Skid Marks

Do-da-do-de-doo... Hey, look, a stray dog! Careful, stray dog...

Man, I'm hungry. I hope Lope's got something to make for lunch. Why's this truck going so slow? Hurry, we're gonna miss the light!

You know what's cool? The Corvette Z06. 500 horsepower, I think. That would be-

WHOA! HOLY CRAPCAKES!

*****

So I had a near miss on the motorcycle yesterday afternoon. I was following too closely, not paying enough attention, and - most critcally - riding on a front tire that was about 20 psi low on air pressure.

The truck in front of me stopped to turn right, I went around him on the left, and saw a little Toyota already stopped there in the turn lane. Instinctively, I grabbed both brakes, and instead of slowing me down, both tires skidded. I ended up sliding diagonally around the Toyota, missing the driver's side window by a few feet, then letting off, straightening out, and motoring away from the intersection.

Yes, I had my helmet on.

Never again will I take a motorcycle out on the road after a long winter without checking the pressure in the tires. When I got home, I aired them up to recommended specs, and the ride back to work was blissfully uneventful.

And I'm proud to say I kept my cool, for some reason, never panicking or dropping the bike or anything like that.

But sheesh: I'll tell you. When I looked up and saw those brake lights, only a few bike-lengths from my front wheel, well...

There was almost a second set of skid marks created at that moment - right there in my shorts.