Posted by Calgary (Don) on May 15, 2011, 11:20 am
I am sure that subject header will give Krusty a hard on but I am
talking about one of those sphincter pucker moments we sometimes
experience while riding.
Let me set the scene. Yesterday was our annual spring ride to Clive
Alberta. While at this time of year the weather is a crap shoot, the
forecast was for sunny skies and decent temperatures. Buried in the
fine print was a mention of winds 30kph gusting to 50kph. Ok not great
but not bad either.
Unfortunately that 30 to 50 was more like a 50 to 80 gusting crosswind
on the way out and an even stronger headwind on the way home. It made
for a very uncomfortable ride. On the way home I went through 5 US
gallons of gas to cover 114 miles. At today's prices (premium
$1.42/litre) that is a big ouch. The fuel consumption was so high one
of the guys (Suzuki Intruder) who didn't have a gas gauge misjudged his
reserve capacity and ran out of gas.
Now for the pucker moment. After leaving the south boundary of Cowtown
on my way to High River, while approaching a motor home I saw something
fly out of the window of the motor home into my lane. Now this all
happened in a matter of a few seconds so there wasn't a lot of time to
figure out what was going on or what to do. The object looked to be
about 2' square, thin and flat. It had a dark tint and was kind of
flying in the wind. As I was checking my escape routes and slowing down
the object broke into three smaller pieces. It was a frggin tinted
window that blew out of the side of the motor home. The three pieces
spread out and covered all of my paved escape routes, on a vertical
plane just about head high. So I chose to scrub speed, hunker down
behind the windscreen and ride through them trying my best to pick a
line between two of the pieces.
The three pieces of glass all hit the pavement directly in front of me.
The sun was low in the sky and the light reflecting off the now hundreds
of pieces of tinted glass was quite a sight. The wind then grabbed all
the bits and pieces of glass shrapnel and lofted them into the air and
flung them directly at me and my bike. I had no idea what to expect. I
was wearing full gear (textile) but with a 3/4 helmet. Only my face was
exposed and I had it right behind the windscreen, so I felt safe. I was
concerned about a possible blowout and was prepared for that.
As it turned out, all was good. I rode through and over the shrapnel
with no damage done. The experience sure got the adrenalin pumping and
it was one of those pucker moments I will not soon forget.
By the way, we had an awesome time in Clive. Friends from as far away as
Sparwood BC joined us. It was great to see The Crude again.
--
Disclaimer
Do not believe a thing I have said, unless you already know it to be
true, or can independently verify it from another source.
Reeky Ride To The Rockies
http://actualriders.ca/reekyrockies.htm
Posted by Rob Kleinschmidt on May 15, 2011, 11:54 am
wrote:
> Unfortunately that 30 to 50 was more like a 50 to 80 gusting crosswind
> on the way out and an even stronger headwind on the way home. It made
> for a very uncomfortable ride.
> I had no idea what to expect. I
> was wearing full gear (textile) but with a 3/4 helmet. Only my face was
> exposed and I had it right behind the windscreen, so I felt safe. I was
> concerned about a possible blowout and was prepared for that.
> As it turned out, all was good. I rode through and over the shrapnel
> with no damage done. The experience sure got the adrenalin pumping and
> it was one of those pucker moments I will not soon forget.
That's a lot of wind. Glad that you're OK and nothing
bad happened. I guess in conditions like that, maybe
the biggest worry ought to be the other people you're
sharing the road with.
Posted by Calgary (Don) on May 15, 2011, 12:15 pm
On 15/05/2011 9:54 AM, Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> wrote:
>> Unfortunately that 30 to 50 was more like a 50 to 80 gusting crosswind
>> on the way out and an even stronger headwind on the way home. It made
>> for a very uncomfortable ride.
>> I had no idea what to expect. I
>> was wearing full gear (textile) but with a 3/4 helmet. Only my face was
>> exposed and I had it right behind the windscreen, so I felt safe. I was
>> concerned about a possible blowout and was prepared for that.
>>
>> As it turned out, all was good. I rode through and over the shrapnel
>> with no damage done. The experience sure got the adrenalin pumping and
>> it was one of those pucker moments I will not soon forget.
> That's a lot of wind. Glad that you're OK and nothing
> bad happened. I guess in conditions like that, maybe
> the biggest worry ought to be the other people you're
> sharing the road with.
Most of the territory we rode through was farmland. There was a lot if
dust/dirt in the air, lots of debris and at one point I saw a large
piece of plywood flying around. It was well off the road though.
Aside from having a sore neck this morning all is good. I didn't think
the conditions were unsafe. If I did I would have stayed in Red Deer for
the night. Strong winds are not unusual around here. Annoying but not
unusual.
I hope I made it clear, when I referred to the wind speed I was using
metric measurements. KPH not MPH.
--
Disclaimer
Do not believe a thing I have said, unless you already know it to be
true, or can independently verify it from another source.
Reeky Ride To The Rockies
http://actualriders.ca/reekyrockies.htm
Posted by Rob Kleinschmidt on May 15, 2011, 9:37 pm
wrote:
> On 15/05/2011 9:54 AM, Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> > wrote:
> >> Unfortunately that 30 to 50 was more like a 50 to 80 gusting crosswind
> >> on the way out and an even stronger headwind on the way home. It made
> >> for a very uncomfortable ride.
> >> I had no idea what to expect. I
> >> was wearing full gear (textile) but with a 3/4 helmet. Only my face was
> >> exposed and I had it right behind the windscreen, so I felt safe. I was
> >> concerned about a possible blowout and was prepared for that.
> >> As it turned out, all was good. I rode through and over the shrapnel
> >> with no damage done. The experience sure got the adrenalin pumping and
> >> it was one of those pucker moments I will not soon forget.
> > That's a lot of wind. Glad that you're OK and nothing
> > bad happened. I guess in conditions like that, maybe
> > the biggest worry ought to be the other people you're
> > sharing the road with.
> Most of the territory we rode through was farmland. There was a lot if
> dust/dirt in the air, lots of debris and at one point I saw a large
> piece of plywood flying around. It was well off the road though.
> Aside from having a sore neck this morning all is good. I didn't think
> the conditions were unsafe. If I did I would have stayed in Red Deer for
> the night. Strong winds are not unusual around here. Annoying but not
> unusual.
> I hope I made it clear, when I referred to the wind speed I was using
> metric measurements. KPH not MPH.
If I did the math right, 80 kph = ~ 50 mph. As I said,
I'd worry more than anything else about people I shared
the road with. Tourists in particular have been known to
freak out and cause accidents doing stupid stuff like
dodging tumbleweeds.
Posted by Calgary (Don) on May 15, 2011, 9:58 pm
On 15/05/2011 7:37 PM, Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> wrote:
>> On 15/05/2011 9:54 AM, Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>> Unfortunately that 30 to 50 was more like a 50 to 80 gusting crosswind
>>>> on the way out and an even stronger headwind on the way home. It made
>>>> for a very uncomfortable ride.
>>
>>>> I had no idea what to expect. I
>>>> was wearing full gear (textile) but with a 3/4 helmet. Only my face was
>>>> exposed and I had it right behind the windscreen, so I felt safe. I was
>>>> concerned about a possible blowout and was prepared for that.
>>
>>>> As it turned out, all was good. I rode through and over the shrapnel
>>>> with no damage done. The experience sure got the adrenalin pumping and
>>>> it was one of those pucker moments I will not soon forget.
>>
>>> That's a lot of wind. Glad that you're OK and nothing
>>> bad happened. I guess in conditions like that, maybe
>>> the biggest worry ought to be the other people you're
>>> sharing the road with.
>>
>> Most of the territory we rode through was farmland. There was a lot if
>> dust/dirt in the air, lots of debris and at one point I saw a large
>> piece of plywood flying around. It was well off the road though.
>>
>> Aside from having a sore neck this morning all is good. I didn't think
>> the conditions were unsafe. If I did I would have stayed in Red Deer for
>> the night. Strong winds are not unusual around here. Annoying but not
>> unusual.
>>
>> I hope I made it clear, when I referred to the wind speed I was using
>> metric measurements. KPH not MPH.
> If I did the math right, 80 kph = ~ 50 mph. As I said,
> I'd worry more than anything else about people I shared
> the road with. Tourists in particular have been known to
> freak out and cause accidents doing stupid stuff like
> dodging tumbleweeds.
OK, we don't consider it dangerously windy until the wind is tipping
over tractor trailers.
--
Disclaimer
Do not believe a thing I have said, unless you already know it to be
true, or can independently verify it from another source.
Reeky Ride To The Rockies
http://actualriders.ca/reekyrockies.htm
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> on the way out and an even stronger headwind on the way home. It made
> for a very uncomfortable ride.
> I had no idea what to expect. I
> was wearing full gear (textile) but with a 3/4 helmet. Only my face was
> exposed and I had it right behind the windscreen, so I felt safe. I was
> concerned about a possible blowout and was prepared for that.
> As it turned out, all was good. I rode through and over the shrapnel
> with no damage done. The experience sure got the adrenalin pumping and
> it was one of those pucker moments I will not soon forget.