:: Driving me Crazy... ::

:: Monday, June 16, 2003 ::

Most of the time, bikers are very careful people. After all, they're quite vulnerable if they drop the bike, and there's not a great deal of crash protection. So why is it that as soon as the sun comes out, significant numbers of them lose all sense of self-preservation? I was followed this evening by a bike at a distance of about one foot. This is around RAF Newton, a twisty piece of tarmac covered in roadkill- there are lots of rabbits in the abandoned RAF base and they're not learning the green cross code. The car in front was visibly hesitant, and hadn't actually changed speed since leaving Ratcliffe on Trent. Though they'd gone through that village at 40mph.

Anyway, the bike's flashed up from out of nowhere, and is sitting right on the bumper. I tried slowing down, I tried driving as far left as I could but the bike wouldn't go. Eventually, they decided it was 'safe' to overtake and pulled out. I put safe in quotes because I'm not sure what constitutes safe to someone who thinks 12 inches is a suitable braking distance. Had I hit the brakes he would have probably been catapulted straight over the car so I could run over him. It can't have been a personal thing becuase the rider did exactly the same to the car in front. I had something similar on the A46 with a Honda Goldwing, though there's a bit more of an excuse for one of those; it's almost as wide as some cars. And both rider and passenger waved thankyou when they went past so at least they understood what I was trying to do.

The only conclusion I can come to is that for some people the hot sun on the crash helmet forces the brain to overheat. It's the same effect that allows these people to assume that since leather is cow skin, their own skin must be just as good at protecting them in a fall.
:: Gary 16.6.03 [+] ::
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