07-03-2015, 09:58 AM
(07-03-2015, 09:35 AM)Guth_imp Wrote: I simply do not have the wealth of distance riding experiences that many here do. Even my commute is short. However, this past December we had a wind storm creep up that was a real doozie and since I had ridden to work that morning, riding home that night was my fate. This is the only time I have truly been rather fearful to ride, as opposed to just being miserable, due to weather conditions.
Following is what I wrote in the "Today's Weather" thread back in December.
Guth Wrote:That wind made for one nerve wracking commute home. This was compounded by the fact that the office building that I work in is located in a wind corridor, which tends to amplify the gusts considerably. This caused them to close off multiple streets in the immediate vicinity which really interfered with my planned escape route. When I departed, my initial fear was being blown sideways into oncoming traffic. That fear was soon replaced by the need to dodge moving objects blowing around in the wind. Garbage cans being tops amongst the key offenders. I was plenty glad to make it home safe 'n sound.
This raises an interesting point. Now that deer are more populous and hunters fewer; and now that I've hit two deer with my cars and one on a bike (didn't go down)...I'm REAL gun-shy about the whole thing.
On a trip, when I can, I pack it in for the night around seven at the latest. I try for earlier...about six is when the deer start wandering down to the watering hole. Sunrise and sunset are the most likely times to hit wildlife.
That's well and good; but sometimes real-life intervenes. This same trip, coming home over Lolo Pass...I was running late. Meaning, I was forty miles from home when the sun was setting...too close to home to waste money on a motel; and yet I was in prime deer and elk and even moose country, and at the time they were gonna be running the roads.
I didn't have any true close calls, but I did find a few on the side of the road. It was the only time I ever wished I had open pipes.
I took to tooting the horn, short bursts every five seconds or so. Stupid? Probably. I didn't hit a deer. Maybe the horn had nothing to do with it; but my first order of business was to NOT WRECK. I'll think about courtesy and noise pollution later.
I did make it; but the danger was palpable. I have known a guy who hit a deer and was killed. I hit one, and I thought I would eat pavement. It totaled a $3000 bike. It was the pain of abscessed adrenaline...tangible fear.