SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
The wife and I headed up north to visit my folks for a belated Thanksgiving Dinner. Because we weren't planning on doing any shopping we took the bike.
The ride up and the day up there were great. We had a good time and did some serious eating.
The ride home however did have it's moment. We were about half way home on I-95 and cruising along just fine. The weather was great and we were having fun when we came up behind a car hauler. (One of those O.T.R.'s that carry something like twenty cars at one time.) He was doing about 65 MPH in a 70 MPH Zone so I was going to pass him. Because I'm not overly comfortable passing semi's, there's a lot of wind buffeting around them, I moved from where I was in lane one all the way over to lane three.
I was about halfway past the rig when the damned rig moved sideways quickly. I'm talking it went from lane one over lane two and was coming into lane three in less time than it's taken to type this.
I reacted. I drifted left into the breakdown lane and grabbed for the brakes even as I hit the horn button. (No I don't have the wimpy little stock horn on my bike. I have a 180 decible Highway horn wired in. You do not hit that sucker in enclosed spaces believe me.) I'm dropping back along the trailer as it's getting closer and closer and I'm edging closer and closer to the highway divider to get room.
I finally clear the rear of the rig just as the trailer slides past and brushes the divider sending up a nice shower of sparks and grit. (Thankfully no pieces of tire.) I'm still on the brakes to drop back even further.
Finally the rig straightens out and then heads back to number one lane. By this time I'm back about a quarter mile and can feel my heart thundering along like a Hummingbirds.
When I feel that the rig is settled into it's lane I decide it's time to get clear. I don't even want to be behind it because I have no idea what the driver is going to do next. I roll the throttle wide open, I have plenty of room to let the engine rev up and I can feel it doing so. By the time we come even with the rear of the trailer we're at 80 MPH and still accelerating. We're past that rig in a heartbeat and we just keep on going until I can't see his lights in my mirrors before I slow it back down to legal limits.
It took about ten miles before my heart slowed down to near normal.
I was glad I was on the bike when this happened. My car, (A Chevy Tracker) just doesn't have the handling to have gotten me out of that spot. I would have been on page two of the local papers.
Cat
The ride up and the day up there were great. We had a good time and did some serious eating.
The ride home however did have it's moment. We were about half way home on I-95 and cruising along just fine. The weather was great and we were having fun when we came up behind a car hauler. (One of those O.T.R.'s that carry something like twenty cars at one time.) He was doing about 65 MPH in a 70 MPH Zone so I was going to pass him. Because I'm not overly comfortable passing semi's, there's a lot of wind buffeting around them, I moved from where I was in lane one all the way over to lane three.
I was about halfway past the rig when the damned rig moved sideways quickly. I'm talking it went from lane one over lane two and was coming into lane three in less time than it's taken to type this.
I reacted. I drifted left into the breakdown lane and grabbed for the brakes even as I hit the horn button. (No I don't have the wimpy little stock horn on my bike. I have a 180 decible Highway horn wired in. You do not hit that sucker in enclosed spaces believe me.) I'm dropping back along the trailer as it's getting closer and closer and I'm edging closer and closer to the highway divider to get room.
I finally clear the rear of the rig just as the trailer slides past and brushes the divider sending up a nice shower of sparks and grit. (Thankfully no pieces of tire.) I'm still on the brakes to drop back even further.
Finally the rig straightens out and then heads back to number one lane. By this time I'm back about a quarter mile and can feel my heart thundering along like a Hummingbirds.
When I feel that the rig is settled into it's lane I decide it's time to get clear. I don't even want to be behind it because I have no idea what the driver is going to do next. I roll the throttle wide open, I have plenty of room to let the engine rev up and I can feel it doing so. By the time we come even with the rear of the trailer we're at 80 MPH and still accelerating. We're past that rig in a heartbeat and we just keep on going until I can't see his lights in my mirrors before I slow it back down to legal limits.
It took about ten miles before my heart slowed down to near normal.
I was glad I was on the bike when this happened. My car, (A Chevy Tracker) just doesn't have the handling to have gotten me out of that spot. I would have been on page two of the local papers.
Cat
Glad you're alright Cat. 
