Weird day today....

Been riding the WG to work pretty much everyday since the weather has turned nice. Had to take the cage today because I had to run to the UPS store and ship some stuff that I sold on eBAy.

On the way home, on an overpass that narrows down to one lane, the guy in front of me stops quick. I react in time and hit the brakes, but having noticed previously; because of this newly found habit I've developed of constantly, obsessively checking my mirrors, I knew instantly I was in big trouble.

In the 1 and a half seconds, I notice that the chick behind me is looking down at the floor (or radio) in her car. I'm thinking:

1. Son of a bitch...this is gonna hurt!
2. I wish I was on my bike, because just to the right of the car that stopped in front of me there is about 4 feet of space between it and the concrete barrier wall. I would have had plenty of time to just take off that way and squeeze through in that space. The chick would have probably creamed the guy in front of me instead of me, like she did.

But, being in the cage, there was nowhere to go. I just had to just sit there and take it like a man. She nailed me going about 30 mph.

Who knows though, If I had been on the bike:
A. It might not have ever happened or..
B. I would be really dead right now.

Ihave to tell you; I think getting back into riding over the last 2 years and being paranoid in Dallas/Fort Worth traffic has really made me a much more alert driver when I do have to take the cage. How about y'all?

I also have to tell you, that this incident today (first wreck in more than 10 years) has really got me wondering whether or not my love of riding is really worth what might have happened to me if I'd been in the same situation while on the WG. There is absolutely no question that I would have been dead, being rear ended by a cager going 30mph.

As it stands now, I just have a sore neck and back, but not so sore that I couldn't pick up my precious little 7 year old girl when I got home.

Somebody, please talk me down off of this ledge...I'm just not sure I can get back in the saddle again.

 

Yup....................

 

Well like you said on the bike you could have avoided it. A bike can maneuver through traffic more easily, can squeeze through tight spots that a car can't. More than once ive had to get out of the way quick when some cabron turned without looking or went to cut me off.
On the freeway here its 90mph bumper to bumper. Whether you're in a cage or on a bike. WHen i first joined this forum someone here commented that i'm brave to ride in LA, meaning they would be afraid to. Well my bike can certainly maneuver through the traffic ina way not even the smallest car could. Of course theres a risk but thats true whatever type of vehicle you use. I lost a friend in a car crash, should i be afraid to drive because of it?
Thats my two cents. hope it helps you somewhat

 

yupperz .....did you get out and bitch at theidiot for rear ending you?

 

Absolutely! I drive like I am riding...

 

LOL...i was actually pretty nice to her...I guess , I've made the same mistake before. Not going that fast though.

 

wimp.....lol......ya think she knew that?

 

One thing I noticed since I started riding is that I have a more cavalier attitude about wearing my seatbelt in my cage.Always have been a big believer in seat belts and still am but sometimes when I go to put my seatbelt on I think why bother. 1/2 hour ago I was riding 65mph on a mc w/o a seatbelt.

Anyway, glad you could make it home to that little girl of yours. My little girl is 25 yrs old now so I think abit differently now than I did when she was little. I definitely was more conservative then.

Sometimes when we read of a biker down (too often) or think too much about just howvulnerable we are on bikes, the wife and I alsowonder what the hell we were thinking when we got this big idea.

But the same kind of thoughts go through my mind when I'm 35000 ft in air surrounded by a tin can. What the hellam I doing up here. It'sjust not natural. Butthose thoughts pass.As do our fearsof riding. Fact is, if you read the papers or watch the news, we should all just stay in our homes behind locked doors.Dangerlurks everywhere.

 

If it gives you any comfort, the odds are now in your favor to not have an accident in the foreseeable future.

To answer your question, it absolutely does make you a better cage driver. For one thing, there is this sense of situational awareness that comes with riding a bike. In the aviation bizz, pilots are taught to think way ahead of the airplane so as to be prepared for any unusual circumstance. It is too late to adjust if you are behind the bike. I constantly review the situation I am in though it is continually changing. I am alert for any abnormal driving around me and am quick to take steps to avoid a conflict. Getting rear ended like you did is one of those thingsthat is hard to avoid, because the result is in the hands of the driver behind you. I habitually stop a couple of car lengths behind the stopped vehicle in front of me so that I have wiggle room should a car come up on me fast. Sometimes it only takes a few feet to avoid rearend contact.

You've been thrown. Ride the beast and don't give it a second thought. Be mature in all things and you'll be fine. "Screw it! Let's Ride"[8D]

 

Roflmao....yeah.....missed a good opportunity, huh?