Ashamed or proud, whcih should I be?

[FZyLarry]

Ashamed or proud, which should I be?

Well today's ride was a bit more interesting than usual. I was going to take the long way round to meet the wife & her mom for lunch. To make sure I got a nice ride in this weekend I decided that going east then heading up to meet them would be a great idea because it would give me about 120 miles of twisties/country road riding.

I ride the first 60 or so miles of this route relatively frequently so I know it pretty well. When I got to some of the early twisties there was a motorhome pulling a car with two other cars behind it. Needless to say it was going pretty slow and I was kinda bummed but I figured I'd be patient and find a spot to get by. Pretty soon I had a decent opportunity to get by the last car in the parade but not enough to get them all. Around the next bend there is a pretty good straight with decent visibility and I got my chance to blow by the other car and the motorhome. When I look in my mirror after completing the pass I see that the first car I passed is now passing the motohome. I don't think much of this and just continue on at my normal pace (brisk but not blistering by any means)

Well the next time I check my mirror, the car that passed the motorhome is pretty much on my tail (not in a dangerous way, just in that "I could be going faster" way). Normally I stick to my ride and let people go by me but hey, this was a car and I guess I was feeling froggy. I kicked my pace up a knotch but this guy was sticking in there like glue. Up ahead I new there was a really technical part and I was pretty sure I would distance myself from him there.

So begins my ashamed/proud adventure. I am coming up on a corner that is really tight right hander (about 45° included angle and uphill) - I know as I approach my normal braking point I am going in to fast so I get on the break pretty hard and hold it well into the beginning of the turn. Well I guess this really lightened the rear end and it starts sliding out. I start easing off the break and trying to stand it up but that lets me drift over into the on coming lane - like half way into it. The rear tire finally gets some grip and I gas it a bit and get back in my lane.

I take a few breaths and look in my mirror and there is my buddy. I'm sure he got a pretty good laugh out of that one. Well I knew I'd gone over my head so I took a few more breaths and settled back into a more normal pace. However, the guy is still there and I am still to dumb to pull over & let him by so we go through a few more technical areas with no incidents me pulling away and then him pulling back. Pretty soon we are coming up on a nice sweeping 90° right hander. This turn is pretty nice and you could probably really blast through it except, there is a hiking trail head that is entered right from the apex of the turn. So, when people pull out of there they drag sand and gravel onto the road. I know this and usually take it a little slower than necessary just to be safe. Well, not today, I go in there at a reasonable speed and all is going well when I feel the rear end kicking out again. I ease off the throttle and it comes back in just fine so I give it some gas and continue on no problem.

By now I figure I've used up all my luck so at the next scenic overlook I pull over to gather my wits and take a time out. My buddy in the car speeds on by with out so much as a wave.

So, here's where the pole comes in. I have mixed emotions on what happened today, on one hand I am ashamed of myself for riding over my head just because somebody was pushing me (I never let the fast guys in our riding group tempt me like that). On the other hand I am proud that I kept my head and saved it on both occasions. And of course I am thankful that somebody was watching out for me when I got way left of center in that first turn.

 

[DefyInertia]

I voted ashamed. Can I vote for it twice?

"Slower Traffic Please Use Pull-Outs"

Good thing the car didn't pull out for the pass at the same time you did for your FIRST pass (did you consider that?)

Crossing the double-yellow = bona fide Russian Roulet

Now, I'm no saint and have done similary STUPID things...

 

[FZyLarry]

I did consider that and I think I executed that part of it relatively cleanly. But there is no argument from me, when you make a decision to go over the double yellow, you are entering the risk zone.

 

[wrightme43]

I have a naked bike, rashed up jacket, boot, pants, bar end, lever, shifter, peg and what not from being a little to ****y. Save it for a closed course.

Pretend the yellow line is a wall. You died today. Thats the game I play in my mind.

 

[Steph]

I voted both. I think you should be ashamed for doing something like that but proud that you didn't kill yourself while attempting a move like that...twice.:spank:

 

[Hollow]

I believe we all have made mistakes in our lives and made bad choices but I am not the one asking the question. I voted ashamed because you let the bad part of humans take over the good part of us. Yeah you saved it and I am glad for you and the others that could had been in the way. I mean think if a car had hit you and you had died or been injuried somehow for life it does'nt effect just you but the others also. They have to live with all the things that just happend, they saw, and experienced. So you know I have had similar things happen to me and omw home I was thinking about some of the things I did. I felt ashamed of myself.

 

[ozzieboy]

G'day mate. I didn't vote, as it's not my job to judge you and you will know exactly how to feel if you listen to the little voices in your mind (Don't listen to the ones with the mushrooms though:spank::spank::spank.

IF you are going to show off or try to prove something, you really need to choose your spots better though. Corners that you can do smoothly and quickly are the place to go smoothly and quickly.

I can't say anything though. Over here we get shmos trying it on all the time, or trying to make it hard to overtake. If you beat them a little they will keep trying. If you flog them then slow down deliberately and flog them again they will usually stop playing and you can go back to riding the way you want to. So I have done it too:spank::spank::spank:.

Little tip though. If someone looks like they want to go faster than you do and don't look like they will slow you down....make it easy for them to pass and then go back to what you are doing. He has four large contact patches, so things like oil, water, sand or gravel effect him less, so he's sitting comfortably in his car while you're risking your 455. And if it's something like a Mitsi GT3000 or a GTR Skyline then you ARE slowing him down...lol.

Glad you came out OK:thumbup:

Cheers
Mike

 

[FZ1inNH]

In the words of Red Foreman.... "Dumbass!"

j/k! Well, I do hope you learned something valuable here. I'm afraid the next time you decide to do the stupid part, your bucket of luck might come up empty. Please use common sense and for God's sake, ride within your own limits.

We don't want to read about you in the news. We'd like to see you posting here for a long time.

 

[Red Wazp]

Gotta go with Ozzieboy, can't vote on this one due to the M/C karma dudes. I do like Wrightme43 idea-pretend the line is a wall. Touch it game over.
At my last track day with Reg Pridmore he was very clear about staying away from the Yellow line, it's a killer. Too many cagers cut over it.

 

[cv_rider]

That first indication that you are nervous in a corner (or the extreme case - crossing the yellow line) is the shot across your bow that you are riding over your head. Take heed of that warning! Read that in an article, it sort of stuck in my mind.

 

[cv_rider]

At my last track day with Reg Pridmore he was very clear about staying away from the Yellow line, it's a killer. Too many cagers cut over it.

Yet the propper turning procedure of outside-inside-outside has you near the yellow line at the start of a right hand turn, before you cut in to the white line (shoulder) with the late apex. I've had an instance of hanging out near the yellow at the start of a turn and being surprised by a cager doing the same coming the other way. We were both in our lanes, but it startled me because we were near each other and made me wonder if starting the right hand turn near the yellow line really is the best technique.

 

[scottsst]

I voted a little bit of both . Just for the fact that I have done the same thing before I consider it a lesson learned . I'm the sameway I tend to let others do their own thing . but for some reason some times I get a wild hair and go crazy . next time just say to your self what to I need to prove save it for the track

 

[JayJay]

Ashamed.
Never ever let anyone intimidate you.

 

[Philippe1985]

Look, we all make mistakes. But the good part is that mistakes that don't have a negative impact on the long turn are mostly well learned lessons.
The fact that you do open here a poll for us actually reveals you need confirmation from an external source. And that is a normal thing if you don't have a good way of placing those things inside your head. You do feel like both of them and you don't know why you feel both. Emotions and cognitions are things who tend to occur together. So if you feel both, that means inside your head you are searching for a cognitive way to place your experience. Well, I've been there myself. And I think everyone of us will get there once.
And the thing that helped me, is the cognition(=explenation of what happened to yourself) to be thankfull for the fact that you learned something very important without hurting yourself or others. But ofcourse you won't find yourself comfortable because it seems that the lesson you learned is a consequence of less adaptive behavior of yourself(and it is), but realise that the fact that you don't feel comfy with it is enough. Because you will find yourself in the near future acting more adaptive in similar conditions. And than it is time to be proud!!!!!Because then you applied the things you learned. But the learningprocess happens the moment you reflect afterwarts over your "bad experience", so be aware of that learningprocess and be proud then aswell. You have to be proud as much as you feel guilty. This way guilt doesn't do you harm. It is ok to feel sorry, to regret. Because regret motivates you to do better in the future. Guilt on the contrary is a destructive emotion. It makes you feel bad and gets down you self-image.


So my advice would be: be glad that you learned, and don't be to hard on yourself. Develop the right cognitions to deal with unexpected (life)lessons. In this case it is easy because there aren't really negative consequenses. But if there would be, and you don't have a proper way of placing those things in your head, then you can really feel bad... Life is a lesson, you learn it while you do...

 

[abacall]

Don't let anyone dictate your pace. You put yourself and others in a bad situation. If you would have slid off, you could have taken others with you.

Ok, lecture over. Go back out there and have some fun. BTW, what car was it?

 

[lonesoldier84]

Pretend the yellow line is a wall. You died today. Thats the game I play in my mind.

can someone make a sticky thread somewhere called, "classic quotes" and add that one as the first?

wise words mate. Ive rarely done what OP says (happened a few times in urban areas where there was not much traffic) but when it has happened I take a time-out and think about my family. That really sobers me up for a long, long time and tones my riding way down.

 

[FZyLarry]

First let me thank all of you for the comments. After thinking about this for a day, the answer in my head is quiet clear. To put it like one of the respondents said from the Red Foreman perspective, I was a "dumb ass".

I am normally quite good at riding my own ride. I'm not sure what got me fired up to the point I went in over my head yesterday, maybe it was because it was a car, maybe I was just in pure dumb ass mode. Whatever the case, many of your comments were spot on and I thank you for them. I intend on taking this lesson to heart and making sure I don't repeat it in the future. I do have a family and so do most of the people out there on the road with me. I don't want to ruin anyone's day and with just a bit of different luck I certainly could have done that.

Just to answer the question of what car was it and the comments about 4 contact patches vs. 2. I didn't really notice the exact model when I was originally behind the guy but it was a Japanese coupe and fairly new. Interestingly enough, after I pulled over for my time out I got back on the road and about 10 miles farther along there were about a dozen little sporty cars in a parking lot. I assume that they were having a weekend meet up. Not sure if my buddy was in that group or not but maybe he was up there looking for a little fun as well. In any case, that would be lesson number 2 for the day. Just because it's a car doesn't mean your faster.

Again, thanks to all for the comments. I promise to be more intelligent from now on and stick to my ride.

 

[wrightme43]

Please also remember that almost all of us have that fight or flight thrill of the chase, hunter killer insticnt in us as well. Our ancestors were survivors. The bike/man interface feeds into that, and can amplify it as well. I am guilty of it as well. We wouldnt ride if it didnt do something for us.

 

[SovietRobot]

I've run into this instance once or twice. You have an absolute ****sucker behind you going as fast as his tercel will take him, because he's got 4 wheels and doesn't have to worry about apexes and gravel and sand and water, so he rides on your ass causing you to be nervous, take your attention off the road, and take risks.

Best thing to do is slow down, if he is too close, look back and give him the look, honk if needed, flash your brake lights.

Some people don't belong on the road. Don't let them ruin your fun.

 

[DefyInertia]

I've run into this instance once or twice. You have an absolute ****sucker behind you going as fast as his tercel will take him, because he's got 4 wheels and doesn't have to worry about apexes and gravel and sand and water, so he rides on your ass causing you to be nervous, take your attention off the road, and take risks.

Best thing to do is slow down, if he is too close, look back and give him the look, honk if needed, flash your brake lights.

Some people don't belong on the road. Don't let them ruin your fun.

Slower Traffic Use Turn-Outs :thumbup: