Here it goes.
Yesterday around noon, I was coming up highway S22 from Borrego Springs to Ranchita - the road looks very much like one in the "Mad, Mad, Mad World." Very tight turns, limited visibility, fairly steep uphill - just enough for me to keep at about 40-45 mph.
Downhill, towards Borrego Springs, there's a trickle of bikers - all sorts of, Harleys, crotch rockets, choppers, whatnot. It's annoying enough that they either hug the median (probably, scared of wiping out past the guardrail - that I understand), or ride side by side taking as much space as a semi would. So far so good, until... I see two guys, each riding in the middle of a lane - one of which is mine. And I saw one of these guys move from his lane into mine!
Fortunately, I was in relaxed enough state of mind to use four or five seconds to think it was some sort of Russian roulette prank they might be doing, and ponder my options:
- hug my side of the cliffside. Upside: I'm safe and legal. Downside: the guy in a Harley will be dead, and my truck destroyed.
- try to stay near the median. Upside: I may make it between two Harleys, riding mid-lane on a two-lane road. Downside: I may lose control - it is a tight right turn, with left side having no guardrail and a hundred-foot drop. As a bonus, I may wipe the other biker into oblivion.
Took option 2, and barely made it between them. I think in the last second the in-board (to me) dude shit his pants and went as close to the wall as he could.
What the fuck? Is it something they have a habit of doing? Should I keep a dashcam and a rearview cam running all the time? Or pack a piece?
Amazingly enough, I could tell that even my heart rate hasn't changed after the encounter. I just felt pissed off - which was unfortunate, for (as my friend says) weekends bring out all sorts of idiots on the roads, and there was a very fair share of those.
Yesterday around noon, I was coming up highway S22 from Borrego Springs to Ranchita - the road looks very much like one in the "Mad, Mad, Mad World." Very tight turns, limited visibility, fairly steep uphill - just enough for me to keep at about 40-45 mph.
Downhill, towards Borrego Springs, there's a trickle of bikers - all sorts of, Harleys, crotch rockets, choppers, whatnot. It's annoying enough that they either hug the median (probably, scared of wiping out past the guardrail - that I understand), or ride side by side taking as much space as a semi would. So far so good, until... I see two guys, each riding in the middle of a lane - one of which is mine. And I saw one of these guys move from his lane into mine!
Fortunately, I was in relaxed enough state of mind to use four or five seconds to think it was some sort of Russian roulette prank they might be doing, and ponder my options:
- hug my side of the cliffside. Upside: I'm safe and legal. Downside: the guy in a Harley will be dead, and my truck destroyed.
- try to stay near the median. Upside: I may make it between two Harleys, riding mid-lane on a two-lane road. Downside: I may lose control - it is a tight right turn, with left side having no guardrail and a hundred-foot drop. As a bonus, I may wipe the other biker into oblivion.
Took option 2, and barely made it between them. I think in the last second the in-board (to me) dude shit his pants and went as close to the wall as he could.
What the fuck? Is it something they have a habit of doing? Should I keep a dashcam and a rearview cam running all the time? Or pack a piece?
Amazingly enough, I could tell that even my heart rate hasn't changed after the encounter. I just felt pissed off - which was unfortunate, for (as my friend says) weekends bring out all sorts of idiots on the roads, and there was a very fair share of those.