Get off the bike!

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

The scariest lapses for me have been the times I have seen a sharp curve coming, and have been aware of it on some level, but have failed to take any appropriate action whatsoever, like slowing and moving to the outside. Suddenly I have found myself in mid curve at straightaway speeds, and in the improper lane position. The only things that saved me the two or three times it's happened have been good physical skills, and the fact that I tend to ride fairly slowly anyway, so my straightaway speed was survivable in the curve.
The basic idea I'm trying to get across is that it's not enough to master the bike - you have to master yourself, and your human mental state.

there was one road in Tennessee i had never taken before, it was slightly up hill and there was a spot where there was a little bump in the road, just high enough you could not see the road past it till you were right up on it. as soon as i went over that bump i was doing around 45-50 and there was a crazy sharp curve in the road, if it were not for all the practice on the curvy roads and quick reflexes i probably would have flew off the road in to the ditch. there was no sharp curve sign or any thing. just a holy shit, hard breaking and flying around that thing. moral of the story, if you can practice taking curves do it and get good at it and if you don't know the road you are riding on be careful, if there is any time where you cant not see the road ahead and don't know what is coming up, slow down. better safe than sorry.