I know a lot on here ride all year round and I make no apologies for bagging the tractor up once the salt appears but I thought I’d share this with you all to maybe make you think about where you ride recreationally in the crap weather.
Last Sunday one of the observers from my local IAM group was involved in an accident. He was riding on a rural B road in Worcestershire which is a great biking road when he was hit by a car coming in the opposite direction. The car lost control on a (to the driver of the car) left hand bend, apparently there was mud on the road as a contributing factor. The observer’s bike was hit on the right hand side and he was airlifted to the QE which is our regional trauma centre. Dispite the best efforts of the surgeons he’s lost his right leg below the knee. He’s taking it really well but it just goes to show what can happen just because you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. So… when you do go for a ride on roads you know at this time of year it might be worth considering chosing as safe a route as you can, or at least avoiding roads that could be problematic. Ride safe…
I suppose you could consider predicting the road conditions as part of a defensive riding strategy. It just goes to show how broad that principle can be, and how everything in motorcycling is a risk-based decision. It’s terribly bed luck for the IAM rider though. Wrong place, wrong time, as you say.
I have to agree with @PatW and this terrible accident proves it. Even the most experienced riders cannot predict what idiots can inflict on bikers and other road users.
Around here we have Idiots all year round. Makes me wonder just how they got licences. But today it wasn’t the idiots it was the cold. I got to work this morning and could barely get of the bike. My hands took about 10 minutes in front of a heater even before i could feel them. Global warming or should i say freezing. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
Joe