Mistakes made today

[exskibum]

Rode all day today with some of my favorite riding partners -- 5 couples on 5 bikes (all Gen I). To Quincy up Buck's Lake Road, then back down the mountain via 89, Gold Lakes Road, 49 and 174.

Most of the time I ride, I TRY my damnedest not to make any mistakes. Not so happy with my effort or execution the last part of today, however. I rode a decent ride to Quincy, even good from there to Downieville. After that, not so good -- fortunately, these were learning moments I'm thinking about now, instead of hoping Judy and I heal from them. :angry2:

A few things to chew on for me re: the distraction I allowed from the loud 12 bike butt plug clogging the road* and the agitated asshat amongst them after our first two riders had passed the whole group and I decided (probably foolishly) to do the same. Stay in the game, ignore that shit, stay in the present, and certainly don't dwell on it after it's passed. That was not my main error, but it probably contributed to me making the bad error.

After we'd passed them, I SAW the guy in the Baru wagon (turned out to be a kid) almost take Rob and/or another car out right in front of me at the merge from the previous passing lane. Still, I gave him a shot at me at the merge at the end of the next passing lane. Really bad judgment on my part all the way around -- including the fact that only half my head was where it needed to be the moments before this development.

Still thinking about the angry gesturing asshat on the two wheeled farm implement, I failed to make either of the 2 good choices out of the available 3. Either (1) be more aggressive at the outset by getting the pass on harder to give the Baru no chance at me, or (2) back off and let him have the lane and the lead. Not sure if he didn't see me or if he was intent on winning a race to the merge or if he was actually trying to force me into oncoming traffic. (Some miles later, when we pulled over and he passed by, I saw that he was a teenager -- 21 at the most.) My fault for being there -- pinned between his door and the oncoming cars with nowhere to go but to track right on top of the twisting double yellow line (on a curve!). Because I made the one bad choice of my 3 options, plus an erroneous tacit assumption that the Baru would let me ahead of him instead of crowding me over, I had to use up one more of those 9 lives. Blitzing between two way traffic on the double yellow in a twisty mountain section is not studly; it's really bad form and worse thinking.

Respectfully submitted,

el Stupido

* [SIZE=8pt]yeah, guess the brand[/SIZE]

 

[Khunajawdge]

Blitzing between two way traffic on the double yellow in a twisty mountain section is not studly; it's really bad form and worse thinking.
Respectfully submitted,

el Stupido

Glad to hear you are still here! :clapping:

Don't worry, if you didin't look up during this entire episode, they didn't get your mug on video from the GPS Satellite that your Mapping program was using to let them know where you were and when.

I for one, have almost forgotten about the whole thing! :glare:

 

[dcarver]

I liked everything except the El Stupdio signature, XSB..

Face it, we all make mistakes - you and Judy set a pace most solo riders on this forum can not. And all the times I've ridden with you, you've made excellent decisions.

This time, maybe not such a good one, eh?

Thank You for sharing your moment..

...and most importantly, great to have you in the here and now...

 

[escapefjrtist]

Thanks for the topic exskibum. Although we all try and ride mistake free on every outing, there are those times when you feel like a dumbass...BTDT.

This will be a good discussion...and Carver said it best.

...and most importantly, great to have you in the here and now..

--G

 

[marcusorelius]

Mistakes are a good opertunity fer learn'n (and mistakes made with no damage done are the best!)

 

[wheatonFJR]

Thanks for the topic exskibum. Although we all try and ride mistake free on every outing, there are those times when you feel like a dumbass...BTDT.
This will be a good discussion...and Carver said it best.

...and most importantly, great to have you in the here and now..

--G

Gunny on that whole post...we all make mistakes...sometimes el stupido...and its good to see your post and not somebody else doing it in the place of you.

 

[HYCLE]

Since I was right behind Exskibum I had a slightly different perspective.

Rich, You made a good pass in the passing lane and the asshat in the subaru damn near crashed himself trying to F**K you up.

He tried the same thing with me and then he slowed down and backed off.

Don't blame yourself one bit, we had a great day.

The "Hardly" group was riding at the limit of their ability and I hope they enjoyed their day too.

I was told by RogDeb that one of the Hardly riders tried to box me in when we passed the three slowest bikes, I don't think so.

I laughed when the guy waved us by and flipped us off at the same time.

All I could think of was South Park, what a bunch of Fags. :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

[Pepperell]

F'n 'Arley Guys

 

[Happy Rider]

All I could think of was South Park, what a bunch of Fags. :yahoo: :yahoo:

Made me think of the same thing. Those FAGS just don't like to be passed. I had to go watch the best Southpark episode ever again after reading your post.

Here's the link to the episode in question.

Sourthpark Harley FAGS

 

[exskibum]

Rich, You made a good pass in the passing lane and the asshat in the subaru damn near crashed himself trying to F**K you up.

Well, that's sure what it seemed like from where I sat (finding myself being pushed laterally into oncoming traffic), but by then all I could do was try to thread the needle to avoid the head-on. Which gets back to MY mistake: I should've been fully engaged enough to have gotten the clue from his "driving" at the previous merge and given him NO chance to put us in that position.

The "Hardly" group was riding at the limit of their ability and I hope they enjoyed their day too.
I was told by RogDeb that one of the Hardly riders tried to box me in when we passed the three slowest bikes, I don't think so.

I laughed when the guy waved us by and flipped us off at the same time.

All I could think of was South Park, what a bunch of Fags. :yahoo: :yahoo:

You're right about the limits of their ability and the farm equipment they ride polish. The back guy on the purple potato had all he could handle with corners. But that's something for me to think about. I got annoyed at staying back going into corners, but as I stayed off the brakes on a smooth line, he'd park it there, on the brakes and/or an erratic line, so I'm coming up his ass and having to brake mid-corner over and over. You saw the same thing, I'm sure, and this is so friggin' typical of these packs of bar hopping poseurs.

The only good answer to that is to pull over and give them a 10, . . . no, a 20 minute additional head start. (Need to get my headsets replaced so I have bike to bike again.) Next best answer might be to adjust my attitude, slow way down to an entry level cornering pace, and to find the humor in the incompetent, inconsiderate road clogging butt plug I'm behind. (Need to put some Zappa on my iPod -- e.g., the Enema Song would provide a lighter, more appropriate perspective. Oh, AND a couple Village People tracks!) Fags indeed!

Instead, I let myself get annoyed enough to pass him after Steve and Rob had (probably for the same reasons) on earlier straights. Which put me behind Asshat with you just behind me. Another problem is that as each of us pass the butt plug, we put the trailing remainder of our own group in a position where keeping in touch with our group requires the decision also to pass the butt plug. (And members of the butt plug feel increasingly disrespected.)

Asshat was a [SIZE=8pt]little[/SIZE] better rider than the purple potato, but I guess he'd had a bad day, which takes the whole thing to consideration of self defense issues -- the best answer always being to stay the hell away from anti-social pencil dicks and potential conflict situations in the first place. [SIZE=8pt]"The Lifestyle"[/SIZE] is about being part of a pseudo-gang anyway, with all that says about their perspective. Best to just let them live their little dicked lives with imagined respect and potency, rather than to get into a disagreement with them. Nothing good will come from that, on or off the road.

So, this will still serve as a learning experience re: Fags and homicidal cagers, as well as about alternatives and adjusting my reaction.

Yes, it was a great ride -- what a gorgeous day with good company! As many times as I've been to Downieville, it's the first time I recall noticing all the ice cream vendors, OR sitting outside the restrooms, watching the Fags come and go and conjuring "YMCA" or "Macho Man" as an act to take on the road. Since you're sporting the correct moustache, I think you've gotta be the cop in that performance, Mike!! :lol:

 

[madmike2]

Rich, as I critique each ride I take (and you know I do) there are rides I wonder how-in-the-world I survive. Either really dumb or near-stupid decisions I make at critical junctures and situations.

As one who has ridden many happy and exhilarating miles with you, my understanding is that you had an "off" day. Couple that with interesting challenges you faced on Hwy 49 and you arrive at your current self examination.

Trust me, my friend, it makes you a better rider because you are conscious of what transpired. Too many riders easily pass these situations off as something out of their control. It speaks to the caliber of your person and your riding capabilities that you are not like that.

I'm proud to call you friend and glad you are a "riding buddy". You make all of us a little better because of your approach to riding and your constant analysis along with your willingness to counsel the rest of us when we ask for advice. You and Brad were invaluable to me when I was re-learning my skills after my recovery. I chose you two to analyze my progress because of what I said in the preceding paragraph.

There will be a "next time" and I'm sure you will be wiser because of yesterday's events and will apply a bit more restraint.

I'm glad you and Judy are unscathed....the alternative is a report I NEVER want to read.

 

[bikerskier]

Hey Rich!

Like skiing, staying in the moment for the duration of the ride requires the rythym of the ride/trail running constantly and I have found several times (too many) that I can lose concentration or focus and make sloppy judgements or moves. Every time that happens, I say, "Shit, why did I do that". But, unfortunately it will happen again on a day I lose my rythym. When skiing and it happened many times I would just park my ass for the day and drink. When riding, the consequences are far greater and I just have to force focus to execute safely.

That came out a bit jumbled but I think you know what I mean.

So glad that you didn't get bumped...

 

[exskibum]

Hey Rich!
Like skiing, staying in the moment for the duration of the ride requires the rythym of the ride/trail running constantly and I have found several times (too many) that I can lose concentration or focus and make sloppy judgements or moves. Every time that happens, I say, "Shit, why did I do that". But, unfortunately it will happen again on a day I lose my rythym. When skiing and it happened many times I would just park my ass for the day and drink. When riding, the consequences are far greater and I just have to force focus to execute safely.

That came out a bit jumbled but I think you know what I mean.

So glad that you didn't get bumped...

Thanks, Ralph. I know exactly what you mean, and it definitely relates to skiing. Good and bad.

The good: I sometimes am amazed at the way I react to situations like this on a bike. I won't say I don't get the adrenalin, but I seem to innately see the out, to the exclusion of everything else, and just go there. It's happening too quickly to do anything else, but I'm usually amazed that I'm not scared or even shaken when I get clear of it. Yesterday was the same thing -- not happy about the lack of margin I let myself get into, but since we squeaked through, no other bad reaction resulted. It was a definite "Oh Shit" moment, but with this coming Father's Day being the first without my Dad, I'm again thanking him for putting me on skis before I was 2. There is NO substitute for being so used to making it up at speed in that instant, and a life of pushing limits on skis will do that for you. Thanks, Dad -- not the first time you saved me from myself.

The bad: I am terribly self critical, so what you described about losing your rhythm while skiing is not only familiar, but with me it usually came with an internal dialogue like this: "You F*%&ing AMATEUR! WTF, can't you ski anything today?!? Friggin' jungle skiing is the only way you can get through that bump section?!? Next you're gonna start linking crashes?!?" This would usually come after stopping in exasperation, of course. Took a while, but I finally went a little easier on myself, correlated the drop off in performance with getting tired, dehydrated or hungry, and noticed that it almost never happened before 2 pm. My natural tendency was to try to work through it, to MAKE myself ski it well, which almost never worked as I got even more pissed at myself. I must've been in my mid-30s by the time I finally realized that doing this from time to time didn't mean I sucked, just that it was time to have an ale or two, and that tomorrow would dawn right on time and I'd be able to rip moguls again.

While it's never really happened skiing, I can get distracted or preoccupied on a motorcycle just like you said. Yesterday was an example. (Something about skiing always seemed to preclude that for me -- maybe starting so young or loving it so much, but it has always been a complete brain cleansing release for me -- ain't no problems in the world for me while on skis.)

I'm over yesterday's incidents, except to make some resolutions to address the issues of riding behind inconsiderate butt plugs, not hanging out other members of our group to have to pass a parade that long and hostile, noticing every dangerous driving exhibit and keeping my distance, and realizing that in some cases, some people we share the road with REALLY ARE trying to kill you -- DON'T LET THEM! I wondered only briefly if the Baru driver would've been happy or maybe surprised at the legal ramifications of actually crashing us into an oncoming car. For me, it is what it is and I need to make sure I never give him another chance.

 

[rogdeb]

Rich, you're WAY too hard on yourself Buddy, from what I could see while riding sweep. Didn't see all of the Subaru debacle so cannot comment on that, but can comment on the Hardly Boys and their slow assed antics. Their grouping was all over the place :angry2:

When it was our turn to pass (behind the Hycles), the assclown with his digit out could have poked out my right eye if he'd have rolled a little closer to us --- frickin' idiot !

Good thing we have 125hp at our disposal. It seemed like ALL their bikes combined was 125hp :lol:

 

[Old Michael]

...Good thing we have 145hp at our disposal.

You've upgraded to an '06, Rog?

 

[rogdeb]

...Good thing we have 145hp at our disposal.

You've upgraded to an '06, Rog?

The SLOWER '06 ?? That'll be the day BUT !! Thanks for politely pointing out my error Ahhh's fixed it meself.

 

[James Burleigh]

Hi, Rich. I know exactly what you are going through in your head. As you may imagine, rush-hour traffic being aggressive by nature, opportunities come up to get upset by other drivers' actions, or for other drivers to feel resentful toward a motorcyclist's advantage and make an aggressive move toward the rider.

I feel like I've done a good job of learning how to control the motorcycle, and I feel like I do a good job of reading traffic and executing good traffic safety strategies in terms of lane position, speed, etc.

What I find challenging is staying ego-neutral and making good ego-neutral decisions. So like you, every time I get on the bike I try to have a perfect ride in terms of making smart decisions and not letting my ego make desicions for me, let alone allowing myself to get sucked into a bad situation because of ego (or anger or one-up-manship). My rule of thumb is never to change speed, direction, lane position, etc., except to manage my space and be safe; never to change my location or speed as a personal "F-you" response to something an aggressive driver did. What helps me do this is remembering that "Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make angry."

Part of this strategy involves keeping "entitlement syndrome" in check. On your ride, ES may have been in play when everyone decided they needed to be in front of the butt plug, and when it came to getting ahead of the Subaru(?)

What happens when you you let your ego or anger make an operating decision for you, you quickly exit your safety margin, become tunnel-visioned and lose sight of peripheral threats, and then you get distracted because you are angry with yourself that you made a bad decision.

Of course you know all this. I'm writing simply to share with you how I respond when I disappoint myself and stray from my game plan in the event you might find it useful.

So when that happens to me, I recognize that I need a few moments to:

• beat myself up about it,
• shake my head and tell myself what an idiot I am,
• acknowledge that sticking to the plan is still a challenge,
• define how I will handle it differently in the future, and finally
• resolve once again to stick to my game plan.

Next, and here's the most important part: I forgive myself and--because I have thought it all through and cursed myself--forget about it!

When I took Lee Parks' class he preached a similar philosophy. He said it's okay to make mistakes, but it's not okay to get all down on yourself for it, because (1) we are students working to become better riders and we are learning, and (2) because when you do that you get distracted.

You've done a great job of exorcising your bad decisions. Now forgive yourself, strengthen your resolve (as you already have), and forget about it.

Jb

 

[exskibum]

Great, thoughtful post, Hans. Thank you.

What I find challenging is staying ego-neutral and making good ego-neutral decisions.

You too, huh?

That's the BIG one that causes blind spots and diminishes our performance, yet I imagine that we're all guilty to one extent or another until the day we die. Your rule of thumb is especially excellent! Worth special note for ego management effectiveness training:

[SIZE=14pt]My rule of thumb is never to change speed, direction, lane position, etc., except to manage my space and be safe; never to change my location or speed as a personal "F-you" response to something an aggressive driver did. What helps me do this is remembering that "Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make angry."[/SIZE]

I keep rereading that and recognizing it for the gem it is. I'm gonna steal it for use if you don't mind. Or even if you do.

 

[James Burleigh]

Great, thoughtful post, Hans. Thank you.

What I find challenging is staying ego-neutral and making good ego-neutral decisions.

You too, huh?

That's the BIG one that causes blind spots and diminishes our performance, yet I imagine that we're all guilty to one extent or another until the day we die. Your rule of thumb is especially excellent! Worth special note for ego management effectiveness training:

[SIZE=14pt]My rule of thumb is never to change speed, direction, lane position, etc., except to manage my space and be safe; never to change my location or speed as a personal "F-you" response to something an aggressive driver did. What helps me do this is remembering that "Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make angry."[/SIZE]

I keep rereading that and recognizing it for the gem it is. I'm gonna steal it for use if you don't mind. Or even if you do.

Thanks, Rich. I'm very pleased you found my comments of use.