's how it felt to her when we drive on this road. basically it's a two lane, twisty and hilly stretch of road maybe ten miles long. although most of the twists and hills are in the first quarter of the road (in the direction we normally take it). there is a gas station on the opposite side of the road where we turn onto the "bumpy" road. as i make the right turn onto the road, i notice about seven or eight bikes, crotch rockets, at the gas station waiting to pull out. about 100 yards on the "bumpy" road, there are three more bikes, obviously waiting for the rest of the crew. we pass the bikes and continue on our way...
shortly after we're on this road, the three bikes come up behind us. before i know it, one of them is passing me. again, this is a two lane, twisty road, with double yellow lines in the center. you're lucky if you can see 50 yards in front of you - most of the times you can't see but 20 yards in front. no regard for traffic in the other direction, he (maybe it was she - there was at least one female in the group) went whipping by me. as the other two behind me are jockeying to get around, another bike joins them. another bikes attempts to go around me when we reach a sharp turn. i guess he decided to back off and stay behind me. as i look in my rearview mirror, the three bikes are slowing down as one of them is now riding on the shoulder trying to maintain control of his bike. he manages to slow maintain control of the bikes, slowing it down enough to bring it back onto the road. do you think that deterred them?? of course not!!! in short order, two of the three bikes went zipping past us. the third guy, the one who ran off the road, was a little leery about passing - i don't blame him. okay - so now there are two bikes sandwiched in front of me and the cage in from of me and one behind. one of the two yahoos between me and the cage in front of me decides to pass on a curve. i don't know how he managed to do it, but just as he was pulling back into the lane in front of the cage, a cage in the opposite direction passes. i'm really surprised he didn't get wiped out by one of the cages... jeez... after being behind me for about six or seven miles, the bike behind me finally had a clear stretch where he passed me - still had the double yellow lines on the road, though.
i don't know what happened to the other bikes, i'm sure there were more in the pack. maybe they were a little smarter... well, when we got to the highway where the road opens up, wouldn't you know it?? here's the group of bikers, getting ready to head back in the opposite direction!!!
now, i will be one of the first to say i love the thrill of riding fast on a twisty, hilly road - heck read back a couple posts. but, to me, there has to be some semblance of common sense... it seemed like these riders knew their limitations. but what i didn't like was the way they were riding with cages around. not only were they putting themselves in danger, they were putting the cages around them in danger too. why not wait on the side of the road for a bit?? let the traffic get far enough in front of you. they go hauling ass down the road!!!
i told my wife as this was going on that these are the riders that give us bad names... which is something i've been thinking about for a bit and will be the subject of a future post. i will say that i'm glad none of them got hurt and didn't hurt any one else - as far as i know...
ride safe...
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