"I Saved It!" Analysis - Learning from our successes

[CNS-Mike]

Brief summary of the event
Riding in early spring traffic in suburban Chicago going about 45 or 50 on my 1100 Honda Shadow Aero.  Two ladies in a convertible are eyeballin' my ride, and I start to check out their considerable cleavage from my relatively high vantage point, as we are now driving right next to each other.    I notice out of the corner of my eye, the corvette in front of me made a quick and violent lane change.  Immediately in front of him was a brown econoline van, stopped in my lane trying to turn left.   I was basically boxed in and had a very short space to save my life.  I pointed my bike at his rear right corner and braked hard.  Hard enough to lock both front and back tires.    I managed to keep the bike upright and kept on the brakes until the bike came to almost a complete stop right next to the van, half in my original lane and half in the next lane over.  Exhaled, shifted into first and drove off a new man. 


What you did right
Once the tires locked up, kept on the brakes and managed to keep the bike going in it's original line.  Had a fair amount of luck.

What you did wrong
With more control on the brakes, it might have been possible to slow down faster and stay 100% in my lane if I hadn't locked the tires up in my moment of panic.  Riding too close to the corvette in tight fast traffic, not leaving myself an out in the lane next to me, checking out the MILF's huge cans instead of watching the road.
   
How could it have been avoided
Better situational awareness especially during early spring when the winter cobwebs haven't really been cleared out.  Keeping my eyes on the road, knowing and having trust in the bike's ability to stop quickly. 

[EvilSteve]

...

How could it have been avoided
Better situational awareness especially during early spring when the winter cobwebs haven't really been cleared out.  Keeping my eyes on the road, knowing and having trust in the bike's ability to stop quickly.  Carrying a camera

Just a little addition.

Good save dude, sometimes ok is the best you can do.

[triangleforge]

Less of an "I saved it" than a quick wake-up call, I could very easily have run straight into my neighbor the other day when we were riding together.

Brief summary of the event: Riding to a familiar place (the diner at Skull Valley, AZ), with a familiar rider (my neighbor Tom), though I'd never ridden that route with him before. We were still in our neighborhood with him riding ahead near the centerline and me staggered behind toward the curb. He's got his right turn signal on but instead of going up to the main drag where I always make that right turn, he ducks into the little side street about 20 yards earlier -- where HE always makes that right turn. Caught off guard, I do a hard deceleration, make the turn, and spend the rest of the ride paying a whole lot closer attention to not only what's going on around me but to the assumptions I'm making about those things. If I'd been daydreaming just a little bit right there, i'd have T-boned him pretty good and it would have been entirely my fault.

What you did right: Left enough following distance, reasonable speed, just enough situation awareness to avoid a crash without too much excitement.

What you did wrong: Assumed I knew what his right turn signal meant just  because of my habitual route.

How could it have been avoided: A bit more space and a lot less assuming I knew what was about to happen.

[big ed]

Brief summary of the event
Riding through Watchung Reservation in NJ to cut from Rt 22 to Rt 78.  This section has quite a few curves and the road surface can be rough.  The first 4 curves I nailed my lines and was way too confident. Coming up was a soft 45 degree turn to the right followed closely by a relatively hard 90 degree turn also to the right.  I swung a little wide on the 45 degree and brushed it off thinking I'll have to grip the tank with the knees more on the next one.  Just before the 90 degree, I hit a rough patch of road (uneven pothole patching) tensed the arms, and forgot about my self critique on the last turn.  Though still looking through the turn, I lost my line and saw either an Excursion or F350 headed at me.  I relaxed the arms, tensed the legs and applied throttle.  my line tightened up and I just stopped from drifting over the yellow line into oncoming traffic.

What you did right
Loosened arms
Gripped tank
increased throttle
Continued looking through turn instead of fixating on (very) large chrome grille headed my way


What you did wrong
OVERCONFIDENCE!!!
Death grip on clipons during unexpected rough patch of road
OVERCONFIDENCE!!!

How could it have been avoided
Remember that I have had my license for a total of one year, and not think I am Stoner ripping through the curves because I hit my lines the previous few curves. 
In other words, do not ride beyond my abilities.

[somegirl]

Brief summary of the event

I was taking some newbie riders out for a tour of the twisties last weekend.   I was in the process of passing a bicyclist on my right, when I spotted some movement on the left side of the road out of the corner of my eye.

All of a sudden, a large deer came bounding across the road from left to right, just in front of me.  I immediately hit the brakes and was able to avoid hitting it.  (The bicycle was farther away.)

What you did right

I was going a newbie-friendly pace, thankfully!!

My first instinct was to brake, which was the correct one.

What you did wrong

Although the hills around here are known for having deer and other critters, they tend to appear at dawn and dusk.  Since it was midday and broad daylight, I didn't really think about them and wasn't keeping an eye out for them.

How could it have been avoided

Don't forget about wildlife!  Not much you can do, though, if they suddenly decide to run across the road.

[CDawg]

All of a sudden, a large deer came bounding across the road from left to right, just in front of me.  I immediately hit the brakes and was able to avoid hitting it.

Deer also tends to travel in groups so if you see one, be on the lookout for others.

[S4ROB]

Deer also tends to travel in groups so if you see one, be on the lookout for others.

They crossed the road in front of me and I stoped and snaped this pic.  They seemed to really like the monster

     

[DesmoDiva]

Brief summary of the event

B and I were less than 30 miles into our week NE moto vacation and I was following a utility truck down the NYS thruway.  The truck kicked something small at me from one of the rear tires that hit my arm.  No damage. 

Then "BANG" it had a blow out on same tire.  Before I could even think, the retread on the blow out was flying through the air toward me.  "Oh shit, I'm going down." is what ran through my head. 

It hit me on the right front of the bike and then I ran over it with the rear wheel.  I kept the bike upright and pulled over to the shoulder to asses damage. 

Rubber scuff along right fairing:



What you did right

I was following at a safe distance that allowed me to react.  I had time to slow and move to the left to avoid my body taking a direct hit from the tire snake.  The plastic parts of the bike are replaceable. 

I didn't make any quick moves that would upset the bike.  I kept my eyes ahead and didn't focus on the tire snake. 

What you did wrong

Assuming that truck would never have a blow out in front of me.

How could it have been avoided

Not riding.     Just one of those risk we take when we hit the road  [moto]

[Desmostro]

Brief summary of the event

On the way home from work - rush hour - south on 8th @ Folsom
Started across the intersection after stopping at the red light. Light turned green, I went then B L A M an SUV blew threw the red light to my right taking out a motorcyclist and a smaller SUV which flew in front of my face about 30 inches away and landed in a shower of broken bits all over the road. The cyclist landed in a pile like a sack of potatoes unconscious.

<<I just found out the rider that was hit is pretty ok. Bike is in 10k pieces, he sustained back injuries but not that bad which seems like a miracle. He was booted 40 feet threw the air from a dead stop. He had very good gear on with a back protector etc. >>

What you did right

1, I did not lurch across the intersection like it was a race when the light changed. That tiny hesitation kept me out of the accident. I looked both ways then went.
2, I was set up correctly and did a stoppie instead of crashing.
3, Checked the scenery around and found the best way out of the mess, got to the sidewalk and started helping downed rider. Took pictures, gave statement, gave rider my number.

What you did wrong
Bad way home. I've since heard that intersection is notoriously bad.

How could it have been avoided
Slept in that day?

[somegirl]

B and I were less than 30 miles into our week NE moto vacation and I was following a utility truck down the NYS thruway.  The truck kicked something small at me from one of the rear tires that hit my arm.  No damage. 

Then "BANG" it had a blow out on same tire.  Before I could even think, the retread on the blow out was flying through the air toward me.  "Oh shit, I'm going down." is what ran through my head.

That's scary stuff!   Glad you made it safely through. I try to avoid following any kind of truck, I worry too much about that.

[vboulderer]

Brief summary of the event
Casual ride through some fairly twisty mountain roads in upstate NY.
I round a tight right hand to find a oncoming white Chevy Tahoe fully over the double yellow passing an oncoming bicyclist. I panicked at first seeing The huge Moby Dick of an SUV flying towards me but then spotted the small ~3.5 ft. wide patch of open pavement between the SUV's Drivers side and the guardrail. I firmly applied the brakes without locking up and "threaded the needle" 

What you did right
Kept my cool.
Focused on the safety  not on the danger
didn't lock up a tire

What you did wrong
Enjoying the ride more than I should have
Been more aware of potential danger.

How could it have been avoided
There are often bicyclists on this stretch, should have kept that in mind.

[somegirl]

I round a tight right hand to find a oncoming white Chevy Tahoe fully over the double yellow passing an oncoming bicyclist. I panicked at first seeing The huge Moby Dick of an SUV flying towards me but then spotted the small ~3.5 ft. wide patch of open pavement between the SUV's Drivers side and the guardrail. I firmly applied the brakes without locking up and "threaded the needle" 

Glad you made it ok.

I see this behavior all too often unfortunately, why can't they learn not to pass in blind corners?

[Howie]

Good save

[River]

Keep in mind this was only the 6th time on my monster, the first since the accident in which my husband was killed.

Brief summary of the event

I was riding with a friend (DuckStew) taking it really easy.  We were heading for my house, getting onto a freeway--really easy onramp.  An SUV nearly turned into me having never seen me, and I let it get in my head.  I overshot the right-hand turn and ended up in the dirt on the far left side of the road (not good).   But I managed to let the bike recover, get back on the slab and take off unscathed.

What you did right

I relaxed my arms when I got into trouble, rather than tensing up.  I knew if I let River (my bike) recover I'd be okay.  Once I felt her stand up a bit I moved back onto the pavement, gained traction, and took off before the SUV behind me could eat me up.

What you did wrong

I target fixated rather than looking through my turn.  I looked where I DIDN'T want to go and that's exactly where I went.

How could it have been avoided

Well, other than not making a completely newbie mistake of not looking through my turn and target fixating instead, I would say that the mental game was the bigger one for me.  Don't let some other idiot on the road get into your head in the first place.  Ride how you've been trained, find your zen and keep your focus.

Incidentally, I felt the need to apologize to my riding partner for scaring him because I knew he saw me blow the turn and ride into the dirt and I was pretty sure I freaked him out or at least distracted him a little.  Of course he's a cooler customer than that after all his years of riding, which I should have known.  He actually congratulated me on a nice save after a huge f@!?-up, so all's well that ends well I guess.   

One other thing: when riding with someone who has a lot more experience than you do, I find it best to follow their lead, watch their lines, and learn from their performance...as long as they aren't doing wheelies and other interesting stunting. ;-)

Keep the shiny side up!

River

[Howie]

Nice to hear your off road excusion ended well