Ladders

[The End]

Travelling home this afternoon on my normal 70km commute as I carry on straight towards Auckland Airport and enter that oh so sweet right hander, I'm following a silver Toyota Corolla and am adjacent to a rather large twin-trailer truck.

Riding in the slow lane doing 90 (because I'm a responsible mother f*cker) I suddenly see the bright illumination of the Corolla's taillights followed by a fast decrease in forward momentum. Wondering why on earth a Corolla with an apparent free moving lane in front if it is suddenly braking, I ease off the throttle and begin to apply my own brakes. Without a moment's notice, the aforementioned truck begins to swerve and it is at this stage I feel the cheeks of my arse begin to clench tighter than they already are and I begin to squeeze my brake levers even harder.

Whoop, there it is, out of no where; a huge fucking aluminium ladder sitting in the middle of the lane.

The twin-trailored truck dodged the aluminum beast by drifting (yes; think Fast and the Furious Drifting, it makes this story more exciting) to the left and the Corolla driver had no where to go. All those years of watching YouTube motorcycle fails (as well as numerous grumps on here) have taught me two things:

If you crash your motorcycle, you get fucked up.
Don't give into the temptation of target fixation


Realising I had no where to go, nor any way of coming to a complete stop (thanks to the laws of physics and the Corporate Cab taxi now sitting on my tightly clenched arse) I had a brainwave: Stand up.

Oh, New Zealand Transport Agency Road Code, you taught me well. Standing on the pegs lifts your centre of gravity, stabilising the bike in a drive-over-something-you-shouldn't situation.

So I stood up on my pegs, rode (unwillingly) over that aluminium ladder w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶h̶a̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶i̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶d̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶p̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶f̶l̶a̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶o̶w̶d̶s̶ ̶c̶h̶e̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶ and experienced one hell of a jolt followed by a brief tank-slapper. I then slowed some more before pulling over and inspecting the bike.


So here I am; a little over an hour later having a Steinlager (bummer about the 102m dive), still suffering from the post adrenaline I-really-need-to-poo syndrome writing this to you, my fellow riders.

Don't let this turn into a circlejerk about my riding but rather let this serve as a reminder: keep your eyes open on the road. A moment of inattention is all it takes for the road (or ladder in this case...) to hurt us, or worse; take our lives.

Ride on :scooter:.

[buggerit]

So, how the fuck did ya get the ladder home?, must of been a cunt in rush hour.:corn:
I had a similar moment with a rolled up truck tarp in the centre of the fast lane of the southern a few
years back, stood about 400mm high so was a dodge rather than over the top.

[Reckless]

One lucky, skilled, quick thinking, SOB are you!

Great read and Great result!! enjoy the BUZZ!

[R650R]

Sorry but you got me all horney talking about a b-train drifiting... nothing like the squelch of 32 tyres abandoning all hope on a poor wet tar bleed excuse of a state highway with a multi-hundred thousand dollar export load late for the airport... *said in Raymond Reddington tone :) *

So a tradies ladder ends up on m'way... your behind a b-train who has enough time to brake and swerve around it without taking out the car, you get lucky riding over it and then have the cheek to tell us about the need to pay attention.
Sorry but under the above described circumstances you should have had ample time to brake and take another line, never mind the taxi. Unless you were following too close to the truck and car to see whats ahead of them...
just saying...

[The End]

Sorry but you got me all horney talking about a b-train drifiting... nothing like the squelch of 32 tyres abandoning all hope on a poor wet tar bleed excuse of a state highway with a multi-hundred thousand dollar export load late for the airport... *said in Raymond Reddington tone :) *

So a tradies ladder ends up on m'way... your behind a b-train who has enough time to brake and swerve around it without taking out the car, you get lucky riding over it and then have the cheek to tell us about the need to pay attention.
Sorry but under the above described circumstances you should have had ample time to brake and take another line, never mind the taxi. Unless you were following too close to the truck and car to see whats ahead of them...
just saying...

There's always one.

Excuse the poor artwork skills (never did go to Ms. L's art classes at school anyway) but the roadmap looked something like this when it all happened:

http://i.imgur.com/fgxaGTi.png

Between the car driving through the apex and the truck's positioning; believe me when I say there was no way I could have seen it. I was paying attention, I was looking forward, and I did not see it at all until it was out from under the Corolla in front of me.

Even if I did screw up and the entire situation (including the ladder which I must have left on the road) was my fault, is there really any harm in sharing what happened to maybe remind people to keep their eyes open?

[haydes55]

Did you bend the rims? Good work staying upright. I had similar situation, but with a block of wood. The car in front drifted to the left and I didn't see why til the chunk of wood popped out from under the car. A quick counter steer right then left. A car almost took it out a minute later when I got back to the wood to kick it off the road (txting and looked up just in time).

[The End]

Did you bend the rims? Good work staying upright. I had similar situation, but with a block of wood. The car in front drifted to the left and I didn't see why til the chunk of wood popped out from under the car. A quick counter steer right then left. A car almost took it out a minute later when I got back to the wood to kick it off the road (txting and looked up just in time).

The good part is fortunately no damage other than a slight dent in the front tyre. Stopped off to see the lads at Drury Performance Tyres on my way home to get a second opinion on the tyre and they reckon I'll be sweet to keep riding on it. Although they did mention I'm due for a rear soon. Queue burnout time :bleh:

http://i.imgur.com/l5hpVZo.jpg

[Maha]

Just take it one step at a time.

[Woodman]

Wonder if anyone RUNG the cops?

[ellipsis]

...the best ladder I have ever owned, 5m extension, came from a highway find...it was in the exit of a big HW75 tight corner...it would have caused big grief to a bike...

[FJRider]

Wonder if anyone RUNG the cops?

No need ... I wasn't there/didn't see it ... so it didn't happen.


No worries ...

[pritch]

Nice story. I love a happy ending :niceone:

[Virago]

Wonder if anyone RUNG the cops?

Do you think they would take steps...?

[Oakie]

Had a pretty similar story 18 months or so back but in my case it was a brick.

[Akzle]

Had a pretty similar story 18 months or so back but in my case it was a brick.

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Flgsafetyservices.webs.com%2F6Ft.St epLadder%255B1%255D.jpg&f=1
≠
http://www.petbrick.com/brick.jpg

[Oakie]

Ladder does not equal brick ... indeed.
.45 ammo does not equal 9mm ammo either but the effect is the same if you get one in the noggin.

[haydes55]

Using cassina logic, all of us who have had objects seemingly materialise meters away from us should have crashed. Crashing in these circumstances is unavoidable.... Which makes the fact that this didn't result in a crash a miracle.

[awa355]

Can you fellas keep an eye out for my ladder please?? It fell off me truck out by the airport somewhere. :doh:

[Akzle]

Ladder does not equal brick ... indeed.
.45 ammo does not equal 9mm ammo either but the effect is the same if you get one in the noggin.

strictly speaking. no.

given two swc slugs, the heaviest (about 120gr) 9mm will make a 9mm hole at about 1200 ft/s,
while the lightest .45 (11.5mm) at about 180gr, similar velocity, carries just shy of twice the impact energy.
yes, you probably end up dead, but if i was to take my chances, i'd pick the 9.

also, ladders are about 2 meters long and sit across lanes. a brick is a fucking brick.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA1q4UpBdfI

[jasonu]

Using cassina logic, all of us who have had objects seemingly materialise meters away from us should have crashed.


Only if you slam on the brakes.:niceone:

[Tigadee]

The good part is fortunately no damage other than a slight dent in the front tyre.

Should of wheelied over it, that would have saved you a dent...

Glad you're safe from the close call! :msn-wink:

[Big Dog]

Good work staying upright.
Not everyone does. I have known people to come off on far more visible much smaller and far more predictable prices of road furniture.




Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[Oakie]

also, ladders are about 2 meters long and sit across lanes. a brick is a fucking brick.

True ... but OP didn't contact the whole ladder. Just a part of it about the size of ... ohh ... a brick!

Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather hit a brick than a ladder.

[Akzle]

also, ladders are about 2 meters long and sit across lanes. a brick is a fucking brick.

True ... but OP didn't contact the whole ladder. Just a part of it about the size of ... ohh ... a brick!

Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather shit a brick than a ladder.

see what i did there...

[Oakie]

see what i did there...

Well I laughed so I guess I've got to give you that one.

[R650R]

There's always one.

Excuse the poor artwork skills (never did go to Ms. L's art classes at school anyway) but the roadmap looked something like this when it all happened:
Between the car driving through the apex and the truck's positioning; believe me when I say there was no way I could have seen it. I was paying attention, I was looking forward, and I did not see it at all until it was out from under the Corolla in front of me.
Even if I did screw up and the entire situation (including the ladder which I must have left on the road) was my fault, is there really any harm in sharing what happened to maybe remind people to keep their eyes open?

Nice artwork, Southpark is on the phone... :)

Seriously though if the truck and the cage missed it, sounds a lot like classic target fixation or not looking ahead far enough along with 5% better work stories....

[swbarnett]

Nice artwork, Southpark is on the phone... :)

Seriously though if the truck and the cage missed it, sounds a lot like classic target fixation or not looking ahead far enough along with 5% better work stories....
More like following too closely and inattention which, IIRC, was the original point. This is a tale of a rider that had a rude reminder to allow some space and keep their eyes open. And survived to tell the tale.