necrotimus
Stop looking at my title!
It was tough for me to decide where to put this post but after much thought I figured there was just too much shame envolved to put it in lessons learned. So today I had two very unique experiences. One scared the crap out of me and one was uniquely embarassing.
Today for the first time I dragged a knee... unfortunately it was not on purpose. Part of my commute is exciting off of 95s HOV lanes onto an overhead bridge. The bridge's road surface in some places is put together with metal resembling the rails of railroad track. This can be very slick and even worse in the rain. One of these metal joints is strategically placed to be an issue just as you lean into a right hand turn, today is the first time it has given me a problem though. There was a break in the crossing traffic and I was free to merge. I didn't give the bike any more throttle than I normally do I just think my line took my rear tire over the metal just as I started to get the bike leaned over. The rear tire stepped WAY out as it slide along the metal, probably a good two feet. I realized what was happening and had no option but to just go with it. Luckily I stayed even on the throttle as the bike was basically sliding horizontally and the lean angle turned into a slow descent. A lot of the movement was lateral instead of vertical so it was like falling in slow motion. The slide now had me pointed at the bridge wall which was exciting! My knee hit the ground and I pushed off hard. I'm not sure if this caused the rear tire to finally catch or if it just finally got traction. I got the bike straightened up a few feet from the wall and rode away with no incident.
The first incident almost had me crap my pants but the second...
Notice: Khaki pants shouldn't be worn in the rain because wetness is easily visible. Wearing rain gear on a motorcycle is not 100% waterproof. Riding a motorcycle in the rain creates a perfect place for water to pool... your lap. Luckily I was able to cover up my shame with my bag... at least until I had to walk through the metal dector in the lobby.
While I was getting dressed the drizzle had turned into a few drops and I actually thought about if I should wear the khakis today. I thought I would be fine but the skys opened up on the way to the metro. Sometimes my lap gets cold without being wet so I was hoping this was the case. Once I parked and took my gear off I realized how bad it was. After I park I don't just have a short walk... I have a significant walk to go get on the train, then a long ride on the train, and then a long walk to work. The walk to the train was nerve wracking. I used my bag to discretly cover my crotch but I kept thinking maybe the bottom was showing or it didn't look natural at all. I was really afraid a cop would stop me for a random bag search. I made it on to the train without a problem and once I got a seat relaxed some and rode with my bag in my lap. I was confident I would arrive at work dry because normally that would be plenty of time for my pants to dry. But because I had to cover it with my bag my pants where still very noticable. I then realized that I would have to relinquish my bag when I got to work to pass through the metal dectors. I walked slowly from the train to work trying me best to get my pants uniformly wet but it was an impossible task. I finally got to my building and was hoping for an empty lobby. However my walk of shame was to have several witnesses. I placed my bag on the X ray machine and was about to walk through the metal dector and retrieve my bag... no more than 20 secs without my bag normally... and there was a back up because a guy had to get wanded. There I was standing in the middle of a crowded lobby with my wet crotch for almost 5 minutes. FINALLY I was able to retreive my bag and cover my shame. I havent left my desk since.
Today for the first time I dragged a knee... unfortunately it was not on purpose. Part of my commute is exciting off of 95s HOV lanes onto an overhead bridge. The bridge's road surface in some places is put together with metal resembling the rails of railroad track. This can be very slick and even worse in the rain. One of these metal joints is strategically placed to be an issue just as you lean into a right hand turn, today is the first time it has given me a problem though. There was a break in the crossing traffic and I was free to merge. I didn't give the bike any more throttle than I normally do I just think my line took my rear tire over the metal just as I started to get the bike leaned over. The rear tire stepped WAY out as it slide along the metal, probably a good two feet. I realized what was happening and had no option but to just go with it. Luckily I stayed even on the throttle as the bike was basically sliding horizontally and the lean angle turned into a slow descent. A lot of the movement was lateral instead of vertical so it was like falling in slow motion. The slide now had me pointed at the bridge wall which was exciting! My knee hit the ground and I pushed off hard. I'm not sure if this caused the rear tire to finally catch or if it just finally got traction. I got the bike straightened up a few feet from the wall and rode away with no incident.
The first incident almost had me crap my pants but the second...
Notice: Khaki pants shouldn't be worn in the rain because wetness is easily visible. Wearing rain gear on a motorcycle is not 100% waterproof. Riding a motorcycle in the rain creates a perfect place for water to pool... your lap. Luckily I was able to cover up my shame with my bag... at least until I had to walk through the metal dector in the lobby.
While I was getting dressed the drizzle had turned into a few drops and I actually thought about if I should wear the khakis today. I thought I would be fine but the skys opened up on the way to the metro. Sometimes my lap gets cold without being wet so I was hoping this was the case. Once I parked and took my gear off I realized how bad it was. After I park I don't just have a short walk... I have a significant walk to go get on the train, then a long ride on the train, and then a long walk to work. The walk to the train was nerve wracking. I used my bag to discretly cover my crotch but I kept thinking maybe the bottom was showing or it didn't look natural at all. I was really afraid a cop would stop me for a random bag search. I made it on to the train without a problem and once I got a seat relaxed some and rode with my bag in my lap. I was confident I would arrive at work dry because normally that would be plenty of time for my pants to dry. But because I had to cover it with my bag my pants where still very noticable. I then realized that I would have to relinquish my bag when I got to work to pass through the metal dectors. I walked slowly from the train to work trying me best to get my pants uniformly wet but it was an impossible task. I finally got to my building and was hoping for an empty lobby. However my walk of shame was to have several witnesses. I placed my bag on the X ray machine and was about to walk through the metal dector and retrieve my bag... no more than 20 secs without my bag normally... and there was a back up because a guy had to get wanded. There I was standing in the middle of a crowded lobby with my wet crotch for almost 5 minutes. FINALLY I was able to retreive my bag and cover my shame. I havent left my desk since.
