Mistakes made, lessons learned

[rmorse]

Hey guys,

So, I finally got licensed and insured and tags and all that, and hit the road last Thursday. I've put on about 300 miles so far on the baby ninja and have made FOUR!!! big mistakes so far. The good thing is, each time I've made a mistake and nothing bad happened. The bad thing is, I could have gotten seriously injured and/or killed. I need to stop making these stupid errors....


The first time, I was rounding a corner at about 25mph and saw a deer. I HATE deer (I hit one on my dirt bike about 6 years ago and it almost killed me) so I slammed on my brakes. I locked up the rear and immediately let it go and reapplied. Right after, I realized what I did. Luckily, my bike was straight up and down when I released the rear brake, so no harm no foul. I still need to break that habit and quick! Lesson learned: Focus on keeping that rear locked up if it happens.

About 10 minutes after that, I was cruising back to my house on a split road (two lanes each side with a grassy median in the middle). A car comes flying up behind me and weaving in and out of traffic. He almost clips my tail and keeps going. He then slowed down to make a left at the light. Well, I had moved over and turned my head to look at him because I was pissed. The second I looked ahead again, I saw a car try and pull out in front of me. He saw me at the last second and hit his brakes, so there wasn't an issue. However, my heart was pounding because I was not prepared for that. Lesson learned: Screw the other drivers, focus on your driving. You should have seen that car way before they saw you.

The next day, I went for a long (100 mile) ride with a couple buddies. The bikes I was riding with were a zzr600 and an R6. I was taking up the rear when the lead bike went through a yellow. The R6 followed through and the light turned red as he was going through. I was so focused on not splitting up with the group that I didn't even think of stopping. I blew through the red light. I have no idea why; I don't drive like that in a car. It was just a stupid stupid error on my part. I am so lucky that there wasn't a car in the intersection waiting to turn when the light turned red. I would have t-boned him and that would have been game over. Lesson learned: You are riding for yourself, not others. Keeping up with them doesn't matter; only what you are doing on your bike matters. Focus on your riding.

The last lesson happened about 20 minutes ago. I was on my way back in to work and pulled on to a very busy street. The turn lane pulls on to the busy street and continues for about a half mile. On the corner, though, is a popular gas station. I hesitated for a couple seconds at the yield sign, looking for a break in the traffic. I saw the break and started accelerating past the gasa station. Unfortunately, I was focused on the cars I was trying to merge into and didn't see the car trying to enter my lane and go into the gas station. They pulled right into "my" lane while I was accelerating to meet the 55 mph traffic on my side, with my head looking back at all the cars. I glanced in front of my bike just in time to see the car pull in front of me and then they saw my bike. They jerked back onto the main road to avoid me running into the back of them. I merged and continued on my merry way, heart pounding. Lesson learned? Help me out on this one, guys. I'm not really sure. I know it was more my fault than the cars fault, but I'm not sure what I should have done differently. If I had stopped in the curve, I would have risked being rear-ended by the line of cars turning with me.

Here is the road in question:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...-8&sa=N&tab=wl
I was turning south onto 235, off of Chancellors Run.

[Stingray1000]

Bro just keep your head on a spindle... I think you need to ride around Green view knolls and MAYBE some back roads for a bit before you hit 235 It's way too busy around that area, especially during lunch and rush hour..... I know you've been riding for years, but your still a novice on the road. Just take it easy learn some back roads and neighborhoods.... It will save your life later.

[xSean13]

Wow, sounds like quite an interesting couple of days.
1. You're lucky the wheels were aligned & you were straight, otherwise that could have been bad (being you were in a corner)
2. if you would have simply followed the dbag until he stopped, so you could kick/punch his mirrors off, then you wouldn't have been scared by the turning car :P
3. Definitely don't blow through those red lights, they can always stop and wait up for you; I got split up at least 3x on my first ride with someone else, due to red lights.
4. It looks as if you simply tried merging too early & accelerating too quickly. There is plenty of road there for you to go down.

Do you find yourself "rushing" often, or trying to ride fast as if you're in a hurry, though you actually aren't? It sounds as if you are trying to ride in a hurried manner. I often catch myself being impatient and riding as if I'm in a hurry...which leads to silly mistakes like those.

[Stingray1000]

Originally Posted by xSean13

Wow, sounds like quite an interesting couple of days.
1. You're lucky the wheels were aligned & you were straight, otherwise that could have been bad (being you were in a corner)
2. if you would have simply followed the dbag until he stopped, so you could kick/punch his mirrors off, then you wouldn't have been scared by the turning car :P
3. Definitely don't blow through those red lights, they can always stop and wait up for you; I got split up at least 3x on my first ride with someone else, due to red lights.
4. It looks as if you simply tried merging too early & accelerating too quickly. There is plenty of road there for you to go down.

Do you find yourself "rushing" often, or trying to ride fast as if you're in a hurry, though you actually aren't? It sounds as if you are trying to ride in a hurried manner. I often catch myself being impatient and riding as if I'm in a hurry...which leads to silly mistakes like those.

Good advice and questions..... Don't ride higher then your skill level is the best advice.... Go and learn at your own pace. Trust me I locked up my rear with no one telling me to not let it go and luckily I didn't... idk why but I didn't lol

[rmorse]

Originally Posted by Stingray1000

Bro just keep your head on a spindle... I think you need to ride around Green view knolls and MAYBE some back roads for a bit before you hit 235 It's way too busy around that area, especially during lunch and rush hour..... I know you've been riding for years, but your still a novice on the road. Just take it easy learn some back roads and neighborhoods.... It will save your life later.

Yea. I'm fine with riding on 235. It's the whole "Lunch time and rush hour" that I really really really need to avoid. I'm going to continue to ride my bike into base every day, but I'm going to take pegg instead of 235.

Originally Posted by xSean13

Wow, sounds like quite an interesting couple of days.
1. You're lucky the wheels were aligned & you were straight, otherwise that could have been bad (being you were in a corner)
2. if you would have simply followed the dbag until he stopped, so you could kick/punch his mirrors off, then you wouldn't have been scared by the turning car :P
3. Definitely don't blow through those red lights, they can always stop and wait up for you; I got split up at least 3x on my first ride with someone else, due to red lights.
4. It looks as if you simply tried merging too early & accelerating too quickly. There is plenty of road there for you to go down.

Do you find yourself "rushing" often, or trying to ride fast as if you're in a hurry, though you actually aren't? It sounds as if you are trying to ride in a hurried manner. I often catch myself being impatient and riding as if I'm in a hurry...which leads to silly mistakes like those.

1. Yea, I did straighten up before braking hard. That was good.
2. Lol, I don't know about all that. I just need to focus on riding, not glaring at some dbag.
3. 100% agree.
4. I was worried about people coming over on top of me too though. I don't know; I think I was just too worried about merging instead of focusing on my surroundings.

Um, somewhat. As stingray said, I've been riding for years (19 years), but I've never ridden street. I love the rush of riding and I do think I ride in a bit of a "hurried manner." I'm not really hurrying, but I do accelerate faster than I need to, because that's what I do on the dirt too. I'll definitely try and tone it down a bit.

[Toly]

If I may add my two cents, don't touch the rear brake... it takes way too much attention managing it, that is best spent elsewhere, esp in emergency. Later U could start using it to slow down at stoplights and help with slow turns.

As far as last mistake, it was not a mistake. You just had too much traffic around for your limited experience... with time U'll leran to read and prioritize traffic, but not yet. Take it easy and ride less traveled roads or change travel times to off peak.

[csmith12]

There are some clovers near me where the merge/exit shares the same lane and is less than 150ft long. When riding here you have to use extra caution, be quick and decisive and execute without hesitation. Focus on anything for two long and you will find yourself under a car or truck. Don't be afraid to just miss merging, stay in lane, take the exit, or turn into that gas station and do a u-turn in a safe area and merge again with a better opportunity.

My tip; pic your merge point early and re evaluate it with a shoulder check just before merge time. This will help keep your attention free to watch for others that may come over on you, ect. ect. Also, your merge/ramp speed can put you in between cars, in the merge lane just before merging, instead of right beside them if your timing is good.

I hope that was clear enough.

Good luck and be safe!

[csmith12]

Oh! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[rmorse]

Originally Posted by Toly

If I may add my two cents, don't touch the rear brake... it takes way too much attention managing it, that is best spent elsewhere, esp in emergency. Later U could start using it to slow down at stoplights and help with slow turns.

As far as last mistake, it was not a mistake. You just had too much traffic around for your limited experience... with time U'll leran to read and prioritize traffic, but not yet. Take it easy and ride less traveled roads or change travel times to off peak.

Thanks for your 2 cents. I am trying to get off the rear brake. It's way harder than I imagined, since I rely on it soooo much riding dirt. I'm definitely going to stay off the busy streets for the next month or so.

Originally Posted by csmith12

There are some clovers near me where the merge/exit shares the same lane and is less than 150ft long. When riding here you have to use extra caution, be quick and decisive and execute without hesitation. Focus on anything for two long and you will find yourself under a car or truck. Don't be afraid to just miss merging, stay in lane, take the exit, or turn into that gas station and do a u-turn in a safe area and merge again with a better opportunity.

My tip; pic your merge point early and re evaluate it with a shoulder check just before merge time. This will help keep your attention free to watch for others that may come over on you, ect. ect. Also, your merge/ramp speed can put you in between cars, in the merge lane just before merging, instead of right beside them if your timing is good.

I hope that was clear enough.

Good luck and be safe!

Yea, that was clear. Thanks for the advice. I'll try it again on at a less traveled time...

Originally Posted by csmith12

Oh! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Haha, no worries. The positive spin on it is....at least I'm recognizing what I'm doing and learning from it, instead of just saying "Wow, that was close."

[dfox]

for the d-bag who almost clipped you, just a toot on the horn and a finger work well, imo. no need to stare them down. Keep your eyes ahead of you.

as for the merge, you'll have the same issues in a car. some people just don't look, or don't really check thoroughly enough.

Most people drive a car in a reactionary form, bike riders need to be proactive. I tend to drive proactively even in my car, which has definitely helped my awareness on a bike. small little things, like being able to tell if someone is going to merge by keeping their side view mirror in your peripheral, help. If you see ANY movement in their side view (twist of the head, movement of the head, looking up, etc.), assume they're going to merge into you.

[Jiggles]

Panic stop = front brake Only

[Boomstick1491]

I agree with one of the other posts that it sounds like you had an interesting couple days of riding. I am glad you came through unscathed. On the plus side, you sound like you were able to recognize when/how you made mistakes and, as far as this guy (who is also a noob) is concerned, that is probably 2/3 of solving the problem. Be safe dude.