"Close Calls".

[LBV]

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The thing is you need to adapt the rules as safety and common sense dictates. Sticking religiously to the "rules" and throwing common sense out the door is a recipe for disaster at some point.

Now, to religiously alter the rules because of 1 incident is not necessarily smart also. To me it's all about adaptability and mitigating the risk. Sometimes that means replacing it with another risk but as long as the new risk is less than the old one, it's a wise move.

 

[Mad Mike]

I had a deer get in my way in West Virginia, so I had to take it out. I met it's brother some years later in Pennsylvania and he was still mad at me so he took a run at me and almost got me.

Many years ago I was coming around a corner on Elephant Lake Road and there was a frog sitting on the road right on my line. Good thing he ribbitted, because I managed to swerve at the last moment.

Asides from that, I've been hit by cars, trucks, vans and run off the road a few times by my own doing. Every one of my mishaps or these types of close calls was a direct result of something I could have been doing better, whether it's increasing my following distance, slowing down, checking my mirrors more often, and just plain old paying better attention at all times. At first glance it's usually the fault of the other driver, but then very quickly I realize that in some way, I am part of the problem too.

Wildlife is definitely a hazard. I dread the thought of hitting a deer or moose scampering across a road.

I have hit small animals -- a couple of instances come to mind. In the late 90s I was travelling Hwy 7 around Kaladar, a massive migration of frogs was crossing the road - when I hit the patch it was like running over a a 1/2" layer of butter on a CB750. The worst part was the stink on my bike the next day. The other memory I have was hitting a porcupine in the Calabogies. I was riding a M50, the hair and quills got up inside my fork seals causing the oil to bleed out during the ride home. A bit scary considering there is only 1 disc on the front and after 20km it was oil soaked and about as useful as dragging my feet to stop.

 

[Trials]

Wildlife is definitely a hazard. I dread the thought of hitting a deer or moose scampering across a road.

I have hit small animals -- a couple of instances come to mind. In the late 90s I was travelling Hwy 7 around Kaladar, a massive migration of frogs was crossing the road - when I hit the patch it was like running over a a 1/2" layer of butter on a CB750. The worst part was the stink on my bike the next day. The other memory I have was hitting a porcupine in the Calabogies. I was riding a M50, the hair and quills got up inside my fork seals causing the oil to bleed out during the ride home. A bit scary considering there is only 1 disc on the front and after 20km it was oil soaked and about as useful as dragging my feet to stop.

They have put up frog and turtle barriers there now ?

 

[GreyGhost]

Wildlife is definitely a hazard. I dread the thought of hitting a deer or moose scampering across a road.

I have hit small animals -- a couple of instances come to mind. In the late 90s I was travelling Hwy 7 around Kaladar, a massive migration of frogs was crossing the road - when I hit the patch it was like running over a a 1/2" layer of butter on a CB750. The worst part was the stink on my bike the next day. The other memory I have was hitting a porcupine in the Calabogies. I was riding a M50, the hair and quills got up inside my fork seals causing the oil to bleed out during the ride home. A bit scary considering there is only 1 disc on the front and after 20km it was oil soaked and about as useful as dragging my feet to stop.

A rabbit and I were trying to dodge each other on lakeshore road near wesleyville before. After the third time he changed direction I was out of room and babump babump. Very little drama really as I stood the bike up before he went under. He was gone on the way back. Not sure what happened to him, I doubt he was in good shape.

As for the frogs. Jeebus, went up to a cottage once in a cage and it was spooky. Thousands of frogs on the road that night. Impossible to avoid them. My wife just closed her eyes and we turned up the radio so you didn't hear so many bouncing off the bumper. I don't know what I would have done on a bike.

 

[Evoex]

Not on a bike.Did a buddy jump with a young guy from about 11,000ft to teach him some turns.Plan was for us to hold hands...break...he does a nice slow 360 turn...hook up again,repeat.His first turn was so fast that i didn't get my head out of the way.WHAM right in the face,seeing stars and blood obscuring all vision.Waved off and opened my main at about 7500ft.Could have very easily been fatal.

damn!

 

[Wingboy]

Actually, i have a better one from Grand Bend about 25 years ago. Myself and a girl are in the tail of a 206 Cessna waiting for our altitude. An instructor was putting a young girl out on her first jump IAD.(instructor aided deployment) instructor gets the girl sitting in the doorway with her pilot chute in his hand. He yells go, and throws the pilot chute under the aircraft. She refused and hung on and the pilot chute went over the right elevator with the deployment bag and parachute. Elevator came off with a huge shake and bang, pilot yelled OUT! With the 206 bouncing up and down it was very hard to get out but we did.
Pilot landed using trim control. Student opened normally (sort of) and had no idea anything occurred.
I opened at 2200ft and had to fly away from the spinning elevator that was making a huge noise. It impacted into the turf beside the runway which is now the GB back straight.

 

[Evoex]

Actually, i have a better one from Grand Bend about 25 years ago. Myself and a girl are in the tail of a 206 Cessna waiting for our altitude. An instructor was putting a young girl out on her first jump IAD.(instructor aided deployment) instructor gets the girl sitting in the doorway with her pilot chute in his hand. He yells go, and throws the pilot chute under the aircraft. She refused and hung on and the pilot chute went over the right elevator with the deployment bag and parachute. Elevator came off with a huge shake and bang, pilot yelled OUT! With the 206 bouncing up and down it was very hard to get out but we did.
Pilot landed using trim control. Student opened normally (sort of) and had no idea anything occurred.
I opened at 2200ft and had to fly away from the spinning elevator that was making a huge noise. It impacted into the turf beside the runway which is now the GB back straight.

all this chat chat has me interested in jump#2 but i want to do it someplace interesting....

 

[Wingboy]

all this chat chat has me interested in jump#2 but i want to do it someplace interesting....

Someplace interesting?

 

[GreyGhost]

all this chat chat has me interested in jump#2 but i want to do it someplace interesting....

It's for hangliding, not a pure jump, but this launch in Eungella looked like fun. I'm not sure if a parasail would work off it or not.

 

[ScorpionT16]

Some crazy stories! Some I have been through.

1. A few years back when I started getting into cycling, late night rides in the summer was the most enjoyable. One night, around 11pm, riding near Heartland in the industrial area, was riding on the road when I look to my left, a car brushes buy, 3-6 secs later hear a big bang and plastic parts flying everywhere, broken bumpers, taillights etc... I quickly stop, pick the bike and put it on the curb, and catch my breath.A car behind me stops to ask if I'm okay, he tells me what happened was the car behind me didn't notice a cyclist, noticed me too late, made a quick lane change and smashed a car on he's left missing me by inches. A few moments later I cycle passed the accident scene, all I hear is the driver on the phone with a tow truck yelling "some crazy cyclist at 11pm in the middle of nowhere blah blah blah...." I bolted home. Thing is there are alot of late night restaurants in the area, and I'm sure drinking was at play.

2. Living in Ottawa, i used to catch the bus to go to Uni, to get to the bus stop, I had to cross a mall parking lot and into the mall. One morning, walking toward the mall in the lot, I see a Dodge caravan right in front of me, about 100 meters ahead, turn into the lot and clip a parked car bumper tearing right off, he made the turn too tight. In my head I'm like ah man, that's sucks... Then, he quickly decides to do a hit and run in a parking lot! Floors it, heading straight toward me at full speed, I kid you not, I do a movie scene jump outta the cars way, he swerves, straightens out, the parking lot is very small, he can't stop, smashes straight into a parked car in front, the parked car goes flying onto the main road outside the lot, his van is totaled, airbags out, blood everywhere. All I'm thinking is, this went from a little bumper scrape repair, to 3 totaled cars and almost death.

3. Taking the Gardner Expressway back home on my way from work on the SV650, there is a stretch where a lane merges, I was in the right lane and notice a car about to merge, so decide to change lanes onto the left. there was a car in the left lane, just behind me, so i open the throttle to pass, at this time the car on the right is about to merge onto my lane. Well, the fellow in the left lane, decides to get cocky and doesn't want a bike passing them so floors it, at this time I'm about to get sandwiched between 2 cars since the right lane car is merging and doesn't see me, all of us going 130-140kp/h, I go full throttle, I feel his (left cars) bumper brush my leg as I squeeze between the 2 cars full speed. I get home, breathe, and now always slow down vs try to pass in such a situation, also, thankfully that bike had the power to pass.

 

[GreyGhost]

Some crazy stories! Some I have been through.

1. A few years back when I started getting into cycling, late night rides in the summer was the most enjoyable. One night, around 11pm, riding near Heartland in the industrial area, was riding on the road when I look to my left, a car brushes buy, 3-6 secs later hear a big bang and plastic parts flying everywhere, broken bumpers, taillights etc... I quickly stop, pick the bike and put it on the curb, and catch my breath.A car behind me stops to ask if I'm okay, he tells me what happened was the car behind me didn't notice a cyclist, noticed me too late, made a quick lane change and smashed a car on he's left missing me by inches. A few moments later I cycle passed the accident scene, all I hear is the driver on the phone with a tow truck yelling "some crazy cyclist at 11pm in the middle of nowhere blah blah blah...." I bolted home. Thing is there are alot of late night restaurants in the area, and I'm sure drinking was at play.

2. Living in Ottawa, i used to catch the bus to go to Uni, to get to the bus stop, I had to cross a mall parking lot and into the mall. One morning, walking toward the mall in the lot, I see a Dodge caravan right in front of me, about 100 meters ahead, turn into the lot and clip a parked car bumper tearing right off, he made the turn too tight. In my head I'm like ah man, that's sucks... Then, he quickly decides to do a hit and run in a parking lot! Floors it, heading straight toward me at full speed, I kid you not, I do a movie scene jump outta the cars way, he swerves, straightens out, the parking lot is very small, he can't stop, smashes straight into a parked car in front, the parked car goes flying onto the main road outside the lot, he's van is totaled, airbags out, blood everywhere. All I'm thinking is, this went from a little bumper scrape repair, to 3 totaled cars and almost death.

3. Taking the Gardner Expressway back home on my way from work on the SV650, there is a stretch where a lane merges, I was in the right lane and notice a car about to merge, so decide to change lanes onto the left. there was a car in the left lane, just behind me, so i open the throttle to pass, at this time the car on the right is about to merge onto my lane. Well, the fellow in the left lane, decides to get cocky and doesn't want a bike passing them so floors it, at this time I'm about to get sandwiched between 2 cars since the right lane cars is merging and doesn't see me, all of us going 130-140kp/h, I go full throttle, I feel he's (left cars) bumper brush my leg as I squeeze between the 2 cars full speed. I get home, breathe, and now always slow down vs try to pass in such a situation, also, thankfully that bike had the power to pass.

I have the most horrendously annoying taillight for my bicycle. Similar to a TL-200 but I can't be bothered to go look. It is two 1 watt red led's flashing in a semi-random pattern. Even in the day it substantially increases your visibility.

 

[Evoex]

Someplace interesting?

Sure, my first jump as you may recall was over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. If im going to pay that kinda bread and risk my neck for the experience I want it over someplace far more interesting then say Barrie, Ontario.

 

[ScorpionT16]

I have the most horrendously annoying taillight for my bicycle. Similar to a TL-200 but I can't be bothered to go look. It is two 1 watt red led's flashing in a semi-random pattern. Even in the day it substantially increases your visibility.

I had a light at the time, though the battery was dying and it was no better than a candle. I went and got a Lithium Ion rechargeable one after, at close to 600 lumen's and 5 array LEDs, has 6 speed functions and as bright as that video

 

[PrivatePilot]

Overall I guess I've been lucky predicting other people's moves. Comes from years of being a professional driver I guess. In a lot of cases, you can see these people and just foresee what they might do. Still waiting for the big one though, I guess sooner or later I'll get hit.

Didn't want to say it, but I totally agree. I can read what people are likely to do behind the wheel before they themselves sometimes likely even know. You just seem to earn a 6'th sense after you spend a few million KM on the roads.

Aside from just being in the wrong place at the wrong time (driveshaft example above) I think if you're having too many close calls you're doing something wrong.

Very much this.

My whole reason for posting this thread was another response (well, a few recently, actually) where people were talking about close calls.

Mainly, I recently I read a post on Reddit or somewhere else where someone was giving up riding because they were having close calls every few days and they feared for their lives. Most other experienced riders there said that "You're doing something wrong if you're having close calls that often" and the guy got his boxers all in a twist about it.

But, it's the truth. Motorcycles are vulnerable, but if the person behind the handlebars is just not paying attention or is unknowingly putting themselves in high risk scenarios (riding in blind spots, not paying eagle like attention to cross traffic at intersections and such, riding too fast for conditions/traffic etc) then yeah, you're going to have close calls all the time.

 

[thwak]

Couple of years ago in Oshawa, I was stopped in a line of traffic waiting for someone ahead to make a left turn. I was bunted from behind by a young lady in a Suzuki SUV with bush bars in front. I don't know how, but I stayed upright on the bike and made it off to the shoulder. She was clearly a distracted driver with three other youngsters out for a ride. The shocking thing for me was that I was innocently sitting there and bang!!
I was clearly visible but it rattled me enough that I added Skene Designs visibility lighting afterwards to do something that might help avoid a future incident. With rear enders like that you realize that you're totally helpless and unable to avoid.

 

[Baggsy]

Didn't want to say it, but I totally agree. I can read what people are likely to do behind the wheel before they themselves sometimes likely even know. You just seem to earn a 6'th sense after you spend a few million KM on the roads.



Very much this.

My whole reason for posting this thread was another response (well, a few recently, actually) where people were talking about close calls.

Mainly, I recently I read a post on Reddit or somewhere else where someone was giving up riding because they were having close calls every few days and they feared for their lives. Most other experienced riders there said that "You're doing something wrong if you're having close calls that often" and the guy got his boxers all in a twist about it.

But, it's the truth. Motorcycles are vulnerable, but if the person behind the handlebars is just not paying attention or is unknowingly putting themselves in high risk scenarios (riding in blind spots, not paying eagle like attention to cross traffic at intersections and such, riding too fast for conditions/traffic etc) then yeah, you're going to have close calls all the time.

It takes all kinds. There are people around who commit to riding 24 hours in a row, at 120+ kph, on public roads, for prestige.

 

[GreyGhost]

Couple of years ago in Oshawa, I was stopped in a line of traffic waiting for someone ahead to make a left turn. I was bunted from behind by a young lady in a Suzuki SUV with bush bars in front. I don't know how, but I stayed upright on the bike and made it off to the shoulder. She was clearly a distracted driver with three other youngsters out for a ride. The shocking thing for me was that I was innocently sitting there and bang!!
I was clearly visible but it rattled me enough that I added Skene Designs visibility lighting afterwards to do something that might help avoid a future incident. With rear enders like that you realize that you're totally helpless and unable to avoid.

When stopped your focus should primarily be behind you. The vehicle in front of you rarely causes you issues, every summer there are many bikes that get punted from behind.

 

[Evoex]

Couple of years ago in Oshawa, I was stopped in a line of traffic waiting for someone ahead to make a left turn. I was bunted from behind by a young lady in a Suzuki SUV with bush bars in front. I don't know how, but I stayed upright on the bike and made it off to the shoulder. She was clearly a distracted driver with three other youngsters out for a ride. The shocking thing for me was that I was innocently sitting there and bang!!
I was clearly visible but it rattled me enough that I added Skene Designs visibility lighting afterwards to do something that might help avoid a future incident. With rear enders like that you realize that you're totally helpless and unable to avoid.

eyes in the mirrors when stopped, always.

 

[slowbird]

The two that really stick out in my head are:

-Mid S-bend on Side Road 15, car coming in the opposite direction was 100% fully in my lane. I layed on the horn and tried to stand the bike up a bit while I grabbed a bunch of Front lever. Luckily the car jerked back into their own lane.

-By far the worst time was on river road. I was coming around a left turn bend and a truck coming the opposite way cut across my path to go down a dirt road. He didn't even stop or slow down! It was sooooo close I coasted to a stop about 500m later and was just sitting on the bike trying to catch my breath.? I couldn't believe what just happened. I wasn't even booking it!

Then anger hit and I turned around and went down the dirt road after the truck but I had waited too long and couldn't find where it went or which driveway it went down. ?‍


But as others have mentioned. So many close calls I can't remember them all.

 

[slowbird]

I was on the QEW in heavy fast moving traffic when a dump truck not far ahead lost his drive shaft, about a hundred pound chunk of steel took out half a dozen cars around me and sent car parts flying everywhere, that was very exciting.
There is no plan of defence against an incident like that, it just was not my time to go and it was pure luck when I rode straight on through it.

That is truly terrifying ?

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