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Almost put my KLR into someone's culvert this afternoon. I only have perhaps 2000 miles of experience, and it's been almost three months since I've been out and about. I was approaching a tight 90-degree left turn, slight uphill with full visibility. Turn radius was maybe 50ft, and a truck was stopped in the oncoming lane on the far side of the turn, preparing to turn across my lane into a driveway. My dad entered the curve on his Commando, and when I followed three or four seconds later, the truck began to inch forward into my lane. I began straightening up and braked, swinging wide, and the front end slid out on gravel that accumulated on the outer couple feet of the pavement. Mountain-bike habit had me put my inside boot down hard to pivot something 410lbs heavier than my normal ride. Stupid. If nothing else, I kept control of all else (apart from downshifting into second, obviously) and let off the front brake to keep the tire spinnin'. So, two massive panic failures on my part: (1) Reverted to a carryover MTB habit in lieu of downshifting, and more importantly and foolishly, (2) didn't anticipate the driver pulling in front of me in the first place. I'm terribly defensive driving and riding, but my out-of-character expectation that the driver's vacant eye contact would keep me safe almost put me in a ditch (or Toyota T100). Lesson learned and hopefully kept.
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Mar 13, 2011 06:07
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| # ¿ May 5, 2024 01:47 |
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Not entirely my fault, but something I could have easily prevented with some forethought. I was in the rightmost lane of a four-lane overpass, atop a four-lane highway, with traffic moving along at about 25mph. The Expedition behind me was tailgating with no room to spare, sedan maybe 10ft in front of me, while the beige Park Avenue back and to my left jumped forward in an attempt to change lanes. Four elderly women inside, not one looking in my direction... honked, nothing. The Buick's nose was ~4ft off the guardrail, and I did my best to finagle towards the back of the Buick so as not to get squished or pushed off the overpass. I pulled the clutch while honking and revving, doing anything to get attention. They didn't even glance over but I managed to eke enough room for the Buick to squeeze in.  I could've prevented this had I backed off more abruptly when a car merged in front of me a few seconds prior, leaving a bit more room to maneuver when the Champion Euchre Team approached.
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Jul 4, 2012 07:06
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Ziploc posted:Are you this guy? No, but when you're at a standstill in traffic, trapped between a guardrail and a Buick incoming at a snail's pace, anything that can get attention comes to mind. I doubt it managed anything. Cars nearby made way, but I don't think the driver or any of the passengers in that Park Avenue ever noticed the fool honking and such. OneOverZero fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Jul 4, 2012 |
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Jul 4, 2012 22:52
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