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Close call on 1791/149

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Hmm

Hmm

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Jun 16, 2005
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Location
The Woodlands, Texas/Pipe Creek, Texas
Riding back from Huntsville Sunday Using 1791 southbound, I stopped at the stop sign at 149, checked both ways and proceeded to turn left to head for Montgomery. Half way through the turn, a small dark blue sporty looking car (might have been a Mustang) came over the hill to my left headed towards Richards. I gassed it hard to get out of his way and get to the far side of 149 and square off the turn. I have to be more careful turning left there seeing as you can't see to your left due to the hill. Anybody else have thoughts on this intersection?

Also, as I came towards Montgomery southbound on 149, there seemed to be a rider down northbound on one of the slower curves just north of Montgomery. A large crowd of riders were stopped on each side of the road. Anybody know anything on that accident?
 
I had one of my closest calls yesterday as well.

I think I was headed SE on FM200 East of Glen Rose at the time. I was going up and down those big hills in the area on my Tiger 1200 after breaking off from the Eurosport Cycle group ride on my way home. A truck came around the corner ahead of me and moved into my lane like it was passing a car, but there was no car to pass. So I started slowing and easing towards the shoulder waiting for him to correct back into his lane. He started easing towards my shoulder as well. Right then it appeared he was purposefully matching my moves and trying to hit me head on.

At that point, the gap was closing and I could see he was not changing course. So I started to get over into the now empty, oncoming traffic lane on the left. About that time, he snapped to. Not sure if it was because his front left tire went off the road on the opposite side shoulder or just because he saw my movement or what, but he yanked the wheel hard back to the right attempting to get back into his lane, which I was now occupying.

I started an emergency stop, bike fishtailed a bit, then I got off the brakes quickly and got hard on the throttle and aimed it at the right side ditch. We nearly collided at the center stripe, but missed each other narrowly. I straightened it up before running off the far side of the road.

I could see the driver's face as he passed. It was an older, white haired and bearded man with a panicked look on his face. Not sure if he nodded off or was looking at his phone, but he unintentionally aimed his truck directly at me three times in just a matter of seconds and **** near took my life.

Afterward, I slowed down for a sec, took a couple deep breaths, said a prayer, picked the pace back up and continued heading home.

I'm pretty sure that:

Had I been in my truck in that situation, I couldn't have avoided him and we would have hit head on.
Had my bike not had ABS, good brakes, decent tires and I had not practiced emergency braking in the past, we would have hit head on.
Had I not done trackdays and gotten used to hard braking and quick course correcting in fast-paced situations, we would have hit head on.

One of those situations where I did everything right, but still almost didn't make it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1791 and 149 is probly the intersection I am the most cautious either direction 3 times over the years I’ve seen a bubba truck cross 149 from 1791 to the county road at speeds over 70 , I guess they figure if they go fast enough nobody will hit them . And turning onto 149 either direction I don’t take my time , it happens quickly and I’m up to speed guickly
 
I go through that intersection several times a week and you definitely need to be very careful. The sight distance from the south is horrible. When I head into Richards from my house on 149 I always slow down for that intersection even though I am going straight past it. While I am not in favor of a lot of additional signage, a blinking "Caution Limited Sight Distance" seems appropriate.
 
Anyone else out there figure out the hard way that the brine they put down in preparing for snow and ice is slick as snot?
This evening I headed to town crossed over the highway and onto the service road. The street was damp but not wet. I got on the throttle and the bike went sideways but I was able to get it back on track and then saw the tell tale stripes left by the brine. I’m not sure what’s in ir, I always thought it was salt and water but now I’m wondering what makes it so slick.
 
Hmm said:
Riding back from Huntsville Sunday Using 1791 southbound, I stopped at the stop sign at 149, checked both ways and proceeded to turn left to head for Montgomery. Half way through the turn, a small dark blue sporty looking car (might have been a Mustang) came over the hill to my left headed towards Richards. I gassed it hard to get out of his way and get to the far side of 149 and square off the turn. I have to be more careful turning left there seeing as you can't see to your left due to the hill. Anybody else have thoughts on this intersection?
Click to expand...

I have had this happen numerous times. IF folks are doing the speed limit, it usually isn't a problem. However... folks RARELY do the speed limit. It is a bit of a blind from both directions, but worse if you turn left to go South on 149 and they are heading the same direction because you have to get up to speed in a hurry to keep from getting rear ended. Other bikes are often worse than cagers because they tend to be going pretty fast.
 
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Thanks for all of the comments team. In examining my close call in retrospect I think from now on I will gas it and jump straight across to Bethel road instead of turning left if I want to go to Montgomery. Funny how an incident can make you adjust your thought processes while riding.
 
Hmm said:
Thanks for all of the comments team. In examining my close call in retrospect I think from now on I will gas it and jump straight across to Bethel road instead of turning left if I want to go to Montgomery. Funny how an incident can make you adjust your thought processes while riding.
Click to expand...

I go that way often. It was more fun before they paved it.
 
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FM1791 and FM149 IS a bad intersection. They state could have made it a better by moving FM1791 north a few hundred yards. That would have given more time to see vehicles pulling out onto FM149. You are on a straight going north, come over the hill, and at a couple hundred yards, there is a vehicle in the intersection. On the ride to Murphy's steakhouse on the 4th last month, I came over that hill with three other riders following me. A semi-tractor trailer flatbed was in the intersection, making the turn, slowly. We had to slow down, dang quick. I really didn't think much about it until later, when one of the other riders mentioned his buddy had been pretty shaken by that.
 
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