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Cutting corners on dirt roads

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HuttoMike

HuttoMike

Joined
Feb 27, 2022
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Location
Hutto, TX
Went ADV riding/camping with a few friends over the weekend and headed to the Castell General Store for lunch. While riding a dirt road on the opposite side of the Llano River from the store, we were met by another group of ADV riders going the opposite direction. Out of this group, two of them were riding on the wrong side of the road in a curve, causing me to have to move into the ditch area to avoid being struck. I’m all for everyone having fun, but please remember, your probably not the only person on that dirt road and your attempt at cutting corners could cost you or someone else a trip to the hospital or worse and possibly total your bike.
 
HuttoMike said:
Went ADV riding/camping with a few friends over the weekend and headed to the Castell General Store for lunch. While riding a dirt road on the opposite side of the Llano River from the store, we were met by another group of ADV riders going the opposite direction. Out of this group, two of them were riding on the wrong side of the road in a curve, causing me to have to move into the ditch area to avoid being struck. I’m all for everyone having fun, but please remember, your probably not the only person on that dirt road and your attempt at cutting corners could cost you or someone else a trip to the hospital or worse and possibly total your bike.
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Came on a 2 motorcycle accident years ago where both riders swung to the inside and exchanged foot pegs. Broken foot and a severed leg were the result.
 
While on one of the early TAR Junction rides years back, the group I was in had stopped for a break. A rancher pulled over to visit with us. He was in an F350 with one of those massive steel bumpers. He said he encountered another group where the riders were on his side of the road and they came real close to being bug splatters on the front of his truck. He was not ugly about it at all, but genuinely concerned that we understood the danger and that we spread the word to the rest of the group.

I have ridden with many other riders that like to get up close and hang to the left of me just out of my dust cloud. I usually stop and tell them to either get in front of me or drop way back. I do NOT like to have someone that close to me, regardless of how good they think they are or might actually be. I want the room to maneuver if necessary without having to worry about another rider potentially being in the way. Also, on many occasions, they have had to slam on the brakes and cut back behind me because of oncoming traffic and I don't like startling oncoming traffic. I had one rider doing it, even after being warned about oncoming traffic, and he was almost hit head on.

I was hit head on by an ATV that was on my side of the road and aiming for the ditch didn't save me. He and his buddy were racing and assuming no one else was on the road. I came around a blind corner, hugging the inside shoulder because of past experiences (even earlier that day), and he sent me up and over the ATV. It destroyed the front end of my KLR, but myself and the kid were okay.

I was almost hit head on by a truck on a dirt road on a blind left hand corner. I was all the way out right and he still almost ran me off the road because he was skidding into the corner, essentially out of control. At one point, I had already picked out the branch on a tree I was going to try to grab as the bike was about to go off the edge of the cliff. The guy behind me thinks he actually tagged my soft panniers because I was suddenly pointed the right way after he went past, without stopping to see if we were okay :angryfire

There are many more examples, but basically it doesn't matter which way the corner goes, I always try to leave as much room as possible for oncoming traffic. The kids in a little Chevy S10 truck that intentionally tried to run me into the ditch barely 10 minutes before the ATV got me on the KLR had a bad ending to their day. They tried to pass on a double yellow at the same time someone else was doing the same. Many hours later when my buddies finally made it back to get me and the KLR, they mentioned that the road had been closed because of the accident. As we went back by on the way to the hotel, I noticed the truck was the same one. It was so mangled I could hardly tell which end was the front or back, but the S10 emblem was easy to spot.

Stay on YOUR side of the road, but be wary nonetheless! :zen:
 
Tigerkf said:
Instant Karma! Too bad the other driver was probably injured too!
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They were young and foolish, and had likely been drinking as it was Memorial Day weekend. I felt bad for them despite what they did to me. I was once young as well... I still struggle with the foolish thing :wary:
 
We makes our choices as they say. Those choices eventually catch up with the best of us. It is sad that some choices have such dire consequences.
 
I have reduced my street riding by maybe 80% or more in the last several years. It's due to other drivers/riders and other drivers with cell phones. When I go trail ride perhaps at an AMSA ride day it's pretty much care free, yes the 450 may damage me but I don't have to gas it WFO and no one comes around the corner in my lane.
 
If your close call was with a Yellow DRZ then it was probably our group. My first time riding down there and got complacent and wandered over a bit and had a close call with riders coming the other way, the only other people we saw all day Saturday. Totally my fault, lapse of paying attention. Was gunshy about every corner for the rest of the day.
 
HuttoMike said:
Went ADV riding/camping with a few friends over the weekend and headed to the Castell General Store for lunch. While riding a dirt road on the opposite side of the Llano River from the store, we were met by another group of ADV riders going the opposite direction. Out of this group, two of them were riding on the wrong side of the road in a curve, causing me to have to move into the ditch area to avoid being struck. I’m all for everyone having fun, but please remember, your probably not the only person on that dirt road and your attempt at cutting corners could cost you or someone else a trip to the hospital or worse and possibly total your bike.
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gixxerjasen said:
If your close call was with a Yellow DRZ then it was probably our group. My first time riding down there and got complacent and wandered over a bit and had a close call with riders coming the other way, the only other people we saw all day Saturday. Totally my fault, lapse of paying attention. Was gunshy about every corner for the rest of the day.
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That was definitely our group. I was towards the back of the group at that time and saw @HuttoMike's group coming around the corner will before I got there. I was in the left tire track and moved over once I saw them, though I wasn't far off doing it for the corner anyway.

I've had my fair share of close encounters with other road users on gravel county roads. I had one Ford raptor run me if the road in the SHNF as he came the other direction drifting a sweeping corner doing at least 60mph. I still like to stagger left, as I did on Saturday, on straight sections so I can see pay the rider in front of me. I'm accustomed to leading, so having an obstructed view is odd to me.
 
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Well then I'd like to offer a sincere apology, that I'd hoped to offer at dinner that night. I didn't have time to get a good look at the lead rider and didn't recognize anyone else in the group. Again, totally my fault.
 
I hardly ever ride with more than one other person so we pretty much are riding on both lanes of a country road or two track out of the dust , if I need the whole road I’m riding over my head and slow down till I can stay in my lane but you can bet if we come to a hill crest or blind corner we are in the lane we should be in and at a speed safe enough to dodge an idiot if need be . Racing is for a closed course where everybody else is in the same race .
 
William Wolfen said:
That was definitely our group. I was towards the back of the group at that time and saw @HuttoMike's group coming around the corner will before I got there. I was in the left tire track and moved over once I saw them, though I wasn't far off doing it for the corner anyway.

I've had my fair share of close encounters with other road users on gravel county roads. I had one Ford raptor run me if the road in the SHNF as he came the other direction drifting a sweeping corner doing at least 60mph. I still like to stagger left, as I did on Saturday, on straight sections so I can see pay the rider in front of me. I'm accustomed to leading, so having an obstructed view is odd to me.
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Yes, that was the main bike.
 
We weren’t riding with any organized rides, just headed to a camping spot for the weekend and we’re riding routes I have ridden in the past. All is well now and I got all of the cussing out of my system over our groups coms systems.
Just glad we have a forum like this that we can communicate on and share information and safety on.
 
Were any of you guys in Huntsville this weekend? I saw one group that had two newish KLRs and a Honda AT, then another group of packed down DS bikes headed North on I-45 sometime in the afternoon, Maybe 4-5 riders. Can't recall exactly which day it was though.
 
btrider said:
I have reduced my street riding by maybe 80% or more in the last several years. It's due to other drivers/riders and other drivers with cell phones. When I go trail ride perhaps at an AMSA ride day it's pretty much care free, yes the 450 may damage me but I don't have to gas it WFO and no one comes around the corner in my lane.
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I accept that riding is less safe than a car and won't let other people take my fun away.
 
duchess said:
I had a buzzard cut across a paved corner outa of a ditch the other day. Totally uncalled for. 🧐
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Oh yeah... I have had countless close calls and several hard impacts with buzzards that have sprung up out of tall grass along the sides of the roads. Still not sure how those impacts didn't put me on the ground because they were both at 60+ mph :huh2: Then there is the smell after the impact :puke:
 
Deer don't follow the rules of the road either. They should be educated to only cross at that sign

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Ya'll be safe out riding I would really miss not hearing from you.
 
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