Trucks aeroplanes and old ladies

**Daza** · 29th May 2007, 18:32

I don't know about the rest of the country but here in Waikato we had nice
sunny weather all day. So while many of you were stuck at work wishing you were out for a ride on a sunny day, i was out on the road for an hour and 40mins lapping up the sunshine

I clocked up 117ks overall today. I went out to Morrinsville/Matamata and back to Cambridge.

I'm working on lines and getting comfortable with cornering on the open road.
Which im still finding myself backing off approaching corners i can't see all the way around- even those 85-95k sign posted ones.

I know..i know..
Would it stand to reason, perhaps to get confident in corners i know, then
take that confidence into unknown corners?

Today i had my first uh-oh moment!

I was following a cage or was it a ute (re-enforced Cage) maybe 2-3 cage lengths behind, doing 100kph along this nice piece of straight road. I spotted this white cage up ahead was sitting on a shady driveway waiting. The said cage i was following went past, and i thought surely this cage would see me since im not far behind and i always ride with my lights on too. But as soon as the cage infront of me passed, this cage driven by some old lady pulled out infront of me, some 60-70metres ahead? i cant remember if i backed off approaching her or not. As soon as she pulled out (i wasn't exactly taken by surprise there) I went down a gear, and jumped on the front and rear brake, the back wheel locked for few moments fishtailing as it did. But it steadied itself as soon as i let off the brakes when i had slowed down enough,
as she was in the process turning on the otherside of the road and i knew i was in the clear. Had she stopped completely, im not sure if i would of lost the bike under longer hard braking or what.

I turned to see if she realized what she had did, but she didn't look at me and kept on driving. I was a little un-nerved but put it to the back of my mind, luckily i had seen her earlier and kept an eye out and i had some space to brake and slow down in time.

Just thinking about it now, what if i had the sun in my eyes, i may of not seen her. I would definitely hit her or she me had i not braked hard. Maybe i should of closed the gap on the cage in front of me, right behind coming up and passing the cage waiting to turn.

So either she didn't see me at all, or she thought she had plenty of time to pull out i don't know!

The rest of the ride was thankfully uneventful. I noticed there seem to be more crosswind than previous rides, and the wind colder. I had quite a few trucks passing me going other way, and feeling the wash of their wake
every time is annoying. I guess i was on road that a lot of trucks use.

The last leg of my trip i had the sun in my face, but it wasn't low enough to blind me. But I had to concentrate harder to see the road. I do wear shades when riding, but i wondered if it would be a good investment for me to get a pair that has tint that adjusts to the amount of light coming through, ie. gets darker in strong light and lighter in weak light? Or put a dark tint stripe on the top of my visor to use and tilt my head down more when i need it..?

Well thats my ramble on for today!

-Daza

*So, there was no aeroplanes!*

**paturoa** · 29th May 2007, 19:15

"Trucks aeroplanes and old ladies"

You want us to read a thread without the word motorcycle in the title?

Well done, for the avoid. I ride with my head lights on full beam all the time during the day, cages often flash their head lights back at me, I think "yeah you saw me, buggered if I'm going on low beam so you don't"

**pritch** · 29th May 2007, 19:41

Originally Posted by Daza

Which im still finding myself backing off approaching corners i can't see all the way around- even those 85-95k sign posted ones.

One of the first rules of driving/riding is, "If you can't see - stop!"

It does pay to keep the thought in the back of your mind "What if?"
What if there is metal all over the road? Livestock in the middle of the road?
Cow shit? A traffic accident?

It's fine to barrel through the corner at full speed but one day there may be a price to pay.

But hey, I 'm only slow. And not at all worried about it.

Originally Posted by Daza

Or put a dark tint stripe on the top of my visor to use and tilt my head down more when i need it..?

Do a search in Google for Sunblocker. I like them...

**Mom** · 29th May 2007, 19:47

Originally Posted by Daza

while many of you were stuck at work wishing you were out for a ride on a sunny day, i was out on the road for an hour and 40mins lapping up the sunshine

I turned to see if she realized what she had did, but she didn't look at me and kept on driving.

Grrrrrrrrrr to you for being out and about while us mere mortals actually worked.........

Your second comment really sums up well what everyone will tell you about being out and about on 2 wheels......they simply dont see you, at least this one was not out to kill you as so many seem to want to do! Well done scanning and being aware, makes you all the better rider for it!

**ZeroIndex** · 29th May 2007, 21:42

Originally Posted by pritch008

One of the first rules of driving/riding is, "If you can't see - stop!"

It does pay to keep the thought in the back of your mind "What if?"
What if there is metal all over the road? Livestock in the middle of the road?
Cow shit? A traffic accident?

It's fine to barrel through the corner at full speed but one day there may be a price to pay.

But hey, I 'm only slow. And not at all worried about it.

Do a search in Google for Sunblocker. I like them...

Don't give him such a hard time... Daza, good to hear you're gaining a bit more confidence on the road. Yes, learning corners you know will help with the ones that are still a mystery. Glad you managed to brake and not hit that silly woman... yes, perhaps keeping a closer distance between you and the car in front woulda helped, but when you get those feelings of 'slow down, trouble ahead', listen to them...

**Swoop** · 30th May 2007, 09:23

Good on ya.

Ride like the bastards cannot see a biker, because they honestly can't!!!
(especially when distracted with talking on their shoe-phones, texting, coffee, newspapers to read, etc, etc)