What almost got you this week?

Yeah. I don't do well with big events myself. We have a local bike event that draws 3000~4000 people. I'll take photos of the run, but I won't ride in it. To me it's like Russian Roulette.

I haven't been to a big concert since Alice Cooper played the Bonneville Raceway Park in 1973 (or maybe '74?) That was the one that prompted Utah to outlaw outdoor rock concerts. That was my first and last outdoor concert for sure.

Too many people, too hard to park, fighting traffic, being a captive consumer yeeesh!

We have one of the hottest new concert venues around (Savemart Center) just 4 miles from my house. Our company did the planchecking on the structure. The only time I forced myself to go there for an event was when my daughter graduated from Cal State Fresno.

[cactusjack]

We have a number of large concert venues here in Phoenix. Among them, Celebrity Theater, US Airways Arena, Jobing.com arena, U of Phoenix Stadium, Sun Devil Stadium, and Cricket Pavilion. Cricket Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater that absolutely sucks. Imagine sitting outdoors in Phoenix in the summer, with 20,000 other sweaty people. In addition, it's across the freeway from a sewage treatment plant, so if the wind is blowing the wrong way...

They use Cricket Pavilion for nearly every major concert during the summer. They don't seem to have anything there when it would make sense to, like spring or fall. After the Rush concert last July, it took 2 hours to get out of the parking lot because a Phoenix cop had been shot across the street and they were checking every car coming out of the venue. I swore nothing short of a Led Zeppelin reunion would get me back in that miserable hell-hole. Well, I caved in and have tickets to the Iron Maiden show in May. I figure May wouldn't be as bad as June-Sept. We'll see.

[Yellow Jacket]

Originally Posted by jrd

I was riding yesterday and I came up on an intersection with the light green and I was making a right hand turn (which means I have the right of way) and a guy in a cage was making a left hand turn. He made the turn right in front of me and if I hadn't been watching him he would have clipped me. I still believe that intersections are the most dangerous place for us as motorcycle riders.

Good thread Dan!

John

A few years ago here in Georgia some dumba$$ came up with the idea of putting up yield signs in all right turn lanes. Now if you're at an intersection with a right turn lane you must yield to oncoming traffic making a left turn. But, if the right lane is also a through lane, the vehicle making the right turn has the right of way over oncoming left turning traffic. However, if the right lane has a yield sign part way around the corner, the left turning traffic again has the right of way. It's confusing as Hades and everybody has had to ignore the way it's been (which worked pretty well when you knew that someone turning left always had to yield) since the horse and buggy days. If you are turning right in Georgia, rather than trying to figure out if you have the right of way over someone turning left it's best to just assume that you never have the right of way! I don't know if any other state has gone to this hairbrained policy.

Here people turning right not only assume they have the right of way, they often assume they are the only moving vehicle on the planet, and just mash down the gas regardless of what's coming from the left. Of course they're looking to their left, so anyone trying to pull out of a lot on or near the corner of the street they're turning into is totally ignored.

[dantama]

Originally Posted by caddmannq

Here people turning right not only assume they have the right of way, they often assume they are the only moving vehicle on the planet, and just mash down the gas regardless of what's coming from the left. Of course they're looking to their left, so anyone trying to pull out of a lot on or near the corner of the street they're turning into is totally ignored.

Good point, I'm always extra cautious about being on the other side of what peoples attention is drawn to.

If I'm in the car I'll make a comment to my wife like, "watch this, they won't even look this way when they pull out." Unfourtunatly I'm usually right.

[coacha]

Wife and I were out riding tonight and as we were in the left lane passing a couple slower vehicles, a Tundra decided to start to pull out and pass when we were about even with his drivers door. I hit the gas and got out of there and he swerved back into his lane. Guess he didn't see me. Made the heart thump a little harder.

[dantama]

Coacha,

I almost did the same thing to a little Mazda Miata yesterday while in my car. I make a habit of trying to know where all the cars are around me all the time. Kind of like keeping track of all the chess pieces on a board.

I was on the same multi lane street for a while, and was keeping track of where everyone was behind me as I'd pass them.

Eventually it looked like all that was behind me was a white Escalade that I'd been keeping track of. I was coming up on some slower cars in my lane, but had a clear lane next to me. I almost jumped lanes, then decided that I'd be turning too soon to be worth it, and stayed put.

I slowed for the traffic in front of me, and that miata in the other lane, (that I had completely lost track of and was going the same speed as me in my blind spot for blocks) moved ahead of me, as it didn't need to slow. I was shocked that I had completely lost track of it, nor could I see it in my mirrors. If I had decided to jump lanes, I would have gotten it probably.

It's times like that where I get a little more forgiving of those who do it to me on my bike.

Glad you didn't get hit. Good lesson.

[blowndodge]

Last Friday I was riding to work and had a large city tree trimming truck pull up next to me on the left lane (I was in the right lane next to the curb) and it decided to come into my lane I honed and downshifted and just barely cleared the fron bumper and the truck just pulled over to the side of the road next to the curb to park and never saw me!! Screwed me up for a little while.

[damark115]

I was riding with my 13 year old Saturday. His buddy and the kid's mom were behind us. The car in front of me signalled to go left into a gas station. They started pulling left. As I started passing them to the right They must have seen the gas was a penny less across the street. They just cut the wheel right and drove me into the parking lot of the gas station. I never had time to hit the horn but I yelled like crazy. Never come so close to a moving car before. Maybe 2 inches. Made a mental note to never pass a car again until they actually turn. The folks behind us thought we were dead. I think she was more wound up than I was.

[coacha]

Dang Danmark. I'd have filled my britches on that one for sure.

Had this discussion with my friend who is debating getting a bike but he is a little scared of the possibility of an accident. I told him that if that was an issue, probably better to stay in the car then. That fact is, most people don't pay enough attention for those of us that ride, period.

[cactusjack]

Had a similar experience last week. I work from home on Wednesdays and I rode the bike to Quizno's for lunch. On the way back home, I was going E on Ocotillo Rd. At a major cross street, they were doing construction and had "no left turn" signs posted. There were 3 cars in front of me.

Light turns green and after we cross the intersection, the road reduces to one lane in each direction (still a semi-rural area). About 100 yards past the intersection, the 2 front cars pull to the dirt shoulder to the right, I presume to make a u-turn to go back and turn right at the intersection where they couldn't turn left. The first car pulled off and immediately started to swing the u-turn. The SUV in front of me had to brake hard to keep from t-boning this dizzy broad, which made me brake fairly hard. To make things worse, this lady had to do the u-turn as a 3-point turn, the road was so narrow.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. She had this stupid, clueless look of surprise on her face as she realized she had just turned in front of several vehicles. You think you've seen it all, and then you realize there are really stupid people behind the wheel.

[justbrian]

a mcdonalds

[jrd]

Last night I was riding and was going past a field where kids play soccer, and out from between parked cars comes a soccer ball. Thankfully it glanced off the side of my tires and I didn't run over it. There was absolutely no time to react. I was fortunate on that one.

John

[gshep]

As noted on the trip page, I just got back from Motorcycle Meca, riding the dragon ,Hellbender and other roads in North Carolina and Tennessee.
This is a stock photo ,cause I didn't have time to take a photo, but we met one of these on Highway 276 from Waynesville to Brevard NC. After coming around a right hand blind curve, we met this with about 4 feet of pavement to spare on the right of the truck, This will get your adrenalin pumping.
For those of you fortunate to be in the area of the smokies, 276 in my opinion is a better motorcycle ride than the "Tail of the Dragon" the dragon is over in about 15-20 minutes but this stretch of 276 is 40 miles long with many twisties and hairpins.I highly recommend it.

Shep

[rewindgy]

Wouldn't it be easier to post " What didn't almost get me this Week" ??