Whoops!

I dropped the GSX for the fist time yesterday morning and I felt like such a knob!

I rode down to the bottom of my street and went to stop at a tee intersection as I made my way to work. There was a truck removing a large waste bin from one of the houses further along the street I was about to turn into, and it caught my attention. As I came to a stop I think I put my foot down a little late - I had been distracted by trying to work out how I was going to get around the truck. Next thing, I was fighting to keep the bike upright but it had gone too far. I managed to get my right leg out from under the bike just before it hit the bitumen! Ouch!

I quickly picked it up (wow, it was easier than I thought) and then noticed that both the truck driver and the guy from the house had watched it all happen! Double ouch!! The guy walked across the street and asked if I was alright - I told him that I was fine, quickly got back on the bike and rode off. I pulled up around the next corner to check the damage - just a few small scratches on the bike and a very dented ego for the rider!

What If....?

I always thought this may happen sometime with the way some people pack their gear onto the back of their vehicles!

Was on my ride from work this arvo after a bloody long day and was looking forward to getting home. I was following a tradie in a van. This guy had a couple of ladders sitting up on top of a rack on his roof and was moving slower that the rest of the traffic, so I moved into the lane next to him to pass. Just after moving out from his lane I watched as one of his smaller ladders started sliding off the back in what seemed to me like slow motion. It hit the road and bounced - I passed it with a couple of feet to spare as it rebounded off the road and up to helmet height. I watched it bounce two more times in my mirror before it slid a bit along the road and stopped smack bang in the middle of the lane. Phew! Luckily there was no one following closely behind him or me.

At the time I didn't think anymore of it - I sped up to him and let him know in no uncertain terms that he had nearly cleaned me up. The guy driving looked half asleep and I think I frightened him a bit, but he did finally pull up a little further down the road. I just kept riding. When I finally reached home I pulled into the garage and remained seated on my bike for a bit, took a deep breath and reflected on how close I had come. What if.....??

Bloody hell, how hard is it to tie your shit down properly if you drive a van or ute?

....and very dangerous for us on bikes!