mike

External Since: Sep 05, 2003 Posts: 1068

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 10:10:58 -0700, Jim Hall <jdhall RemoveThis @nospammolaplateng.co>
wrote:

>
>You most assuredly do *not* want to swerve to miss a rodent on the
>road.

I'm still putting together my "final report" on the incident, but I don't
think I'm saying I should have done some big limit-of-my-ability swerve.
No way... Hell... I'll run over Rowdy if I have to go big. My point is I
should have seen it better (I finally *see* the small to medium black
holes that are out there at night now... I don't assume I can connect the
hot spots with impunity). I have no problem with my braking and actually,
I think I did a good job. And my evade move should have been left.. not
right. Bad decision with no excuse. I knew better on that going in. And
since I actually do a dozen or so brake/evades on every ride, and work on
missing crap like.. every 5 minutes... I'm saying I had it in me, and that
if instead of being a possum, Carl was a dog or a deer or a drunk or a
log, the outcome would have been worse.

>
>When I was very much younger, I used to have to drive home from work
>at night along country roads that bordered alfalfa fields and the
>adjoining desert. This was rabbit city I would average hitting at
>least one rabbit a night, and there were times that I hit three or
>four.

That had to suck. There was this summer when I was a kid when all the
lawns in the neighborhood were frog city. I mean... like.. there was no
such thing as a frog that was more than 10" from another frog. And my dad
made me mow the lawn with all the frogs on it. The first pass with the
Pennsylvania riding mower was obviously the hardest... I'd go *really*
slow.. like Ironside going up hill slow. I'd hear their little rubbery
frog bodies thudding around in the fucking mower deck and it was just
brutal. I felt terrible. The discharge shoot was spraying this gross thick
mix of green and red and when you'd stop it on the driveway or the
flagstones, it dripped a fair amount of blood, which I would have to clean
up. You can imagine how the rock wall looked after I mowed along that
thing... ICK.

>
>I'm saying this, not to illustrate how sadistic and uncaring I am.

I already knew that, but thanks.

>
>When the Sunday paper would roll around and local accident statistics
>were published, there would invariably be several accidents and
>rollovers a week from people swerving to miss rabbits. Quite often
>there were injuries. A significant number were fatalities.

Jeebus... my reality model not only has to recognize possums escaping from
black holes now, but some liquored up raggie in big iron with no brakes
and bald tires swerving around one of Carl's friends with me coming the
other way. Damn it!

>
>Week in and week out, there would be statements from the cops telling
>people to go ahead and hit the dammed rabbit, rather than put
>themselves and their families lives at risk.

That makes a ton of sense. I'm just saying it wasn't a stretch move to
miss him, but I was wired up wrong then.

>
>You too.

Appreciated Sir... How's the injury doing? You should be about done now...
no?

Mike

>
>Jim Hall
>520 EXC
>950 LC8 Adventure
>turning Money into Noise...

--
Mike W.
96 XR400
74 CZ250 Enduro
70 CT70
71 KG 100 (Hodaka-powered)
99 KZ1000P
BRC, AMA, NETRA, NOHVCC, NRA

"Why do they call it Cobra Grass?"

External Since: Sep 05, 2003 Posts: 1068

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 16:00:08 -0400, "Jay C"
<jwcNOSPAM DeleteThis @NOSPAMsysmatrix.net> wrote:

>
>Jesus man, you DO ride off-road, doncha? Stand up, lean back, and **PAFF**
>sit back down. Using log-crossing 101 techniques, you can ride over most
>animals up to and including medium dogs. Large dogs involve log-crossing
>201 and enough HP to lift the front end in a pinch.
>
>Jay

Hey... I got over Carl! I was up on the boards. And.. I got my front wheel
by him too... it was sorta like that little move us old dude used to make
back in the day on narrow stretch of TST before quads were discovered.

Mike
On Any Possum

--
Mike W.
96 XR400
74 CZ250 Enduro
70 CT70
71 KG 100 (Hodaka-powered)
99 KZ1000P
BRC, AMA, NETRA, NOHVCC, NRA

"Why do they call it Cobra Grass?"