(...Sorry, this is a longish whine, please humor me
...)
So on my way to work this morning I had a pretty typical MSF moment -- got caught in a clot of traffic on a big divided state road (MD410) and some dimwit justs swings right into my lane, with me still in it.
(...I hate going to work early -- like today -- because traffic is so dense and confused, but there you have it...)
Since I was caught a bit flat footed, I didn't remember what was behind me so it was down to the Toyota or the curb so, naturally, I put the spurs to 'er, blew past the car, a short bus, and a dump truck, and I was free of the traffic.
Like I said, pretty typical, and nothing much came of it.
FFW to this evening, and I take the missus and the rugrat out (in the car) on some country roads around 8:30pm so that we could take in the night air and (hopefully) so our son would fall asleep, freeing up some husband/wife time later.
Thumpa thumpa, a tire goes flat, and I pull over on a dark stretch of road in serial killer country. Since the shoulder was a swamp, I was still much in the road and a prime target. An Integra brushes me back at 100+ mph, and I get nervous.
As I'm putting on the donut, however, two cars stop and bracket me with some light and I have a nice chat with the drivers (husband/wife, also) while I change the tire. They see my boots, they ride also, we talk about bikes and guns.
Then I look hard at one of their cars, and I have the sickening feeling that I'd blown by it on my bike once very recently at a high rate of speed on one of these country stetches (also my route home from work every night).
It hits me all at once. God I hate this area's roads. I've encountered nice people today, idiots, nutball ricers, you name it, and I don't know why I even try to enjoy myself on a bike around here, all things being equal.
It's not the risk, that doesn't bother me, I'm insured to the hilt anyway. It's not riding in all conditions, I kind of like that. It's that I don't get do enjoy my bike, even though I ride it all of the time and go out of my way to find good roads.
(...I LOVE riding. It's way fun. Why can't all these losers find somewhere else to drive, eh?...)
I would feel like a slug if I had to return to four wheels after a couple of years of non-stop moto commuting, but then maybe I'd look inward and lose some weight finally. I dunno. I just hate all this busted-ass pavement and numbskull drivers.
<!--EDIT|mcoyote
Reason for Edit: None given...|1079761296 -->
So on my way to work this morning I had a pretty typical MSF moment -- got caught in a clot of traffic on a big divided state road (MD410) and some dimwit justs swings right into my lane, with me still in it.
(...I hate going to work early -- like today -- because traffic is so dense and confused, but there you have it...)
Since I was caught a bit flat footed, I didn't remember what was behind me so it was down to the Toyota or the curb so, naturally, I put the spurs to 'er, blew past the car, a short bus, and a dump truck, and I was free of the traffic.
Like I said, pretty typical, and nothing much came of it.
FFW to this evening, and I take the missus and the rugrat out (in the car) on some country roads around 8:30pm so that we could take in the night air and (hopefully) so our son would fall asleep, freeing up some husband/wife time later.
Thumpa thumpa, a tire goes flat, and I pull over on a dark stretch of road in serial killer country. Since the shoulder was a swamp, I was still much in the road and a prime target. An Integra brushes me back at 100+ mph, and I get nervous.
As I'm putting on the donut, however, two cars stop and bracket me with some light and I have a nice chat with the drivers (husband/wife, also) while I change the tire. They see my boots, they ride also, we talk about bikes and guns.
Then I look hard at one of their cars, and I have the sickening feeling that I'd blown by it on my bike once very recently at a high rate of speed on one of these country stetches (also my route home from work every night).
It hits me all at once. God I hate this area's roads. I've encountered nice people today, idiots, nutball ricers, you name it, and I don't know why I even try to enjoy myself on a bike around here, all things being equal.
It's not the risk, that doesn't bother me, I'm insured to the hilt anyway. It's not riding in all conditions, I kind of like that. It's that I don't get do enjoy my bike, even though I ride it all of the time and go out of my way to find good roads.
(...I LOVE riding. It's way fun. Why can't all these losers find somewhere else to drive, eh?...)
I would feel like a slug if I had to return to four wheels after a couple of years of non-stop moto commuting, but then maybe I'd look inward and lose some weight finally. I dunno. I just hate all this busted-ass pavement and numbskull drivers.
<!--EDIT|mcoyote
Reason for Edit: None given...|1079761296 -->
