Near Collision 11/02/2008

COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS!!!!!

I start with that line because Melissa and I had our first near collision yesterday.

We started to head out for our ride to Old Scottsdale, AZ (article to come). Living in Vistancia, located in northwest Peoria, AZ we use Vistancia Blvd as our first road on all trips. If you are familiar with this road, you know that there is a lot of construction in the area and for the most part the speed limit is 45. The lanes consist of 2 lanes in both directions.

Heading south on the main stretch towards Deer Valley Road, there is an entrance onto Vistancia Blvd from the 303. I observed in front of me a car entering onto Vistancia Blvd heading south as well in far right lane. The problem began when a Truck (either a Ford F-150 or similar make) was began to run through a stop sign to cross over Vistancia Blvd to make a left to head north, opposite our direction.

In order to do this, you have to cross over both lanes in which we were in to get clear across the road in order to make the turn. By the grace of God at the last second he slammed on his breaks and only made it a few feet into the first lane.

By this time I anticipated he was going to run the stop and began to down shifted into 3rd gear. This allowed me to quickly slow down to about 35 mph. Significant when you have to perform the quick stop technique to avoid the potential collision. For those of you have had to utilize this, you know this is probably one of the more difficult tasks to perform. For those who do not ride, this is because the event in which you have to utilize the technique is happening so fast and when you are at a higher rate of speed, everything must happen together in order to avoid severe fish tailing which results in downing a bike.

The Harley performed like a charm! Only a slight fishtail effect came into play. And we were able to throttle back up before the traffic behind us became a factor.

I left all the yelling and gesturing to Melissa, a fantastic co-pilot! From our post conversation, Melissa indicated that the young man's passengers were yelling at him and he even received a slap in the back of his head from the passenger in the extended cab. Good for him!

Last night I made sure to send a "Thank You" email to the folks at MTC located in the Dallas, TX metro area. I received my training there this last January. I cannot emphasize enough how important this type of training is! I can honestly say the skills I applied in this particular situation prevented us from downing the bike and potentially much worse!

Rubber Side Down!!

B