Happened a while ago but...
 

Only just got round to posting. As to be honest I wanted nothing to do with bikes for a while.

Put simply, I think was pretty much inches away from being killed a while back in a near miss that just was too much for me, so hung up my leathers for a bit.

The scene:
Travelling home at about 6:30 in glorious sunshine down a NSL single carriadgeway country road (Fleet bends), with double whites as they are quite twisty.

What happened:
Approaching a sharp right hand bend I lower my speed and get into the correct gear, it's a really sharp blind bend so no tomfoolery as you never know what will be around the corner.

To my horror as I am just about to turn in a van appears taking up the whole of my lane with a small car on the inside (correct lane). I'm doing about 40 at this point, I can only guess than van is doing about 50ish as it's tyres were screeching a bit.

At this point I honestly think this is it, the big one that will kill me and I'll never see my wife, family or friends again. It's weird almost like in slow motion. Somehow, and I just cannot tell you how, I manage to avoid being wiped out, the van doesn't even appear to brake and I even make out clearly what the guy looks like, I end up to the far left of my lane in the muddy, grimy stuff which sends the front end into a weird slidey/slappy manouvre and I end up in a small ditch. I'm still upright and still on the bike so I guess it could be worse.

Just before the bend (coming from the van's direction) is a huge long straight with no white lines. All I can guess is that the van went to overtake and the car accelerated stopping him from doing so. Seen it on that road so many times. But rather than pull back in the van decides to just go around a totally blind bend on the wrong side of the road. If I had been in a car I might also not be so lucky.

It's weird. Really shook me up and just wanted to give up biking for good. I used to love it, but with stuff like that it doesn't matter how good a rider you are, somethings you just cannot fully prepare for. I love bikes but I don't want to die on one.

That is all, just had to get it off my chest really.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Sympathise completely.

My small accident this year could have been so much worse if there was a car coming as I would have rolled into its path.

IF you want to ride again you will... until then enjoy the time off and polish it nicely

:-)

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Thanks Alex, maybe I'm just a soft twit but it even made me cry. I don't mind admitting it. I just thought of my wife on her own and was too much. Really messed up my confidence.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

That sounds horrific :( I'm not surprised your confidence took a knock. It's one of my greatest fears leaving my husband on his own if something bad happened to me. Good on you for posting and I hope it's made you feel better about things getting it off your chest.

:grouphug:

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Dan you cry at monsters inc though ;-)

Seriously though I think most of us have had very close shaves like that at some point or another in our biking lives and it normally knocks you for six a bit. All I would say is the confidence will come back if oyu want it to

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

I think you must have me confused with Kwakadan, who was a right softie. ;)

I guess what scares me is that there are times when you have no choice in the matter. I always lived under the illusion that I'll see things coming before they happen. Just scared the beejesus out of me.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

and what is it with you and ditches?

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

I think I even said that as I was sat in it. :rolleyes:

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Dan, top marks for getting it off your chest and knowing that we are not all invincible.
Good to hear that you will be on 2 wheels still.
If you feel like a gentle bimble drop the TVSF a line as we like going slow so that people we lost at unmarked junctions can find us. I thing Ogden and Tony K are trying to sort something out. Also there's the TVSF camping weekend coming up. Be good to see you there.
As a little incentive, Sarah will be bringing lots of cake.......

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Glad you were ok.
It's all ifs 'n' buts ain't it. This mornin' someone opened his van door right in my path and closed it just in time, then 5 seconds later someone had turned onto the road i was on on my side and was about 15m away from headbutting my bike.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

having your vulnerability and mortality pointed out to you is never pleasant - but living with illusions can be worse... BUT your still here to tell the tale. Count your blessings and move on.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Dan,

I see too much bad driving now, and I am very scared riding. I still love it, but I'm wondering...is public transport better for my heart...

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Oooh that's scary dude. Don't suppose anybody stopped? (other then you)

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

The car behind me did, he said he thought I was as good as dead and he had to slam on the anchors too. Luckily he was a way behind me otherwise he may have hit the van.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

glad you're in one piece to tell the tale .. I too take it for granted that things are ok on the roads.. do what you think is right for you..things might change later on then go with the flow.

Once a biker always a biker :)

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Wow. I know how it feels to be in that position mate, not nice at all. But i look at it like this myself... i could be doing everything right and some drunk fool will run a red light and wipe me out one day.
Its the risks you take every day... not just on a bike but by stepping out your house. if its your time, its your time and if you think that by staying indoors and hiding from the world you're safe then cosmic forces will conspire against you and your house will get hit by a meteroite or something.

Good to get it off you cheat tho Dan :)

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Look at it on the bright side, as you said had you been in a car you wouldn't have had room to get out of the way and as the drivers side would have been the bit sticking out you would have copped it head on.... I always work on the principal that on a bike I'm a smaller target and I don't need as big a gap to miss something, but then I'm always optimistic.....

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

I think that's a good way to think about it. I'm back on the bike now but just keep waiting for it to happen again and so I'm all over the place.

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

Give it time and you wil be more confindent agian, does make you think who people like that even got a driven lience and havnt killed someone b4

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

how many times has it happened, and how long you been riding?

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

How do you want to die? It is inevitable after all.

I gave up riding for a while some years ago after a crash, more because I couldn't afford another bike than because it put me off, but I decided to take up mountain biking instead. I thought, it's still a bike, it's a load of fun and although you can come off and get hurt you're not likely to kill yourself. A while later on a ride my brother had an fall, banged his head and never woke up - How wrong could I be?

Even if you wrap yourself up in cotton wool and never go out you have no guarantee of a long life so perhaps it's better to enjoy yourself but it's up to everybody to make their own choice. Personally I'd hate to be mangled but still alive.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

you were lucky to be on a bike, just think of what would have happened if you were in a car. the result would have defiantly resulted in an accident. so by being on a bike it actually saved your life as you were able to avoid a collision. think of it as a positive experience rather than a negative.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Dan,

The near misses are inevitable. My last big scare was in the wet with an oncoming semi. What I did not see through all of the spray that he was kicking up was the other truck just along side him trying to overtake. It was a case of hook left regardless of what I might hit or die. I missed him by what seemed like inches (it really was a close call) and managed to keep it upright down an embankment and into the wet grassy drain (~60ft wide) at 70mph.

There are two types when it comes to emergency situations. Those who do nothing and pile into whatever is coming at them... and those who take action and are more likely to survive. I reckon you'll survive a bit longer. :)

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

omg that sounds terrifying dan :grouphug:

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

the important part of the story is that you are still in one piece, i hope one day you find it in you to return to two wheels but i am sure the people on here will understand if you opt to retire.

we all know the public roads are dangerous, and I am sure we all understand we are a lot more vulnerable on two wheels.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

I don't have the luxury of retiring as I don't have a car licence so have to get back on. Have been riding for a week or so again but my confidence is shot. As for dying, peacefully in my sleep or 'on the job' would do me fine! :rolleyes:

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

I thought you passed your car test last year?

Re: Happened a while ago but........
 

+1 the way I see it been on the bike prob saved your life. as a 30+40mph head on smash with a van even in a car your looking at serious injury at the very least.

Must have been a pretty dark time for you over the last few weeks mate, hope its a weight lifted talking about it on here.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Sorry mate but I don't accept they are as inevitable as you make out. The third type of rider are those that use skill and knowledge to avoid being in a vulnerable situation in the first place. You didn't have to ride into a wall of spray without first being in a position to be sure there wasn't something on the other side, you took a chance and the dice didn't roll for you. Personally I'd rather not rely on luck to stay alive. I've spent the best part of the last twenty years picking people out of the road after their luck ran out, and only in an incredibly small minority of cases have a walked away thinking there was nothing they could have done to have avoided it happening. Yes I accept that can happen, and the OP is one of those potentially as something oncoming on a blind bend is everyones worst scenario, but don't please lie back and accept that **** happens.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Nope, failed. AGAIN. I just didn't have the heart to say I'd failed again. Not sure I'll ever pass my car test. I'd probably get e helicopter licence before!!

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Ya daft bugger :rolleyes:

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Dan, crap happens. I've had a couple of near misses, one of them particularly early on in my biking career. I can still see the eyes of the woman in the car, that the green BMW over took and tried to wipe me out in the process, I can still feel the almost there feeling of the car on my knee, and my mirror wobbling.......thats four years on!

Take your own time and if you have to ride like Miss Daisy then do so. Its only natural for you feel like your nerves are shot, mine are just coming back after Septembers little bike/helmet/tarmac interface. All in good time my friend;-)

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

i was involved in exacttlt the same scenario in may this year, travelling down the snake pass, approaching a tight right hand bend, an audi quattro came round the corner sideways in our lane, having just overtook 3 cars on the bend at speeds in excess of 100 mph, he forced us into the crash barriers, where my wife suffered lacerations and torn ligaments and i had to have knee surgery......this was my 1st accident in 26 years....the car driver drove off, but the 3 cars stopped and helped loads,...to cut it short...the police caught the driver an hour later, and are now prosecuting at the crown court!!!...my bike was written off, £1500 of clothing damaged...4 months of physio and a non existant life and ive just started riding again albeit against my docs advice...i can honestly sympathise with you m8, i too have wondered wether i should hang up the leathers,..yesterday i did 300 miles in wales, and every bend i was having panic flashbacks of a speeding red audi!!!...only u can decide whats best for you

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

dan all i will say is goodluck with whichever choice you make a near miss can bangle your head more than an off sometimes, i know this myself and have also asked the same questions, do whats right for you and be happy with your own choice
goodluck

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Well I am not psychic and who said about blindly accepting whatever is coming at us and I didn't say or don't accept that sh.. happens. I was looking for a hazard in that wall of spray and was already tucked over to the left. Dan, Dizzy and Lee have seen the blind bend scenario, and there have been many other examples of near misses in these forums. Is there something else that they could have done other than to be somewhere else that day.
Sure we minimise our exposure to risk, but there are always going to be situations that despite our best intentions that are initially beyond our control <- ie the inevitable. It is what we do about it that set us apart and determines whether we live or die.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Dan, glad your okay matey, it's good that you feel you can get it off your chest here. I hadn't stepped on a big bike for 2 months until I got on a Blade on my Birthday for a test ride. Got back into the groove pretty quickly and was cornering how I used to, until I exited a bend and was met with a muddy NSL road, slippy as you like on the drive of the bike, nothing major, just an uncomfortable feeling. However much I enjoyed riding the bike that ride, it's not hard to admit, I realised why I really haven't been all that bothered about getting back on a bike.

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

It is not a nice experience that you went through and it does make you think about everything, what is most important to you. You are back on your bike now and you can keep trying for your car licence Dan, you will pass. What did you fail on before?

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Hi Dan,

just read this thread and can totally feel for your situation and why you took the time out. As a new rider myself one thing from your description stands out and possibly explains why you came out in one piece. You anticipated the road ahead and used your forward planning before you came into the incident. The outcome may have been much worse with our without the planning - but it sounds like you have been trained well and know how to ride safely and smoothly. As per the other comments if yout time is up - then that is what will happen - not to be flippant about the value of human existance but that is what surrounds us as a daily reminder that we are fragile creatures in a dangerous enviroment - roads or otherwise. As per my recent thread on losing a fellow biker friend - that has given me a sobre reminder to appreciate my other half and give 100% with my 11month old son - no matter how tired I am, how grouchy he is and how ****ed off with work I get!

Anyhow - glad to hear that you have got back in the saddle and that the experience will 'hone' your skills for the future.

Be Safe - Matt :cool:

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

Yep, there was a time where I would have gone round that bend (and have) with my knee on the deck at about 60. I guess being a little older and wiser has made me think that blind bends are not the place to be gambling with your life as you just never know what is around that corner. I failed because the instructor 'felt' that I wasn't ready!! WTF does that even mean. 8 minors and no major faults. I appealed but it was overruled as I had the chief examiner. Winkers!

Re: Happened a while ago but...
 

I think I owe you a bit of an apology. Have just re read your original post and sussed that you were taking about two oncoming lorries where I had thought you were overtaking one, so SORRY mate. :(