carlitos_92
01-11-2009, 11:06 AM
Not that I was ever ashamed. I do my share of 12K blasts around town. :wink:
Anyway, it got downright toasty here Friday, so I rode to work. Woot.
On the way home, interstate traffic was stop-and-go. A real bother, but there's a partial HOV lane that I was about 2-3 miles from reaching, so I was hanging in there. From behind me, I catch a glimpse of three squids hauling ass up the right shoulder to avoid the traffic. (Is this legal, even in California?) There's a car blocking the shoulder, so they have to start getting into real, actual lanes. They start cutting in and out of traffic, riding like blockheads, until they get over to the LEFT shoulder, and then they start hauling ass up THAT. I have to admit, as my clutch hand started to get sore, I wondered if I should just follow them. But my cooler head prevailed. I wanted to be the good example. (This is at 35N where it merges with Loop 12, for my DFW buds)
You already know how the story ends. Traffic starts to reeeally bunch up ahead, and I see cars trying to get out from the left lane. Apparently, the squids trying to beat the system were not familiar with this particular stretch of interstate, or just did not remember that the left shoulder has a curb and wicked no-man's land of sand and gravel as it ends into a freeway merge. It's probably navigable at slow speeds, but because it shoots you out inbetween merging traffic, I expect if you're hauling ass, you grab some heavy brake. Not good.
So there they were, walking their bikes across the freeway, making traffic WORSE. Not sure what the damage was - maybe a drop or two, maybe a blowout on the curb. I waved as I rode by, but it was NOT a friendly gesture.
...And I went on my merry way. Many times, the tortise beats the hare, yes?
Anyway, it got downright toasty here Friday, so I rode to work. Woot.
On the way home, interstate traffic was stop-and-go. A real bother, but there's a partial HOV lane that I was about 2-3 miles from reaching, so I was hanging in there. From behind me, I catch a glimpse of three squids hauling ass up the right shoulder to avoid the traffic. (Is this legal, even in California?) There's a car blocking the shoulder, so they have to start getting into real, actual lanes. They start cutting in and out of traffic, riding like blockheads, until they get over to the LEFT shoulder, and then they start hauling ass up THAT. I have to admit, as my clutch hand started to get sore, I wondered if I should just follow them. But my cooler head prevailed. I wanted to be the good example. (This is at 35N where it merges with Loop 12, for my DFW buds)
You already know how the story ends. Traffic starts to reeeally bunch up ahead, and I see cars trying to get out from the left lane. Apparently, the squids trying to beat the system were not familiar with this particular stretch of interstate, or just did not remember that the left shoulder has a curb and wicked no-man's land of sand and gravel as it ends into a freeway merge. It's probably navigable at slow speeds, but because it shoots you out inbetween merging traffic, I expect if you're hauling ass, you grab some heavy brake. Not good.
So there they were, walking their bikes across the freeway, making traffic WORSE. Not sure what the damage was - maybe a drop or two, maybe a blowout on the curb. I waved as I rode by, but it was NOT a friendly gesture.
...And I went on my merry way. Many times, the tortise beats the hare, yes?