Jun 13 2006
Kissing The Rear Of A Dump Truck
I was stuck behind a dump truck as I drove to work on my motorcycle this morning. We were approaching a section where the road merged into a double-laned highway, us currently driving in the left lane. I couldn’t see past the truck, but it was slowing down for traffic, so I glanced to my right to prepare to pass it (on the newly merged lane).
When I looked in front of me the fucking truck had stopped! As I squeezed and pressed my brakes harder than necessary, I could feel the rubber on the tires coming off like an orange peel, with the back of the truck approaching closer, closer… I’m thinking “I’m not going too fast; it won’t hurt TOO much”… when my bike stops about a foot from the truck’s rear end.
The bike swerved a bit, but it didn’t stall. I switched down to first, glanced to my right for oncoming traffic, then raced past the fucking truck, beginning to shake with the realization that I was still alive. Fun times!
I had a similar incident last year on my bike…. Driving on a two lane road, I decided that I was going to change lanes to get around the slow dude in front of me. I waited for the car driving in the lane next to me to get past and I accelerated to move over and merge into traffic. Just as I was moving over, the guy who I was merging behind stopped. Like you did, I pressed the brake a little harder than necessary and the bike slid sideways a bit. I quickly adjusted the pressure on the brake pedal and managed to stop without dropping the bike. Again like you, the adrenaline kicked in and I got the shakes and a new found appreciation for patience on the road!
I was walking down a sidewalk reading a book last week and walked into a pole. I nearly knocked myself out. My head still hurts. I should’ve written a post about it.
I walked into a telephone pole once. I walked into a fire hydrant while reading once, too. That’s worse than a pole.
Did you get your lips dirty?
You’re lucky you get to have all these near-death harrowing adventures that get to excersize your adrenal glands. My stupid bike’s been broke for about 3 weeks. :(
I flipped my bike once and landed on my face. A chunk of the left side of my face was scraped away the pavement. Half of my left ear was torn off. 15 stitches in my ear. 17 in my face. I thought I’d be disfigured for life; I was astounded by how quickly it healed. I wish I had pictures.
And when I say bike, I mean mountain bike.
I fell out of a moving vehicle and broke my leg. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have tried to save time by undoing my seatbelt before we pulled into the driveway. Ouch.