The Ride Report

I learned a valuable lesson today: When riding in parking lots, take care when cutting across the empty spaces.

I was riding through a nearly empty parking lot this morning, riding diagonally across several rows of empty spaces, and I started leaning/turning to the left to set up my entry into my intended parking space. Suddenly my rear wheel slid out and the bike was kicking out sideways as though I had locked up the rear wheel and was skidding to a stop the way we used to do as kids on our dirt bikes. Only thing is, I’m not a kid, this wasn’t a dirt bike, and I wasn’t anywhere near ready to stop.

Instant thought: Oh shit.

It’s funny how fast your mind works in a situation like this and how time seems to slow down. In my head, I was playing out where the bike was going to go while my body was reacting in slow motion. In my mind I saw the bike going down on a low-side to the left, but somehow I managed to ride it out until the tire caught traction and stopped the skid.

Unfortunately, that’s a recipe for a high-side to the right, and the bike whipped upright and tried to throw me that way. So my mind played that out too, seeing the bike toppling over and the fairing crunching across the pavement while I shoulder-rolled over the windshield. Somehow I managed to ride that out too, however, and I was able to get it under control without dumping it.

I have no idea how I did it because I truly was just along for the ride. I thought for sure I was going down. I remember noticing that I had pulled the clutch in, but I don’t remember doing it. Instinct, I guess. I dunno if it was a good instinct, but it worked out in the end. I think I grabbed some front brake too but I’m not sure. All I know is that I ended up in the parking space I was originally aiming for after making a wild, giant zig-zag across the parking lot to get there.

When the bike stopped I jumped off it like a rodeo rider, laughing and going “Woo-hoo!!!” It was a wild ride and it was an adrenaline rush when it was over. It must have looked pretty damned funny to anyone who was watching.

And then, because I’m a big old geek and I usually carry a camera in my jacket, I took a couple pictures of the skid marks.

Call me Captain Obvious if you want, but the red dashed line shows my path through my little adventure. The skid from the rear tire is obvious, but if you look carefully you’ll see the oil tracks from the front tire too to the left of the red line.

Looking at the first skid from the other direction. You can see here just how much and how far the wheel slid.

I only wish there had been some judges watching my performance. I rode it for the full 8 seconds and think I earned a good score. I want my rodeo belt buckle.