Yes, we're visiting the Adventure Riders thread again that asks, "What is the strangest thing you hit/almost hit?" You never know when this will happen to you, so always be alert.
- Back in '86 I was riding my R100S on the M5 Motorway, traffic was light and I was going well, I saw the car in front of me twitch and then hit his wash/wipe, then a sound like someone throwing a handful of gravel at my visor/screen and I was effectively blinded, some kind of clear goo was covering my visor, a few miles on there was some services, I pulled in and cleaned the goo from my visor, still unsure what I had hit close inspection between the engines cooling fins revealed, I had hit a swarm of bees.
- While going across a bridge in the left lane, I see something shiny along the inside barrier wall. The car in front of me went by the shiny stuff and I suddenly realized want it was. Somebody had lost a bunch of CDs, and they are now flying around in front of me. Not only do those things friggin' hurt when you hit them at 60+, but they are rather slick on concrete!
- I was driving thru the tunnel near my house and I saw a little bag. No big deal I slowed and swerved and as I passed I realized it was a bowling bag. About half a second later I see the bowling ball rolling down my lane. I dodged it easily and wish there was some way I could have moved it or something but I am not about to stop in a tunnel and try to grab a bowling ball.
- King Kong's toilet paper. Headed north on the interstate into Albuquerque a semi truck was hit with a sudden microburst of wind that knocked it on its side. It skidded along the pavement, the back doors came open and ginormous rolls of paper fell out and unrolled everywhere. These things were about 4 ft in diameter and well, similar proportions to toilet paper. Made for some interesting moving obstacle avoidance.
- I was riding at the front of a pack of bikes on 27 south of Jackson, MI, headed towards a party/chili fest. I ran over a dead woodchuck which was then launched out from under my bike rearwards into the unsuspecting pack of about 15 bikes, all riding side by side with the odd man following in the middle behind the last two bikes. Mostly Harleys, ATGATT consisted of t-shirts and half helmets. Mr. Woodchuck hit the bike behind me, and was sent through the pack like a stinking, wet, furry pinball. Everybody got some, especially the last guy in the middle who got him right in the chest and was almost knocked off his bike.
- A robin tried to fly thru my front wheel once. Feathers and guts all over the rim, forks, and fender.
- I almost got hit by a hay bale, falling out of a third story window in midtown Manhattan where the keep the horses for the Central Park carriage rides.
- Mice. Thousands of mice. There was a mouse plague.
- A draft horse that was in the road in Colorado because a mudslide had flattened the fence. As I approached he spun around and I ducked under his head.
- Driving behind a bunch of trailered Harleys on way up to Blue Ridge Parkway and passed a Harley dropped on the lane next to me. Did not have to avoid the bike but did have to keep in my lane laughing so hard.
Yeah, that last one reminds me of a quote: "If you see this bike on a trailer it's being stolen."
Till next time, be careful, it's dangerous out there.
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