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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | How do you expect the unexpected? I usually count myself as a fairly vigilant rider, the Army always taught me to be observant and connect the dots when one event happened it will probably lead to another one. That's the typical stuff, like passing a patch of woods and realizing there could be deer, or seeing brake lights several car lengths up and thinking something might be in the road. But what do you do when the least expected happens?
I left work after dark and opted to do my motto and "take the long way home". Very nice ride as I watch my onboard thermometer continue to drop and I thought of my trip to N.C. this weekend. I'm planning on riding, but we've got snow coming in, or a mix of snow and rain. I need to waterproof my gloves as this would be the only hindrance I can think of. I don't expect the roads to be empassable even for a motorcycle as there is too much traffic and the temp will be above 30.
I was also contemplating the lose nut thread on the throttle and was wondering how either nut could work itself loose as it is positive pressure on both sides of the bracket on a threaded tube. I would hate for that to happen to me on Saturday in all that holiday traffic about the time I would hit a patch of ice. People would really think I was crazy then, to see a crazy motorcycle rider out on a near freezing day in North Carolina while it is snowing. That is not something you see every day, I mean it hardly ever snows in Eastern N.C.
So as I'm pondering all of this as I'm passing along a side street in Hopewell doing about 30mph, I see an object come flying through the air toward my head. I duck and as I do there is about two more objects flying toward that hit the front of my bike. I collect my thoughts and realized it was probably some bored teenagers that picked me as their target. The objects turned out to be rocks and they came over an elevated wall that was a barrier to a parking lot that sat about 6 feet higher than the road. I drove around the parking lot a couple times to see if I could get a glimpse of someone cutting through the yards or hiding but didn't see any.
So I went on and I had to stop a few miles down the road so I decided to call the police on the admin line just to let them know what happened. I realized had one of those good size rock hit me in the face I probably would have been dazed enough to lay it down.
So, now I've learned to look out for and expect the unexpected when traveling through and around neighborhoods. The next time I'll be a little more quicker on the throttle to find the perps to scare them enough not to do that again.
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Probably harley owners, lol...... |
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Visionary
Posts: 1340
Gainesville Fl Home of the Gators | That's why I carry a gun, and live in a imminent threat state |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 41
Litchfield Park, AZ | Glad you're ok. Really. Enjoy your Holidays. SP |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | thanks whine, same to you! |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I'm trackin' the weather and it might be impossible for me to ride to N.C. this weekend. I'll have to cage it at best, argh... |
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Tourer
Posts: 353
| Just my opinion but people like this if caught should be beaten senseless and then be charged with attempted murder. |
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Visionary
Posts: 2118
Pitt Meadows, BC Canada | Find a better place to ride, for your own sake. MOVE - Get the HELL OUT!
How can you consider beating up on some sub-humans you live near???? They just hate that you might 'have a life' - and they don't.
My God - how the hell can you be so - ... so 'Oh well, no biggie' - about living in a JUNGLE???? Get OUT
Or do the right thing (that not many of us do) which is to stay and get involved with helping them....
Sorry - we just don't have that where I live - and ride. And I don't ever want to imagine living thru what you did. Upsets me.....
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I'll be less apt to ride through there, that is just a cut thru I take when I'm taking a short cut. It is in a "hood" so maybe I should have expected it to start with. The funny thing is the cop I spoke to on the phone told me they'll make crank calls just to get the cops to come out and throw rocks at them too. This is around the "free housing" zone...After all we are the land of the free...
Edited by varyder 2009-12-18 4:25 AM
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Cruiser
Posts: 99
Cold lake Alberta | Glad your ok, we lost a bus driver a few years ago in Edmonton when kids dropped a big rock off an overpass.... Ya never know.
Make sure you keep your mind n thoughts on the road and be carefull...sounds a little too cold n icy for 2 wheels!
Be safe
varyder - 2009-12-18 3:25 AM
I'll be less apt to ride through there, that is just a cut thru I take when I'm taking a short cut. It is in a "hood" so maybe I should have expected it to start with. The funny thing is the cop I spoke to on the phone told me they'll make crank calls just to get the cops to come out and throw rocks at them too. This is around the "free housing" zone...After all we are the land of the free... |
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Cruiser
Posts: 146
| +1 on the gun carry....... |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | kevinx - 2009-12-17 8:34 PM
That's why I carry a gun, and live in a imminent threat state
there was nothing to shoot at and had there been it probably would have been a bunch of punk teenagers. I think I could have explained that in a court of law "your honor, they threw rocks at me so I blew them away."
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Tourer
Posts: 400
| That's why I try to keep an eye(s) up when I go under overpasses. Plenty of stories about kids throwing rocks off overpasses. A quick solution would be to throw the kids of the overpass on national TV. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | IndyVision - 2009-12-20 11:54 AM
That's why I try to keep an eye(s) up when I go under overpasses. Plenty of stories about kids throwing rocks off overpasses. A quick solution would be to throw the kids of the overpass on national TV.
I do the same Indy, the overpass thing has my attention and that would be a good solution as well.
The thing that got me on my little incident was it was around 5 pm, just got dark and I didn't see any body or any thing out of the ordinary...until the first rock came over. At first I thought it was a bird or something like that, or even a leaf, but it was whiteish and I naturally ducked. When the other rocks quickly followed, with at least one hitting the front, I quickly turned into the church just past the funeral home. I went straight across and around the funeral home to where I assume the rocks came from and there was nada, no one or nothing. I drove around a few more times to see if I could see someone not expecting me to be looking for them. When I left the area and took care of my errand, I came straight back in about 15 minutes thinking they'd be back there again. This time, I came in from behind where they wouldn't see me and there again, nothing.
While at my errand I called the police just to inform them of the situation and they told me they'll do that around there sometimes, to the point of them calling the cops just so they'll come out and get rocks thrown at them too. You just never know.... |
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Visionary
Posts: 3204
Memphis | Grenade. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | SongFan - 2009-12-20 2:00 PM
Grenade.
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Cruiser
Posts: 273
| Shoot the little bastards and leave their carcases in the snow to rot come spring. |
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Another hidden danger