I'm A Cranky Old Lone Wolf

[Nortoon_imp]

Keeping a comfortable distance was the problem. He rode like we were in a cruiser flock.

If I encounter a biker, I follow about 300 feet back for both his comfort and mine. If he is riding slower than me I pass him when it is safe. Easy to do with a 1140cc motor.

If I encounter a cruiser flock, I find a place to pull over for a rest stop.

I am retired, so I ride on weekdays when there is little traffic on the back roads. The clubs and wannabe racers are usually out on the weekends along with the boat trailers and RVs.

Promised myself I would ride twice a week this summer, but it rained from mid-April to the last week in July. So if someone spoils my day ride I get crankier than normal.

300 feet? Did I read that right?

Come to NJ and hop on Rt 78 or Rt 80- lucky to get 10 feet. Anything more than that and somebody will pull in front of you. Back off the new guy more than 10 feet and somebody else is pulling in.

Oh- and this is while everybody is doing 80mph+ while drinking coffee and texting.

300 feet? Did I read that right?

Come to NJ and hop on Rt 78 or Rt 80- lucky to get 10 feet. Anything more than that and somebody will pull in front of you. Back off the new guy more than 10 feet and somebody else is pulling in.

Oh- and this is while everybody is doing 80mph+ while drinking coffee and texting.
Sounds like driving I-95 in Florida. Leave a space and the cars on both sides will try to fill it.

When I was there in the 80s people told me about an accident that had happened in Fort Lauderdale just west of Federal Highway 1. There was a gas tanker parked on the railway tracks surrounded by drivers waiting for the lights to change in both directions. A train plowed into the tanker and fried a bunch of them.

I was stopped at the same spot later that day, but not on the tracks. The wooden hydro poles were still charred from the accident, and there were big DO NOT STOP ON THE TRACKS signs. But everyone ignored them. Too much sun I guess.

I do not ride in the city or on 4-lane highways. I ride the back roads, so other vehicles are few and far between. On my last ride I saw more logging trucks than motorcycles.

If you look at the area about an hour west of Ottawa, Ontario in [url=https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.0573214,-76.6504971,137980m/data=!3m1!1e3]Google Maps satellite mode, all you will see is lakes and trees. That's my playground.

[ClassicVW_imp]

I would love to see the look on his face if he turned around blackjack in hand toward me.
My reaction ---would be a 9MM pointed at his head.
His reaction--- Priceless!

I do not enjoy people riding close to me on the road, especially people I do not know. What especially irritates me is when some clown passes me on the RH side of my lane (I ride to the LH side of the lane). Had some Hell's Angels clowns do this to me about 10 years ago when I was riding my VFR on the back roads, east of San Diego. The first clown roared by me unexpectedly, about 12 inches off to my side, and scared the crap out of me. When I saw the second clown making his move I shook my right foot out to let him know that I did not appreciate that, and he spit as me as he passed (he missed). I followed them for several miles, at a safe distance, up until we came to a red light. They had stopped several seconds before I rolled up behind them and the second clown pulled a blackjack out from beneath his jacket and turned and looked right at me. I decided it was a good idea to keep going straight (they were turning left, the way I wanted to go), so I signaled to him that he was number one and sped off just as the light changed. The roads were very twisty, and they didn't even bother to follow me, and I never saw them again.