[bigweasel]

i was riding on the long island gold coast today. minding my own business. just tooling along. thankfully on a borrowed, newish BMW. out of nowhere, the car in front of me jerks to the left, and screeches sideways to a stop, blocking most of both of the lanes of the road. his stop was so abrupt, that with even what i considered safe following distance, it was a near tragedy. i grabbed a BIG HANDFUL of brake, and found myself, on only the front wheel, skidding through the neighbors lawn. as completely awesome as that might have looked to any passersby, it was one of the more distinctly uncomfortable riding positions i have ever found myself to be in. i have no idea how i did not go over the bars, let alone not dump the bike. after i stopped shaking and having checked to make sure i hadn't wet myself, i realized that had i been on one of my own bikes, i 'd have most likely not made it into the grass...or onto the front wheel...but rather slammed into the back/side of this palookas civic.
i consider myself to be a cautious rider. i intentionally own low power bikes and ride on secondary roads, and try to be hyper aware of my surroundings while on two wheels. it was only the massive stopping power of the dual front discs that gave me the maneuvering time to miss all that metal. now, i am not about to trade in my old iron for better brakes. just have to adjust what i thought was my safe margin for error...

[cyrusb]

Any modern car can outbrake a bike. Following distances for bikes should be hefty to survive.

[bob bezin]

glad your safe. what the heck was that guy doing?

[bigweasel]

that was the best part. he screeched to a stop to get in a fist fight. by the time i collected myself, and had turned to figure out what had caused his radical maneuver, and perhaps vent my frustration,  the driver was out on double yellow line, on the middle of the road, trading punches with some other no-neck italian boy. i don't know if it was some old issue, mebbe the one gave the other the finger, mebbe that's just how they do it on long island... can't tell. too frickin' weird. i figured i should be happy i was alive (though i did look around for rod serling) and let it at that.

[jdrouin]

Geez! I'm glad you're OK. I've had some humdingers but nothing quite that close.

Jeff

[redcat]

Yikes!!! I am glad you're going to be around for post #37.

[cochi]

Wow!! Looks like all of your riding experience paid off, that and your guardian angel was on the ball ! Glad you're OK! cochi

[Lahti35]

Glad you're still among the upright bulletiers my friend!

The way things keep getting worse on the road we're all going to have to start wearing depends!

[boggy]

Hey... cool it with the endos ya crazy hooligan. 

Glad to hear you are ok, and a good reminder for sure.  You're walkin' and talkin', so you must have done something right.

[Chuck D]

One of my unscientific rules is if I can read the license plate in front of me, I'm WAY too close. Glad you're OK brother. By the way, I grew up in Bensonhurst. I used too see that s#!t all the time; there were usually prybars involved.
Chuck.

[t120rbullet]

i am not about to trade in my old iron for better brakes. just have to adjust what i thought was my safe margin for error...

Those old Bullets do promote safer riding techniques don't they?
Glad everything turned out OK for ya.
CJ

[scoTTy]

something like this huH?  

ooops forgot the forward..  u tube BMW  doing fronties

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEYXcFigJPw

[RBHoge]

On one occasion, while riding in an Atlanta, Georgia suburb, I had an idiot pull a similar maneuver in front of me.  He was not wanting to fight with his passenger, but had for some reason thought that my old Honda was an insult to him and his neighbourhood.    I am neither a large nor intimidating fellow, and believing that discretion was the better part of valor  .I chose to rely on the maneuverability of the Honda over the agility of his Cadillac  and beat a hasty retreat. Anyway I was running low on ammunition.

[2bikebill]

Now you see  -  that's the kind of thing that stops me exploring urban america.
Lotsa little tribes thinkin they're one big tribe was always going to be trouble - but you keep encouraging this "you can have it all" mentality - soon you wont be able to go anywhere without paying some man.  Am I right?   

[single]

Y'all come on out  here to Missouri,the I'll Show You State.Ain't hardly anyone here,yet.Ride all day and see 10 cars.Lotta curves and hills.And cows.Deer can be trouble in the evenings.People wave at ya,in a friendly way.Sorry about the near miss,except for the miss part.At least you know you have what it takes to survive a situation or two.

[REpozer]

Now you see  -  that's the kind of thing that stops me exploring urban america.
Lotsa little tribes thinkin they're one big tribe was always going to be trouble - but you keep encouraging this "you can have it all" mentality - soon you wont be able to go anywhere without paying some man.  Am I right?   

  Depends on what Hollyweird movie you want to believe.
Always have to be careful of some stupid driver, even in England. Am I right?

[2bikebill]

Hollyweird -  ha ha    But see officer Hoge's post......

Stupid drivers? I knew we had our share, but since I got back on a bike- yikes! It's nearly all of em......

[REpozer]

Hollyweird -  ha ha    But see officer Hoge's post......

Stupid drivers? I knew we had our share, but since I got back on a bike- yikes! It's nearly all of em......

Okay, I reread  Constable Ho(d)ges report. Without all the facts, ..His side only, I can see your apprehension on touring the U.S.
I seem to recall the BBC "Top Gear" did a show on touring the U.S. southern States.  Very comical, but they did make a point to search out every buffoon possible as if they were the "norm".

I  like to travel during daylight hours. Seems to reduce the shenanigans.  I would try to follow that rule even in London.

[2bikebill]

Don't take me toooo seriously on this  -  I believe I was a little stoned when I wrote the first post...
I've driven a few times the length & breadth of the USA, but I do tend to avoid the cities, other than those I have friends in. It's not fear necessarily, but more a love of wide open spaces, endless road, and no traffic. Cities are cities anywhere. There are certainly places in urban UK I wouldn't venture alone after dark - I think it's true of anywhere.
But there really are people, and I know some of em, who are convinced all cities in the USA are given over to full time gang warfare, and rural America is teeming with inbred cannibals armed with chainsaws just waiting for unsuspecting strangers to stray from the freeway....      
It must be true - I seen it in a movie...  

[REpozer]

Don't take me toooo seriously on this  -  I believe I was a little stoned when I wrote the first post...

.
Too seriously? You might be able to tell that I'm all about having a good time on this forum.

Besides, if you find that the lower( lesser) 48 is too mean and nasty (I understand), you can always spend your hard earned GBP's in Alaska.

[2bikebill]

Yoon me both bud  

I never found much mean and nasty apart from that copper who nicked me for speeding in Nebraska.
I do actually have a bit of a hankering to see Alaska.....

[VMAX]

Thanks for sharing the experience. Always good to be reminded about safety