A moment's error, and a spared life...

[Badger8]

Been icing it for an hour, can actually bend it now. I can't understand why Gixers are advertised as touring bikes....

You ride really well. Thanks for being the only one who stopped for the upchuck guy on the loop yesterday.

Gixxers advertised as tourers? What have you been reading? I know some people who do tour on them, but most find themselves rather uncomfortable by days end.

And i stopped and hosed the lad down thank you very much we were back on the road for a while before trace had realised noone was going to stop and turned back to check on us. On ya Trace

[GSXR Trace]

Gixxers advertised as tourers? What have you been reading? I know some people who do tour on them, but most find themselves rather uncomfortable by days end.

And i stopped and hosed the lad down thank you very much we were back on the road for a while before trace had realised noone was going to stop and turned back to check on us. On ya Trace

definite props to badger for stopping... and yes by the time i had had a chance to pass the front riders (a straight was not all that common) to get the others guys to stop (and been ignored) and then found somewhere to turn around that wasn't dangerous... i was still on the way back when i spotted glice coming through.... but i was still going back! hehe

[madbikeboy]

Gixxers advertised as tourers? What have you been reading? I know some people who do tour on them, but most find themselves rather uncomfortable by days end.

And i stopped and hosed the lad down thank you very much we were back on the road for a while before trace had realised noone was going to stop and turned back to check on us. On ya Trace

A joke - a GIXER is the worst torture device known to man to tour on. If I ever decide to chuck it all in, I'll take the CBX and leave the Gixer at home...

Good on both of you, your kharma will pay you back tenfold.

[jrandom]

There's always enough space... it's just a matter of whether you come out the other side of the gap as wide as you went in...
Not something i would want to depend on, but that gap has saved my ass once before

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating foolish overtaking. Finding oneself in that gap means that you're only a few inches removed from becoming strawberry jam on the road, after all.

Just pointing out that that solution (using gaps between vehicles that you wouldn't normally consider) is often available if things turn to custard, and it can be better to use it rather than panic, freeze up and target-fixate.

[retro asian]

Did a similar thing in my car many years ago. Was following an evo that casually changed into the right lane. So did I, then I realised it wasn't a RH lane...but the other side of the road! Luckily it was a long straight, and there were no cars coming opposite anyway.

Glad I was the only one who felt totally exhausted after the ride.

[madbikeboy]

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating foolish overtaking. Finding oneself in that gap means that you're only a few inches removed from becoming strawberry jam on the road, after all.

Just pointing out that that solution (using gaps between vehicles that you wouldn't normally consider) is often available if things turn to custard, and it can be better to use it rather than panic, freeze up and target-fixate.

I have used the cannonball lane twice when there was shit happening in front of me and there was no other possible escape routes. I have also used the footpath once as well.

My point is, don't discount any escape route when shit happens.

[madbikeboy]

Did a similar thing in my car many years ago. Was following an evo that casually changed into the right lane. So did I, then I realised it wasn't a RH lane...but the other side of the road! Luckily it was a long straight, and there were no cars coming opposite anyway.

Glad I was the only one who felt totally exhausted after the ride.

Dude, good effort on the ride. I was wasted, I got home, ate weet bix (couldn't be arsed cooking or riding somewhere for dinner), and then crashed out...

[Badger8]

Dude, good effort on the ride. I was wasted, I got home, ate weet bix (couldn't be arsed cooking or riding somewhere for dinner), and then crashed out...

Was probably a good recovery plan. I arrived home with sore shoulders to a flat of drunkards. Got called a power ranger and tackled for a hug before i'd even made it off the driveway. Lets just say pineapple flips (rum, pineapple, crushed ice... in that order...) weren't such a great re-hydration idea nor was a can of spaghetti and a tin of tuna a good dinner idea... oh well

[GSXR Trace]

Was probably a good recovery plan. I arrived home with sore shoulders to a flat of drunkards. Got called a power ranger and tackled for a hug before i'd even made it off the driveway. Lets just say pineapple flips (rum, pineapple, crushed ice... in that order...) weren't such a great re-hydration idea nor was a can of spaghetti and a tin of tuna a good dinner idea... oh well

shit... sounds better than just being awake til the early hours! but bet im feeling better than you today!

[Badger8]

shit... sounds better than just being awake til the early hours! but bet im feeling better than you today!

yeah, early hours here too the girls were supposed to be heading to town around 10... so of course didnt leave til well after midnight

[Gremlin]

Yeah, I'm off to bed now, can hardly keep my eyes open. I have no idea how GIJOE manages his escapades...

Simple riding fitness and being aware of what you can and can't do.

Remember that the summer weather will tire you out faster, and if you aren't used to the longer riding, your concentration will drop much faster after your normal period of riding has passed.

Sell that silly sportsbike, get something more practical, do some grand challenges, and suddenly 500km is regular stuff (actually... thats pretty much what I did )

[Insanity_rules]

Sobering and brutally honest Mike, Glad your OK. I have a habit of going on torturous long rides with guys that have a lot larger bikes than mine and I know what that deep down tired feels like.

[vifferman]

I guess it's supposed to be manly or heroic to do really long rides without sufficient rest time? I'm "lucky" in that my lack of fitness and crappy joints prohibit me from riding or driving for more'n about 90 minutes without a break, so I'm forced into being a wimp.

A few years ago, when the vifferbabe and I did a 5-day tour of Northland, I was being pretty careful and sensible, with one notable exception. We traveled over lots of roads with one-lane bridges, which were almost without exception had no-one coming the other way. I guess I'd become used to that, or was just too settled into cruise mode or summat, because on the one bridge that did happen to have a vehicle coming the other way, I carried on going, despite not having the right of way. I'm not dead now (at least, I think that's the case) because those narrow one-lane bridges have enough room for a ute (coincidentally a white one - mebbe the same guy? ) and bike to cohabitate peacefully if they both keep left.

Later on in the tour, I did have the sense to stop when after several km of very winding road, despite riding safely and sensibly, I didn't feel like I was. A few minutes' rest, and I was back in the groove.

[Blackshear]

I must spread some rep around before giving it to you dude.
Good man for not turning it into a raging penis thread, that's +1.
You can only pay it forward now.
Just try not fine more reasons to fess up about brains lapses

[Winston001]

Big ups to you for honesty and your experience is a timely reminder of how brain fade can happen to anyone.

I've just come back from a NI trip with a couple of long days thrown in. Blenheim/Auckland, Blenheim/Invercargill. A non-biker friend asked me if I got tired and my answer was No. For one thing I take breaks every hour, but truthfully, riding a bike is such an intense experience that tiredness isn't evident.

That is an illusion of course. It is only when I stop and nearly fall off the bike that reality hits. Even then I'd only admit to feeling stuffed, not tired, because riding makes me feel wired. Thats why I do it. Still, this thread has made me think again about long trips.