I was coming back from a photography assignment in my Jeep this morning, and I was almost rear-ended by a semi-truck. Luckily I saw him coming and dashed off into the grass.
I was waiting for a green light while sitting at the very end of a line of cars in the industrial outskirts of town, when I saw this huge object out of the corner of my eye which was quickly filling my rearview mirror. Just as I looked up, the knucklehead truck driver saw the line of cars ahead of him and started late-braking like crazy. I could hear all these crazy air and squealing sounds coming from the rig.
Without hesitation, I cranked the wheel and fired off into the grass just past the shoulder of the road. Truck boy did manage to get stopped, but it would've been way too close for comfort -- and was definitely way too close to call as to whether or not I'd have been sent hurling into the car in front of me.
No harm done, thankfully. Interestingly though, the whole situation made me very thankful that I'm a skilled motorcyclist, because all the focus, scanning, and other street strategy I use religiously while riding, I was apparently also using subconsciously while driving. I'd even left myself an "out" by instinctively not getting too close to the car in front of me.
Anyway, we hear a lot about the negative things associated with riding motorcycles these days, especially as pricey petrol drives neophytes and noobs from all walks of life into bike ownership. But the mental and physical skills I've developed over the past 17-plus years of street riding may well have helped me escape a potential disaster this morning, and I thought you all might find this story of value when talking to others about motorcycling.
I was waiting for a green light while sitting at the very end of a line of cars in the industrial outskirts of town, when I saw this huge object out of the corner of my eye which was quickly filling my rearview mirror. Just as I looked up, the knucklehead truck driver saw the line of cars ahead of him and started late-braking like crazy. I could hear all these crazy air and squealing sounds coming from the rig.
Without hesitation, I cranked the wheel and fired off into the grass just past the shoulder of the road. Truck boy did manage to get stopped, but it would've been way too close for comfort -- and was definitely way too close to call as to whether or not I'd have been sent hurling into the car in front of me.
No harm done, thankfully. Interestingly though, the whole situation made me very thankful that I'm a skilled motorcyclist, because all the focus, scanning, and other street strategy I use religiously while riding, I was apparently also using subconsciously while driving. I'd even left myself an "out" by instinctively not getting too close to the car in front of me.
Anyway, we hear a lot about the negative things associated with riding motorcycles these days, especially as pricey petrol drives neophytes and noobs from all walks of life into bike ownership. But the mental and physical skills I've developed over the past 17-plus years of street riding may well have helped me escape a potential disaster this morning, and I thought you all might find this story of value when talking to others about motorcycling.