Little Ducky's big adventure

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jbcollier
Posts: 4077
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:50 pm

Post by jbcollier »

Nil - Nil draw between Ducati and Volvo !

Yup, last few kilometres of a 120 kilometre ride and a Volvo decided to pounce out of a stop sign to see if I was playing attention. Really, the trouble the local drivers take to make sure you're sharp is quite touching, almost feels like home.

Lovely day though and a lovely ride as well. Bit of a trip down memory lane as I visited the house where I grew up, old high school, etc, etc.

The Ducati is nice and stable and I just need to work on the nut behind the bars. I simply just can't let go and heel it right over. While I'm not slow, I'm way faster in a car. Oh well, I'll keep chucking it at the scenery until get it right.

Keep sharp out there, you never know when a "skill tester" might not be preparing to pull out on you.
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Angelo
Posts: 2134
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:30 am

Post by Angelo »

Amen to keeping sharp! The near miss a couple Sundays ago with the old bastard in a van has my spidey senses on a heightened level when riding...

Glad your ok
�Long live vintage motorcycles that are too tough to die...�

- Dustin Kott-
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jbcollier
Posts: 4077
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:50 pm

Post by jbcollier »

Got one last ride in. Yet another attempt to get everyone to Balfour at the same time. It actually worked this time... sort of.

I went on ahead on the Duck. Now you should know that the North Shore road is posted 60 kph for quite a bit of the way, has twists and turns galore and has lots and lots of intersecting roads and driveways. It's very easy to bump the speed up but you have to be super sharp as there could be a surprise around any corner, rise, or dip, in the road. Having grown up there, I know the drill: up the speed, narrow the focus and always have a wee bit in reserve.

So I get to the restaurant, hang up my spurs and wait, and wait, and wait. Ping goes the cell phone with the text "Where are you?" Ping back that I'm waiting, and then wait some more. Turns out they were delayed by a motorcycle accident. Saw the rendered-unrecognizable, half-naked rider splayed on the road while being detoured. They thought it might be me. So they immediately stopped and texted me.

The unfortunate rider (turned out to be a man) was clipping along, rounded a bend and found a left turning car stopped in road, waiting for traffic to clear. Looks like he hammered the front brake, lost the front and slid the rest of the way, very briefly with a t-shirt on, until he hit the car. The least of his worries was that the bike also caught on fire.

Have fun but be careful you don't end up chucking it at the scenery.
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