So I had this idea for a thread that might have been tried before.. How about brief (maybe 200 words max?) riding experiences that taught you an important lesson..e.g traffic situations, road conditions, weather conditions, rider judgmental errors (like "get-there-itis") cob-jobbed repairs/equipment, etc. Maybe a two item deal, "What Happened" and "Lesson(s) Learned".
What Happened. Was at friend's garage about 30 miles from home, hot muggy FL summer day. Thunderstorms probable in afternoon forecast. A rain shower had just passed and there was a break with weather radar showing a fast-moving squall line about 10 miles to the south that would likely cross my route home. Decided I could beat it and get west of its projected path before it came through. Suited up and took off. As I approached an arched bridge about 10 minutes into my ride, I could see the squall line approaching fast. Just as I got on the bridge the deluge came, reducing visibility to 0. I was holding just right of the centerline, leaning into the wind and a violent gust caught me. The rain was coming sideways and sheets of water were flooding across the roadway. It pushed me to the right the full 12 feet of lane width and I barely avoided being pushed onto a 6" wide paint line marking the bridge shoulder. I made it through and broke out of it about 1/4 mile past the other end of the bridge.
Lesson Learned. It would have been better to pull off before the bridge and seek shelter in a self-serve car wash stall (which I only noticed on my next trip that way)rather than try to beat the storm. Now I try to take notice of self serve car washes, bank drive-thrus, and anything else on my local routes that might serve as "any port in a storm".
What Happened. Was at friend's garage about 30 miles from home, hot muggy FL summer day. Thunderstorms probable in afternoon forecast. A rain shower had just passed and there was a break with weather radar showing a fast-moving squall line about 10 miles to the south that would likely cross my route home. Decided I could beat it and get west of its projected path before it came through. Suited up and took off. As I approached an arched bridge about 10 minutes into my ride, I could see the squall line approaching fast. Just as I got on the bridge the deluge came, reducing visibility to 0. I was holding just right of the centerline, leaning into the wind and a violent gust caught me. The rain was coming sideways and sheets of water were flooding across the roadway. It pushed me to the right the full 12 feet of lane width and I barely avoided being pushed onto a 6" wide paint line marking the bridge shoulder. I made it through and broke out of it about 1/4 mile past the other end of the bridge.
Lesson Learned. It would have been better to pull off before the bridge and seek shelter in a self-serve car wash stall (which I only noticed on my next trip that way)rather than try to beat the storm. Now I try to take notice of self serve car washes, bank drive-thrus, and anything else on my local routes that might serve as "any port in a storm".