Rode out of town, and after 30 minutes or so I turned onto a tiny little winding road which I had had never noticed before, into the local mountains. It goes up through a village or two, nice and gentle, all paved and about 8 foot wide. Keeps climbing, sometimes at a very high rate with steep turns, but it is really fun, and the views are stunning. Into the forest, out of the forest, along a few more houses. I get the hang of it and it feels all natural. The quality of the road and its shoulders is impeccable - so I keep going. I am the frog in the proverbial glass with water which slowly heats up. I just don't know it yet.
My speed is mostly a gentle 25-35 mph, the bends don't allow for much more, when I pass a sign pointing to "next village in 5 km". Everything looks perfectly tame and normal. The water in the glass has just gotten a little warmer, but no, the frog ain't feeling it as the change is sooooo slow. Into the next forest, it gets a little darker and I don't feel compelled (yet) to stop and take my sunglasses off. More bends, more trees, and now I am going slightly downhill. Just a little, no big deal. The pavement narrows a little, but hey, no traffic at all for the last 10 minutes. The water is warming further.
The downward slope increases - just a little more. The quality of the pavement and shoulders still fine. A few more bends, a little more slope. All of a sudden the right shoulder disappears and I look into a steep canon to my right with trees as tall as houses. Comes my last happy slow turn, and before I blink the pavement under my wheels has vanished, but I do not see it. There is no change in the road's color or contrast. Now I am on a narrowing dirt road, with a downward leaning angle of more than 10% (best guess). I feel the front wheel starts sliding from under me. The water temperature is now close to where frogs can't last, and the CB feels heavy like never before.
Before I have time to think about what's going on, I catch the motorcycle going side-wards, I try to brake, wheels block, ABS doesn't kick in, I slide badly. But I am still sitting on top. I am roling downwards - much too fast for my taste - with no idea what to do. There are deep groves in the road which seem to catch my front wheel, make it go side-wards at times, and make it impossible to keep upright. I can barely keep the handle bar straight. Grooves keep jerking it left and right with a lot of pressure. But I have no choice. Down I go and temperatures go up. My heart pumps like mad, I anticipate a really bad fall with the m/c on top of the frog - sliding down, imagine, or me leaving the road and hitting a tree. Seconds pass, they feel like hours. By now I am really scared. Any attempt to use the brakes makes matters worse. The street does not seem to end.
Finally I come to a stop, don't ask me how - didn't fall, oh wonder. Darn it, I didn't see this coming at all - until it was way too late. The perfect size of the little stones under my wheels (big or sand would have had me stop short), the increasing downward slope, the grooves in the road washed in by late rain. The frog has been lucky, he is climbing to the edge of the glass, almost burning.
Now I use the rear brake to let the cycle down at a snail's pace. There is no way to turn around, there is nobody to help. Just letting her role is not an option, and my shoulder muscles and wrists start hurting badly. This m/c weighs 500 pounds, and they are pulling forward. This goes on for - my best guess - 20 minutes and 1 mile or so. Finally the road widens a bit in a turn, I turn the m/c around - don't ask me how - thinking that "going up" feels much better than "going down" at this point. Another 20 minutes and I am back on the paved road. I get off, take my helmet off, my gloves, my jacket. On a Africa Twin, this may have been a piece of cake. I can't say. May be, may be not. A less lucky rider ? A tire punctured in the middle.
And I feel very lucky, and like that proverbial frog.
My speed is mostly a gentle 25-35 mph, the bends don't allow for much more, when I pass a sign pointing to "next village in 5 km". Everything looks perfectly tame and normal. The water in the glass has just gotten a little warmer, but no, the frog ain't feeling it as the change is sooooo slow. Into the next forest, it gets a little darker and I don't feel compelled (yet) to stop and take my sunglasses off. More bends, more trees, and now I am going slightly downhill. Just a little, no big deal. The pavement narrows a little, but hey, no traffic at all for the last 10 minutes. The water is warming further.
The downward slope increases - just a little more. The quality of the pavement and shoulders still fine. A few more bends, a little more slope. All of a sudden the right shoulder disappears and I look into a steep canon to my right with trees as tall as houses. Comes my last happy slow turn, and before I blink the pavement under my wheels has vanished, but I do not see it. There is no change in the road's color or contrast. Now I am on a narrowing dirt road, with a downward leaning angle of more than 10% (best guess). I feel the front wheel starts sliding from under me. The water temperature is now close to where frogs can't last, and the CB feels heavy like never before.
Before I have time to think about what's going on, I catch the motorcycle going side-wards, I try to brake, wheels block, ABS doesn't kick in, I slide badly. But I am still sitting on top. I am roling downwards - much too fast for my taste - with no idea what to do. There are deep groves in the road which seem to catch my front wheel, make it go side-wards at times, and make it impossible to keep upright. I can barely keep the handle bar straight. Grooves keep jerking it left and right with a lot of pressure. But I have no choice. Down I go and temperatures go up. My heart pumps like mad, I anticipate a really bad fall with the m/c on top of the frog - sliding down, imagine, or me leaving the road and hitting a tree. Seconds pass, they feel like hours. By now I am really scared. Any attempt to use the brakes makes matters worse. The street does not seem to end.
Finally I come to a stop, don't ask me how - didn't fall, oh wonder. Darn it, I didn't see this coming at all - until it was way too late. The perfect size of the little stones under my wheels (big or sand would have had me stop short), the increasing downward slope, the grooves in the road washed in by late rain. The frog has been lucky, he is climbing to the edge of the glass, almost burning.
Now I use the rear brake to let the cycle down at a snail's pace. There is no way to turn around, there is nobody to help. Just letting her role is not an option, and my shoulder muscles and wrists start hurting badly. This m/c weighs 500 pounds, and they are pulling forward. This goes on for - my best guess - 20 minutes and 1 mile or so. Finally the road widens a bit in a turn, I turn the m/c around - don't ask me how - thinking that "going up" feels much better than "going down" at this point. Another 20 minutes and I am back on the paved road. I get off, take my helmet off, my gloves, my jacket. On a Africa Twin, this may have been a piece of cake. I can't say. May be, may be not. A less lucky rider ? A tire punctured in the middle.
And I feel very lucky, and like that proverbial frog.
