I have seen this rider before. We usually ride in the morning right around the same time. We get on the freeway at the same entrance and get off around the same area. He rides an old cruiser.

We “met” again today’s morning. He got in a car pool lane slightly ahead of me. I did not bother overtaking. It is actually easier to follow someone in a car pool lane than setting a pace. Usually this rider is pretty fast for a cruiser. In my opinion faster than he should be. Today I saw the proof of that.

As he picked up speed he was going through the area where vehicles are allowed to enter or exit the car pool lane. Suddenly a middle aged Asian lady driving a blue Camry merged right into the car pool lane and coincidentally right into the cruiser rider. He dodged and began weaving frantically trying to regain control of his bike. It took him at least a couple of seconds to do that. That was a true “oh, shit” moment for him I am sure. Trying to stabilize a weaving cruiser in between two lanes full of cars and trucks. The rider prevailed. He went on … at the same quick pace.

Being right behind him I saw the whole thing unfold. And I know I am not nearly that experienced to objectively judge other riders. But I do believe that the pace he was going at was a bit fast. May be if you are on a smaller bike like a Monster or an SV that speed would have been acceptable. These bikes are lighter and not as wide.

I sincerely hope this was the last “oh, shit” moment for him. Although it does seem that with that pace there are more to come in his future. I guess not every one learns even from their own mistakes. I want to believe I do.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 am and is filed under Motorcycles, Street, Riding, Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.