Flying Objects: They Just Keep Coming
Head ’em up, move ’em out.
Riding season is getting into full gear now so it’s good to remember that sometimes there are things coming at you on the road that you do not expect. And why should you? They’re so weird nobody would ever expect them. Here are some experiences other riders have had.
- A snake and a bird. At the same time. I was cruising down a country road and a bird with a snake in his clutches flew into my path, made a quick swoop away from me and was gone. I don’t know who was shocked the most. Me, the bird or the snake. I actually had to look back a few times to reassure myself that he didn’t drop it on me.
- BIG dead possum. Didn’t see it coming (even though quite dead and stationary) I was too fixated on the car in front of me, who seemed to be under the impression that brakes must be applied at every intersection, driveway, mailbox, and manhole. So I had already backed off to about 2 car lengths in a 30 MPH residential area. The next thing I know the KLR and I are airborne, landed the unexpected jump, and went around the block to see what the ramp was made of. Big ugly dead possum.
- Caught the tail end of a cat once. We were staring at each other seconds before I thought the cat would not move and the cat thought he could beat me accross the street before I came by. We both were wrong. Think I just bumped it with my front wheel. Felt something but not like going over anything.
- Elephant in northern Thailand, near Burma. Coming out of a corner still leaning, nearly smacked into this giant grey backside half across the road.
- I charged a huge grizzly bear a long time ago on my KLX250. Usually the bears run away. This one stood its ground. I think it moved at the last minute, I was too scared to look. I bent the license plate hitting a bump way too hard. I was too scared to get off and fix it.
- A swarm of (I believe they are called…) blind mosquitoes in FL. It was so thick that I had to pull over afterwards because my visor was completely blacked out…100% blacked out.
- I saw a dozen bikes crash on one corner was a swarm of locusts crossing the road on the second sweepback of a fast, fast technical section. Huge grasshoppers that do not fly. They crawl. There was a mass migration on Lake Lowery Road one morning. A group ride of Buellers was smokin’ along and when they hit the swarm, down they went.
- A coupla days ago I was on I-78 at the start of evening rush hour; thickening traffic but moving along OK. Saw a car ahead swerve slightly, then noticed what I thought at first was a piece of fruit or something, lying in the road. Or was it an animal? Bright green… a lizard? No… Then I saw another, of a totally different but equally bright color. As I passed the first two, I saw at least a dozen more, scattered across a few hundred feet of highway. What were they? Beanie Babies.
- Some drunk on the wrong side of the road in a long curved tunnel.
OK, that’s it for now. This could be you next time. Ride like your life depends on it, because it does.
Biker Quote for Today
It wasn’t until I went to college and I got my first motorcycle that I understood the thrill of speed. — Vin Diesel
