Highway 21 Lesson--Learned

CaptCrash · 05-08-2010, 09:40 PM

Went for a ride today and learned (or relearned) an important lesson.

On today's ride we went up to Moores Creek Summit and were debating about continuing on around to Lowman and Garden Valley. Frankly? I sissied out. It was cold. We were looking INTO the clouds. There was snow on the sides of the road and I flat out wussied it up and said "I'm going back to Idaho City. The sun is shining down there." My chest was starting to get cold...insert NancyBoy excuse here...and there was sand on the road--yeah that's it.

Anyway, after my sissy-itis started catching and everyone decided to return the way we came someone said "watch out for the section of road with the 'trucks entering roadway' signs, it looked really, really dirty going the other way" We all nodded and agreed that 'yup it looked ugly' and then reminded each other 'there's rocks and crap in the other lane too, it's the uphill side'; and wise motorcyclists we are we took off back down the hill.

I'm old. Almost 50. Who knew? But the beauty of this situation is that I can be slow. I get to be the last guy in line. I've got the most gray in my beard and I can call 'sweeper' and nobody argues. Naturally, I was last in line; 3 bikes in front of me, me hustling my walker to keep up.

As we went down the hill we came a sign saying "Trucks entering the Roadway" and I thought, OK, be careful. My pea sized brain said 'slow down' and I did. It's just that the road wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was relatively clean. It looked a lot dirtier going the other way, I thought and rolled back on to catch up.

A couple of minutes later we got to another temporary diamond sign about trucks. And we leaned into a blind right and the road went all to hell! As it bent back into a sweeper left DUST, GRIME, & SCUM was all over the road--you couldn't see the asphalt! Fortunately for me I had 3 decent riders in front of me. Nobody freaked, no one grabbed a big handful of brakes, or chopped the throttle, no urine came flowing out of anyone's pant leg...they just rode through it. I had enough time to brake while still on good pavement and then got off the brakes and rode through the crud. (And it's not a little crud, we're talking the ENTIRE road for 30-40 yards) What's amazing is I honestly cannot remember seeing ANYONE in front of me brake, probably because they had done the same thing--braked when they could, rode on through.

See, that's the thing to remember. You know how they tell pilots "No matter what happens--keep flying the plane"? Riding is just like that--no matter what happens? Keep riding the bike. Inexperienced riders will do things like chop the throttle while on a sketchy surface and that unsettles the bike, or they'll keep on braking hard in the marbles and just throw it away. Keeping cool when you're in a tight spot is paramount in getting through a squirrelly patch. If traction is at a premium? Then doing a ton of traction consuming actions can be a bad, bad plan.

Linker33 was in the lead--he could have binned us all! How? By wadding his bike. If he hadn't been smooth and calm in a tight spot then every rider behind him suddenly goes from "tight spot--keep on keepin' on" to "OH CRAP! HE CRASHED! I WILL TOO!"

Once the lead goes down, so do the hopes of every rider behind him. Rider #1 crashes and everyone else EXPECTS to. They go from riding to crashing in about 1/20 of a second. Thank you Kris for not freaking out AND for reminding me to keep my wits about me.

Linker33 · 05-09-2010, 12:15 AM

Honestly, at the time I didn't think at all. Hit the dirt, and both tires slid sideways. Pure luck, the bike remained upright and in control. Was by far the worst road debris mid corner I've encountered to date, I religiously cover the front brake, and thankfully it didn't even cross my mind to brake during that situation. If I had, I'm sure I would have laid it down.

Mikey · 05-09-2010, 12:25 AM

I honestly didn't think about it until we were out of the majority of it, instinct just took over and stayed smooth until afterwards and thought fock me that was close to being bad. Then I started checking my mirrors to make sure crash and TC made it through unscathed.

CaptCrash · 05-09-2010, 01:52 AM

The beauty of it is that nobody panicked and that kept the situation in control. After, I was having this nightmare of everyone coming up out of the right, first rider on the ground and everyone behind tossing it trying to avoid him...

Well done gentlemen, well done.

Batt · 05-09-2010, 08:33 AM

Well done! We always coach that riding is more a skill of the eyes and mind than the hands and feet. You have got to keep your wits about you even in the sketchiest of situations!

Way to stay sharp guys!

One of these days I have got make it up there to ride you all. (looking fwd to 130mph wheelies!!!

)

Batt

mxroostin · 05-10-2010, 08:57 AM

Chris he has mad track experience so this didnt surprise me as much as prolly the rest of you...Just glad Mikey could keep up...

Joking aside, it is great when your instincts are what save you, mine usually get me in trouble...

arwsbrn · 05-10-2010, 11:53 AM

I went riding yesterday up to cascade. The road conditions are perfect. The wind was a tad cold & snow on the hillsides up there so i turned around at the first chevron in cascade, but lotsa fun, was careful around the curves, passed a few cars at an adrenaline-pumping but safe 127mph. Anyway try the ride to cascade next time. It's nice!

Grumbler · 05-10-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arwsbrn

Anyway try the ride to cascade next time. It's nice!

SH-55 from Banks to Round Valley Rd is a great stretch.
There's a cafe (forgot the name) on right roughly halfway
btw Round Valley Rd and Cascade although I've no clue
when or if it opens.

05-09-2010, 12:15 AM	#2
Linker33 Senior Member Joined: Jun 2006 From: Boise, ID Posts: 1,428 I Ride: '02 GSXR 600	Honestly, at the time I didn't think at all. Hit the dirt, and both tires slid sideways. Pure luck, the bike remained upright and in control. Was by far the worst road debris mid corner I've encountered to date, I religiously cover the front brake, and thankfully it didn't even cross my mind to brake during that situation. If I had, I'm sure I would have laid it down. Last edited by Linker33; 05-09-2010 at 11:21 AM.

05-09-2010, 08:33 AM	#5
Batt Senior Member Joined: Apr 2010 From: Mountain Home, Idaho Posts: 391 I Ride: Ducati 848	Well done! We always coach that riding is more a skill of the eyes and mind than the hands and feet. You have got to keep your wits about you even in the sketchiest of situations! Way to stay sharp guys! One of these days I have got make it up there to ride you all. (looking fwd to 130mph wheelies!!!) Batt

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05-08-2010, 09:40 PM	#1
CaptCrash Senior Member Joined: May 2007 Posts: 730	Highway 21 Lesson--Learned Went for a ride today and learned (or relearned) an important lesson. On today's ride we went up to Moores Creek Summit and were debating about continuing on around to Lowman and Garden Valley. Frankly? I sissied out. It was cold. We were looking INTO the clouds. There was snow on the sides of the road and I flat out wussied it up and said "I'm going back to Idaho City. The sun is shining down there." My chest was starting to get cold...insert NancyBoy excuse here...and there was sand on the road--yeah that's it. Anyway, after my sissy-itis started catching and everyone decided to return the way we came someone said "watch out for the section of road with the 'trucks entering roadway' signs, it looked really, really dirty going the other way" We all nodded and agreed that 'yup it looked ugly' and then reminded each other 'there's rocks and crap in the other lane too, it's the uphill side'; and wise motorcyclists we are we took off back down the hill. I'm old. Almost 50. Who knew? But the beauty of this situation is that I can be slow. I get to be the last guy in line. I've got the most gray in my beard and I can call 'sweeper' and nobody argues. Naturally, I was last in line; 3 bikes in front of me, me hustling my walker to keep up. As we went down the hill we came a sign saying "Trucks entering the Roadway" and I thought, OK, be careful. My pea sized brain said 'slow down' and I did. It's just that the road wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was relatively clean. It looked a lot dirtier going the other way, I thought and rolled back on to catch up. A couple of minutes later we got to another temporary diamond sign about trucks. And we leaned into a blind right and the road went all to hell! As it bent back into a sweeper left DUST, GRIME, & SCUM was all over the road--you couldn't see the asphalt! Fortunately for me I had 3 decent riders in front of me. Nobody freaked, no one grabbed a big handful of brakes, or chopped the throttle, no urine came flowing out of anyone's pant leg...they just rode through it. I had enough time to brake while still on good pavement and then got off the brakes and rode through the crud. (And it's not a little crud, we're talking the ENTIRE road for 30-40 yards) What's amazing is I honestly cannot remember seeing ANYONE in front of me brake, probably because they had done the same thing--braked when they could, rode on through. See, that's the thing to remember. You know how they tell pilots "No matter what happens--keep flying the plane"? Riding is just like that--no matter what happens? Keep riding the bike. Inexperienced riders will do things like chop the throttle while on a sketchy surface and that unsettles the bike, or they'll keep on braking hard in the marbles and just throw it away. Keeping cool when you're in a tight spot is paramount in getting through a squirrelly patch. If traction is at a premium? Then doing a ton of traction consuming actions can be a bad, bad plan. Linker33 was in the lead--he could have binned us all! How? By wadding his bike. If he hadn't been smooth and calm in a tight spot then every rider behind him suddenly goes from "tight spot--keep on keepin' on" to "OH CRAP! HE CRASHED! I WILL TOO!" Once the lead goes down, so do the hopes of every rider behind him. Rider #1 crashes and everyone else EXPECTS to. They go from riding to crashing in about 1/20 of a second. Thank you Kris for not freaking out AND for reminding me to keep my wits about me. Last edited by CaptCrash; 05-09-2010 at 01:55 AM.

05-09-2010, 12:25 AM	#3
Mikey Senior Member Joined: Mar 2009 From: Kuna Posts: 2,246 I Ride: on sidewalks if needed.	I honestly didn't think about it until we were out of the majority of it, instinct just took over and stayed smooth until afterwards and thought fock me that was close to being bad. Then I started checking my mirrors to make sure crash and TC made it through unscathed.

05-09-2010, 01:52 AM	#4
CaptCrash Senior Member Joined: May 2007 Posts: 730	The beauty of it is that nobody panicked and that kept the situation in control. After, I was having this nightmare of everyone coming up out of the right, first rider on the ground and everyone behind tossing it trying to avoid him... Well done gentlemen, well done.

05-10-2010, 08:57 AM	#6
mxroostin Senior Member Joined: Jun 2007 From: Meridian Posts: 1,079 I Ride: CBR 1000 RR	Chris he has mad track experience so this didnt surprise me as much as prolly the rest of you...Just glad Mikey could keep up... Joking aside, it is great when your instincts are what save you, mine usually get me in trouble...

05-10-2010, 11:53 AM	#7
arwsbrn Senior Member Joined: May 2007 From: Nampa Posts: 168 I Ride: '06 ZX636R	I went riding yesterday up to cascade. The road conditions are perfect. The wind was a tad cold & snow on the hillsides up there so i turned around at the first chevron in cascade, but lotsa fun, was careful around the curves, passed a few cars at an adrenaline-pumping but safe 127mph. Anyway try the ride to cascade next time. It's nice!