Wow.... I'm really glad to hear you're alright Pandy...

I'm surprised you slid out the rear without braking it at all. It takes a lot of force to slide a rotating tire.

In any case, I'm glad you're okay. Don't forget you're also a witness to an accident. Sometimes a witness is the only one to keep an offending driver honest.

Quote from: aaronstjAs an added, added bonus, if you're angled, you present a larger profile to that car coming up behind you, and you can use all the visibility you can get.

You make a good point too  

The reason I started angling was because I had stopped straight behind a car, when I heard tires screeching behind me.  I was lucky the guy had room to stop otherwise I would have been crushed between two cars.  I realized that, on a black bike with a black jacket, I was "camouflaged" with the black car in front of me.  Now, if I was angled a bit, maybe the guy behind me would have been able to see me just a bit better.  Maybe seeing my jeans/both turn signals/gloves/etc would've been enough to alert him earlier.

Another thing to worry about is at night, your headlight/taillight could blend in with the car behind/ahead of you, and oncoming/turning traffic might not even realize  you were there.

I'm thinking about getting a retroreflective vest, since I'm going to be commuting by bike about 2,000 miles a month for the next 3 months.  To me the extra visibility is worth looking dorky.  Anyone know a place where I can get some cool designs?

Quote from: pandyI'm tempted to sew reflectors to my boo-tay!  :lol:

We're relieved you escaped harm.  Your humor and vitality would be sorely missed here, not to mention all those that know you personally.

Your story is a wake-up to all of us to keep our eyes open to maintaining proper lead and awareness times.  Your story will help remind me of the 2-second immediate space rule, and keep an eye for what's way up there too.  

When the lanes all around you are stopped and yours is the only one moving, that's when your "spidey sense" should be tingling.  Something is wrong and it may be a matter of time evasive action is necessary.

Motorcycling (driving too) is a thinking activity.  Stay aware & always look for the next potential "pucker moment".  

Glad to hear your ok. If anything had happened then who could I have made fun of about the Purple  :kiss:

Glad your ok.  

Glad everything is ok Pandy.  Thanks for posting, alot of good info for me here to correct some mistakes I've been making.  Right now, I don't ride on the interstates.  Just don't feel comfortable on them yet.  I just ride the back roads to work.

Great sense Pandy! Glad to hear you're a-o-k... It's funny, I know exactly what you mean about intuition. I was coming up to a stop once and I decided at the last minute (stupid mistake) to change lanes. So I was changing, looking over my shoulder and not really paying much attention to the lane I was changing into. Well, they had all completely stopped and for some reason (before I'd even looked up) I decided to break really hard. And a good thing I did because my front wheel was about 2 inches from the bumper of the car in front of me when I looked back up. I don't know what made me break that hard, I never saw the stopped traffic - but I account it to intuition of my own guardian angel. I could have kicked myself for being so stupid too.

Thanks for sharing your story Pandy!

Glad to read that you are alright. Stay safe, at least try!

Soccer moms are  

Good job, Pandy. You probably braked so hard that the rear end lost contact with the ground. I'm really glad you're allright.

:kiss: to you all. There really is some great info being shared here, and I'm also glad I'm still here (to torture a few of you with PURPLE!!!!!!)  :lol:

great to know you got out of that scary situation pandy...

Quote from: rrittersonI'm surprised you slid out the rear without braking it at all. It takes a lot of force to slide a rotating tire.

Actually, in talking to my bf, he thinks I probably used the rear brake, too, and I think I agree. I've practiced using both front and back brake in tandem quite a bit, and I think instinct took over, and while I didn't think I'd used my back brake at all, it makes more sense that I did. It all happened so darned fast!  

Glad you didn't end up as meat in a smash sandwich...

Now, only if you could lend me the eyes in the back of your head.

Quote from: RVertigoNow, only if you could lend me the eyes in the back of your head.

I think you have to be a mom.....

Quote from: pandyI think you have to be a mom.....

DAMNIT! :x

yeah glad to hear you are still riding around happily.  Great intuition to, the last thing mine told me was stay away from the beef :lol:  :lol:

Pandy biatch, I am soooooo glad you are ok.      :kiss:  I don't know what I would do around here without you.  Who would be my biatch???   :dunno:  :dunno: Ya you develop that MC instinct.  Just today on the way to work a car decided they needed to be inthe same lane as me.  I laided back a bit to see what they would do and sure enoigh here they come so I honked me horn at them.  They actually heard it and stopped so I scootted on through.  I than turned around and gave them the ol' hand on the left hip evil stare and got on outta there!!!

While I agree with all the safety tips being thrown around, a couple points to consider:

1- When I hop on my bike, I'm completely concentrating on riding, not a cell phone, not the new songs on the radio, not some screaming kids in the back of the minivan, etc etc.  I have no distractions, unless I choose to entertain myself with my mind.  Reaction time for myself is that much faster in this case than a minivan mom who is changing a diaper, washing the toddler's face and putting on lipliner, lip gloss and lipstick all at the same time.

2- Most vehicles out there are not Porsche's or even high-end Hondas.  Most are not in 100% state of tune, including tires, tire pressure, suspension, correct loading, etc etc.  I think our average braking ability is higher than the average other vehicle's braking ability.  Ever seen a truck with a workbed on it, filled with tools ever try to emergency brake?  Not too successful...

3- With my canyon riding time that I do, I am way more in tune with what my bike does, how maneuverable it is, and how it reacts to my input than the average other driver is in the cages out there.  Think, most Honda Civics DID come with 2 drums, most trucks weigh at least 4K lbs, might have rear-wheel or 4 wheel ABS, but still not disc all the way around until 2 or 3 yrs ago.

Arguing semantics at this point, but anyway, just wanted to express my opinion that us bikers ARE ahead of the braking distance/time game compared to the other vehicles out there.

Be safe everybody!!!!!

Quote from: ajgs500Pandy biatch, I am soooooo glad you are ok.      :kiss:  I don't know what I would do around here without you.  Who would be my biatch???   :dunno:  :dunno:

Hey now! Ya' can't just replace me with any ol' biatch!  :kiss: I gotta stick around and learn how to be a biatch (though some might argue that I already know plenty how to be)!  :lol:

Quote from: natedawg120the last thing mine told me was stay away from the beef :lol:  :lol:

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Quote from: Mk1inCaliReaction time for myself is that much faster in this case than a minivan mom who is changing a diaper, washing the toddler's face and putting on lipliner, lip gloss and lipstick all at the same time.

:lol:  :lol:  :lol: But...lipliner's important!!!  Thanks for adding to the safety tips!!!  :kiss: