Last night a cager saved my life... (maybe)

[Ceri JC]

I was out riding at the weekend, going fairly quick through the lanes (but always keeping adequate stopping distance). A car coming the other way flashes me, thankfully I wasn't doing anythign "wrong" so my first assumption was, "something up ahead", rather than, "oops I'm riding like a tw@". So, not only do I drop to about 50mph, but I'm scanning the road even more thoroughly than normal. I see what it is- roll of carpet, rolled up, horizontal across the road, almost at exactly 90 degrees to the kerb and completely coveing my lane. Thankfully, due to the forewarning I managed to slow down and skirt into the empty oncoming lane to get round it.

Had he not warned me, I think to be honest, I probably would of seen it, but due to the colour of it, lighting, the shape/placement of it, etc. I could of easily mistaken it for one of those tarmac patches you get from the road being dug up and not slowed until it was too late. It didn't look like a full roll, but big enough to have you off.

So, they're not all inattentive, selfish and poor drivers. Still, lets be honest, probably a biker in his car, eh? :wink: :D

[thor]

You didn't stop to get it out of the road then? I would have.

[Cronos]

I've had that a number of times, most often when there's an accident ahead and I'm 'making progress'.

[Ceri JC]

You didn't stop to get it out of the road then? I would have.

No, I really thought long and hard about it, but there was nowhere safe to stop. Had I been in my cage, I'd of pulled over with hazards on and walked back. It was just after a bend and not far from one in the other direction. Big hedges on either side and nowhere to "jump" out of the way of cars, either. This was down past Aberthaw power station, on the way to bridgend (sure some of the south west surfers know where I mean.)

[thor]

Fair enough (I wasn't there so I can't argue with you). Maybe there was some way you could have turned round, parked the bike a way ahead of the bend so people would see it and hopefully slow down while you sort out the rug? I think most people would slow down after seeing a parked bike with lights on a country type road.

Should one call the police in this kind of situation?

[wheelnut]

It was probably the **** in the car that lost the roll of carpet off his roof, and was looking for a roundabout to turn round and go back :D

Not all car drivers are bad, some are quite good, I think that there are some bad drivers and riders too. I see all sorts in my job as a truck driver.

I can accept the mistakes that we all make, I hate the do gooders who try to police the roads themselves.

Also there are many drivers who just dont have a clue what is happening around them, or worse, dont even care :!:

Sorry to rant off topic

[Iansv]

Blimey, and I thought a full length ladder was bad

[Mogs]

Ceri, you haven't said what time it was, but I presume it was dusk. I know the place, I wouldn't stop there either.

Was it a red carpet, perhaps you arrived too early and they didn't get time to roll it out for you :)

[Ceri JC]

Ceri, you haven't said what time it was, but I presume it was dusk. I know the place, I wouldn't stop there either.

Was it a red carpet, perhaps you arrived too early and they didn't get time to roll it out for you :)

It wasn't dusk, but late afternoon and the sun was fairly low. The slight shadow made it look even more like tarmac. Plenty of cars doing 80+ along there, so I didn't much fancy parking the bike and relying on them not smashing into it. I'd probably end up getting done on the insurance for "dangerous parking" or something when they crashed into the bike, had I stopped. :roll: :wink:

Incidentally, that area has some great examples of idiotic speed limits, there's a town section including a busy roundabout that's a 40 (you'd be mad to do over 30 around there) and then as you leave the built up area, it becomes a country lane, with a 30 limit. :D Consequently you get cars doing fantastically dangerous overtakes in the lanes to get past people sticking to the speed limit, and you also get lunatics flying around the built up area at 45-50.

As an aside: On the same ride, I saw a bloke out on a R6 with a nice shoei lid, but no boots/leathers, etc. Unlike your typical "jeans and tshirts" idiots, he was an exemplary rider, gave correct signals, good placement for roads, only safe overtakes, barely using his brakes, etc. I was following him, just waiting for him to do something stupid and he never did. :)

[Balky001]

This cager, was he a DJ?

[Dante]

What colour was the carpet? I've been looking for an offcut for my downstairs loo.

[Ceri JC]

This cager, was he a DJ?

:winner: First one to spot (or at least mention) the intentional pun :D

Dante: Looked a sort of browny yellow, with a grey underside. Probably still there if you're interested and the Vale of Glamorgan council are as lax with their roads as usual :lol:

[RenamedMonkey]

Possibly a fortunate escape. Bit scary to imagine what might have happened. Glad your okay.

[Spiderman]

I'm glad you took the hint either way and saved yourself the butt clenching moment of realisation that its there and too late to stop :shock:

I would also have wanted to get the thing off the road for the safety of others. If the road is as dangerous to stop on as you guys say then i would deffo have called the cops. They can be really lazy in these kinda situations in my experience...and a little harmless exageration of the size of obstruction seems to gee them up a bit.

If they come back to say it werent that big you always have room to say "well it looked it to me...the speed i zoomed by it at" :lol:

OK dont say the last bit, natch, but it was dark.... seemed bigger etc etc.

Just dont ever bother to ask em to retrieve your wallet from a hard shoulder (dont ask..long story) as they say its too dangerous for them to do it at night and they can only do it when the suns up. :roll: They will happily pull over on the hard shoulder to arrest you if you wish to do it yourself tho. Pathetic eh?

[Ceri JC]

Possibly a fortunate escape. Bit scary to imagine what might have happened. Glad your okay.

Thanks, yeah it was one of those "what if" moments- not really scary at the time, you just respond and avoid it, but it's later when you can relax a bit and it sinks in, "What if I'd not made it? I could be lying in the road back there..."

I think you can't be too blase about those sort of things, but you can't let it scare you too much. Analyse it, take it on board, do what you can to stop/lessen the chance of it happening again, go for another rider before common sense gets the better of you :wink:

[Jelster]

Well you would have had a soft landing :lol:

.

[Longshotmojo]

I had exactly the same experience about a week ago. Doing about 50mph and a car comes around a bend and starts flashing his lights at me. I thought that he was warning me of police, I wasn't speeding but am always paranoid when passing them. I started to slow and approached the bend and right in the middle of it was a For Sale sign that had fallen from the hedge next to the road. Yanked on the brakes and slowed but realised that I wouldn't be able to stop in time so eased off, gritted my teeth, and rode over it. Stopped further up and returned the board to the owner, with a few choice words included :evil:

[Warren]

i rememeber when i first got my bike.

riding merrily down the road (bit quicker than i should have been)
when a car goes by flashing me. . . .thought - thats strange, probably letting me know ive got my lights on

then another - what they trying to tell me- check make sure ive got everything - helmet, jacket, trousers

and another car does the same thing, just as im checking the bike to make sure its not on fire or something, glance up and a copper in a bush has just decided to start aiming his gun at me.

few evasive manovres, and i pass without incident.


lesson learned.

[sharriso74]

People just keep leaving their cars in front of me at the moment :(