firewatch
what a n00b
First off, it's been about 15 hours since the incident, and I'm not feeling any real injuries. Had some sensitivity around the back of my left ribs, and my left knee (which is already crappy) feels aggravated. No bruising anywhere.
Gear: Shoei RF-1200, Alpinestars leather jacket, Bilt Trophy leather gloves, Bilt Iron Workers jeans, Alpinestars Tech 5 MX boots
All except the helmet made some contact with the ground. Tech 5 boots probably saved me from a world of hurt, as the bike landed RIGHT on my leg, and I felt the Astars logo sliding on the pavement. This is literally the reason I normally commute with MX boots! Jacket has no visible damage, jeans have two small holes where I carry my flashlight in the left rear pocket, gloves barely scraped as I pretty much just held onto the bars until my sliding speed was low.
What happened: splitting between lanes 1 and 2 on 101 North around 9:30am, probably a delta of 20mph. Fiat changes lanes as traffic was slowing ahead, and spends a decent amount of time slowing in between the lanes. While braking my front tire contacted the rear bumper, maybe just hard enough to pop some plastic rivets off, and sent my rear tire around my right side, low siding in the far left lane at maybe 15mph. Only slid for a few yards, maybe.
My mistakes identified so far:
Delta. I may have been as fast as 40mph, and traffic in that section may have slowed to 10mph, leaving up to a 30mph delta. I believe it was more like 20mph delta, as that's where I feel comfortable, but I could have been going faster. Truthfully, I was tired of the changes in speed so I wasn't on top of it. I wasn't being a dumbass on purpose :rolleyes
Better rear brake control. I started to slide almost immediately, and let it keep sliding to avoid a high side. Because the rear tire was already sliding it ensured that I went down when my tire tapped the bumper.
Target fixation. I found myself looking at the rear bumper as I got closer, while I probably could have swerved right. This is debatable, as the rear tire was already sliding to the right. Had I tried to swerve right I may have high sided. (or would I?) Then we circle back to brake control! Neverending loop!
Afterwards: The driver of the truck behind me stopped quickly and even pulled over to give me his business card. The Fiat driver also stopped and we exchanged phone numbers and license info. Both have replied and everything seems fine. Don't think I'll bother with filing a claim, as it was an honest mistake of her not realizing that traffic was slowing while she changes lanes. The reason for such a slow down was a previous traffic accident, about 100 yards ahead. The left lane was blocked, so it kind of explains the situation.
Gear: Shoei RF-1200, Alpinestars leather jacket, Bilt Trophy leather gloves, Bilt Iron Workers jeans, Alpinestars Tech 5 MX boots
All except the helmet made some contact with the ground. Tech 5 boots probably saved me from a world of hurt, as the bike landed RIGHT on my leg, and I felt the Astars logo sliding on the pavement. This is literally the reason I normally commute with MX boots! Jacket has no visible damage, jeans have two small holes where I carry my flashlight in the left rear pocket, gloves barely scraped as I pretty much just held onto the bars until my sliding speed was low.
What happened: splitting between lanes 1 and 2 on 101 North around 9:30am, probably a delta of 20mph. Fiat changes lanes as traffic was slowing ahead, and spends a decent amount of time slowing in between the lanes. While braking my front tire contacted the rear bumper, maybe just hard enough to pop some plastic rivets off, and sent my rear tire around my right side, low siding in the far left lane at maybe 15mph. Only slid for a few yards, maybe.
My mistakes identified so far:
Delta. I may have been as fast as 40mph, and traffic in that section may have slowed to 10mph, leaving up to a 30mph delta. I believe it was more like 20mph delta, as that's where I feel comfortable, but I could have been going faster. Truthfully, I was tired of the changes in speed so I wasn't on top of it. I wasn't being a dumbass on purpose :rolleyes
Better rear brake control. I started to slide almost immediately, and let it keep sliding to avoid a high side. Because the rear tire was already sliding it ensured that I went down when my tire tapped the bumper.
Target fixation. I found myself looking at the rear bumper as I got closer, while I probably could have swerved right. This is debatable, as the rear tire was already sliding to the right. Had I tried to swerve right I may have high sided. (or would I?) Then we circle back to brake control! Neverending loop!
Afterwards: The driver of the truck behind me stopped quickly and even pulled over to give me his business card. The Fiat driver also stopped and we exchanged phone numbers and license info. Both have replied and everything seems fine. Don't think I'll bother with filing a claim, as it was an honest mistake of her not realizing that traffic was slowing while she changes lanes. The reason for such a slow down was a previous traffic accident, about 100 yards ahead. The left lane was blocked, so it kind of explains the situation.
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