small observation

i've recently noticed something that i do. i never really had a reason to notice it up until the last couple of days. i avoid putting my feet down and try to keep the bike up as much as possible.

let me explain. heavy traffic is very unusual around my area. you can have a straight shot to work and never have to stop, aside from the red lights and red signs. for the last couple of days, traffic has been ridiculous for no apparent reason. so here i am in this long line of metal, coasting along. while was doing this, i realized that i was leaving a gap of one or two car lengths between me and the vehicle in front of me. instantly you think, "well, that's for safety reasons." i'll agree with that and add one more thing. i don't want to stop, i don't want to put my feet down because i'm only going to have to do it again in the next couple of seconds. so i coast along, slowly closing the gap with the cage in front, hoping that the line of traffic will start moving along again.

mind you, i don't think this is a bad thing. i pass it off, in my mind, as practice for keeping the bike up at very very slow speeds. and i am getting better at it. i can keep Selene rolling while the speedometer is barely registering movement.

in light of that, i was wondering if anyone else does that or something similar to it. i'm sure that in larger cities, you aren't going to get away with leaving that much space between you and the cage in front. i'm guessing you would get some honks and a few wonderful hand gestures. consider me curious. :)

9 comments:

Kathleen Jennette said...

I do it all the time.... We have a lot of traffic here and while some cages behind me might get impatient, I don't care...I just do it. It is sorta going through the skills while stopping/slowing down and not bad to do. I do it on inclines too cause I hate to stop on them...almost like a little plan to outsmart that dam hill ahead. Nope...you are not alone!

I think I solved the link problem for you....

Biker Betty said...

I do it a lot and notice other bikers in my town do too. I sometimes wonder what vehicles behind me think, but I haven't been honked at yet. Most leave me plenty of room. I sometimes wonder if they think this female is lame-brain and going to drop the bike in front of them (lol).

Biker Betty said...

I also forgot to mention, I love the challenge to see how far I can get without putting my feet down.

Giest said...

kt did: glad to hear i'm not alone...hehe. and yeah, i do the inclines as well. nothing worse then stopping and holding with one foot with the other on the brake. just feels unbalanced when pointing up hill.

biker betty: i like the challenge of it as well. when that speedo isn't registering and i'm still on two wheels, i know i'm doing good...hehe.

Macrobe said...

Dude, this little trick is taught in the MSF course 101 here :) Nearly *every* biker does it.

I empathize with making it a 'game' in several ways: how long can I creep along without having to put my feet down; how slow can I get to make it look like I came to a complete stop in case a OTL is around (aka 'cop'); how long can I avoid a dead stop at a red light on this freakin' hill;....

I am also practicing stopping/starting with one foot only: the left. That will be the rule more than not with the new bike. And avoids the 'cruiser shuffle' (I laughed when I heard that). Some sports bike folks glide to a slow stop as if they were floating and then slowly put one or both feet. An adventure/tourer buddy calls it the 'Zen Stop'.

Giest said...

macrobe: haha! and to think, i've never taken an MSF course! i do the whole "rolling stop" for stop signs and glide into stop lights, hoping the light will change before i have to put a foot down...lol.

i can start off on one foot, no problem. my stopping on one foot doesn't always work. i can get it around 60% of the time.

"cruiser shuffle", love it! haha!
"zen stop", my new favorite. you have increased my biker vocabulary!

Macrobe said...

Good idea. Maybe we could start a blog post on biker vocabulary and circulate it between mc blogs. heheh

Beaker said...

I do it too - commuting into and out of the city every day I try to minimise the time I am actually stationary in traffic (sitting duck!!) so I roll ever so slowly until I absolutely have to plant my foot. It's fun trying to see how slow I can get without touching down!!

Giest said...

yeah, i like the sitting duck thing. couldn't be closer to the truth. hehe, cagers must think we are wierd. doing everything we can to stay on two wheels. the epitome of a rolling stop...lol.