Commuting…The strange. The Odd… And the FUN

[tvpierce]

One morning a couple years ago I'm riding to work, and come around a corner to find a state trooper as the tail escort vehicle for a home being moved. Not a trailer mind you... but a 1.5 story, 3 BR Cape Cod style home being towed down the road taking up both lanes.

They had two troopers in cruisers leading, directing opposing traffic to the shoulder as the domicile made it's way at about 15 mph. I followed them for 5 or 6 miles rather enjoying the spectacle of it all.

Made for a good excuse as to why I was late for my meeting!

Gives new meaning to the term Mobile Home.

[atomicalex]

Regarding cigarette tossers, I'm waiting for someone to hit my textile with a cig so that I can claim it against their insurance. Over here, that would be totally kosher, and annoying.

[cab591]

Just read through all 80 pages. First off, can't WAIT to get back on a bike. Last time I rode, I was living in Mississippi -- driver's there not only have literally no idea what a motorcycle is, but think they look fun to run over. I don't know how many times lifted trucks forced me out of my lane there... Call me crazy, but I enjoy the excitement. :

I have a good commute story to add. Unfortunately piloting a cage at the time, but still exciting. I had borrowed a friend's Range Rover while my car was on jack stands in the driveway. Headed back from class, friend in the passenger seat, on I-10E, in the HOV lane. There's an older 3-series behind me (at a reasonable distance), and mild traffic. The BMW and myself are going around 80 mph (pretty normal for low traffic). Some guy in a Mustang GT came flying up behind us, passing on the right. He swerves in front of me into the HOV lane. I'm watching him carefully. Next thing I know, the rear end sort of "skips" a bit, and twitches right. I shout "HOLY $%*#!" and swerve into the breakdown lane on my left, getting a few inches from the barrier wall. Just as I do that, the entire rear differential falls off of the Mustang. It slams into the pavement, just where I was, bounces, and buries itself right in the kidney grill of the BMW. The BMW driver slams on the brakes, and pulls off left. The Mustang, meanwhile, looses control, and starts to fishtail. I get back in my lane about the same time his rear end breaks loose, sending him spinning across 4 lanes of light traffic. From what I could see in my rearview, the Mustang avoided hitting much. He got close to a Carolla, who then pulled off to check the Mustang driver once the Mustang came to rest in the gravel off the road. Not sure if contact was made though. :

[ParrotheadJeff]

OK, time to bump an old thread! Fun times for me commuting to work recently with the 10 feet or so of ice at the end of my driveway. If I carry just a little speed, I can roll across it with the clutch in without a problem. I found out that it's NOT a good idea to try to add ANY power at all - especially if the bike isn't 100% straight

[DAKEZ]

Jeff

How's Utah?

[ParrotheadJeff]

Dakez!

Utah's pretty good - thanks for asking I finally got a decent job and I'm digging out of the debt that the move and all created, but it's worth it for my daughter There's some pretty good riding around here, but I did have to park the bike for a few weeks due to some really strange white stuff that gives virtually no traction At least it's warmed up a bit - my V-Star is reluctant to start and stay running below about 15 degrees

How's things been in your neck of the woods?

[DAKEZ]

WET! From the Wet-side.

[Tall Man]

Originally Posted by trc.rhubarb

Road repair. The US needs more of it.
Right lane sucks to travel in most places.

Intermodal (rail) freight transport. The US needs more of it. A lot more. We must radically reduce the number of 18 wheelers on our highways and byways.

[Cruisin'Carolina]

Originally Posted by Tall Man

Intermodal (rail) freight transport. The US needs more of it. A lot more. We must radically reduce the number of 18 wheelers on our highways and byways.

Yep. Switch the long haul trucking jobs over to short local ones...to include loading/unloading.

The difference would be inmeasurable..

[WVhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Tall Man

Intermodal (rail) freight transport. The US needs more of it. A lot more. We must radically reduce the number of 18 wheelers on our highways and byways.

We had a good rail system, then they sold most of it for scrap.
Wasn't economical ya know, makes more sense to truck it all around when fuel is $4+ gallon.

[DOGSROOT]

Originally Posted by WVhillbilly

We had a good rail system, then they sold most of it for scrap.
Wasn't economical ya know, makes more sense to truck it all around when fuel is $4+ gallon.

Unfortunately, the same changeover happened in Canada.

I understand that the reason is that highway maintenance is paid for by the taxpayer, and railway maintenance is paid for by the railways.

This makes trucking more competitive (lower overhead), on the backs of taxpayers and to the detriment of other road users.

60% of Canada's truck traffic is between Windsor (Detroit border town) and Quebec City, on the 401, the busiest highway in North America.

The wiki entry says it is 12 lanes wide in the GTA, but has a pic that clearly shows 18.

It usually is 16 lanes where I travel it.

I for one would sure love to see fewer trucks on it; I'm not holding my breath though.
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[Beemermcr]

Originally Posted by Tall Man

Intermodal (rail) freight transport. The US needs more of it. A lot more. We must radically reduce the number of 18 wheelers on our highways and byways.

Rail = cheap and slow
Over the road = faster and more expensive

Lots of freight is moving by rail, but time critical ones OTR (produce, for example). Unfortunately, some reports say railroads are nearing capacity. Building new lines would be as tough as a pipeline ----- or tougher: pipelines don't make noise!

Need some innovation to get more trains on the same tracks--

Paul

[Heyload]

Stop at the end of my street, getting ready to turn right onto the main road. A cement truck is lumbering up the hill from my right, too close to pull out so I let him pass and pull out behind him.

One block later I see a black Dodge pick-up dart out from the right on the next cross street...and stop as he realizes he is about to literally get creamed by a cement truck. The cement truck locks it up trying to stop, I can see the tail end of the black truck sticking out just to the right of the cement truck as that big beast shudders and squals to a stop, smoke coming off the tires.

I reckon the cement truck stopped about a foot or two from the side of that Dodge truck.

I hope the driver of that Dodge knows how to get poo stains off of a car seat....

I've heard the term "Looks like it got run over by a cement truck"..I never expected to almost witness it literally happen.

[theDoktor]

Originally Posted by Heyload

Stop at the end of my street, getting ready to turn right onto the main road. A cement truck is lumbering up the hill from my right, too close to pull out so I let him pass and pull out behind him.

One block later I see a black Dodge pick-up dart out from the right on the next cross street...and stop as he realizes he is about to literally get creamed by a cement truck. The cement truck locks it up trying to stop, I can see the tail end of the black truck sticking out just to the right of the cement truck as that big beast shudders and squals to a stop, smoke coming off the tires.

I reckon the cement truck stopped about a foot or two from the side of that Dodge truck.

I hope the driver of that Dodge knows how to get poo stains off of a car seat....

I've heard the term "Looks like it got run over by a cement truck"..I never expected to almost witness it literally happen.

FYI, it was a concrete truck, not a "cement" truck if it was hauling a rotating tapered cylinder on it's back. A "cement" truck would be an 18-wheeler hauling a trailer that carries and dispenses Portland Cement, usually a fine, grey powder, that is mixed with stone aggregate, sand and water to make concrete. Neither vehicle should be ignored while on the road, unless one is attempting a Darwin Award. Both carry very heavy loads and have long braking distances. Neither can manuver quickly, and concrete mixers have a high, constantly shifting center-of-gravity which makes them prone to rolling over.

Sorry for the rant. It's just one of those incorrect word usage things that happens to irritate me. Newscasters (newsreaders?) are the worst for this. Another one that makes me crazy is when someone reports that a vehicle "lost control" and had an accident. Where did the "control " go? As it resulted in an accident, one can assume that a lost "control" is dangerous. Have the police found it? Are they looking for it? How would a non-professional recognize a lost "control"? Should you report it to 911? If you loose the "control" on your vehicle, does it need to be replaced? Where is it located? Is it covered by warranty? Can you get a good replacement from a used parts emporium or does a replacement have to be new? OEM or aftermarket? What does it look like? Does it have a part number?

There. I feel better already.

[Craneguy]

Originally Posted by theDoktor

If you loose the "control" on your vehicle, does it need to be replaced?

While we're on the subject of annoying misuse of words, it's lose, not loose.

Now I feel better too.