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Motorpsycho: “Rabbits don’t have a lot of traction.”
By Mike | May 31, 2007
Last week, we learned how to deal with obstacles. At one point, the instructor said if a small animal runs out into the road, your best strategy is to just keep up speed and roll over them just as we would a branch, pothole, or other obstacle. We discussed why, and most thought it was simply because swerving could be dangerous. However, we learned swerving in class. Finally, the instructor filled us in:
“Rabbits don’t have a lot of traction.”
When your front tire mashes Thumper flat, if you brake or turn the wheel it could slide across the fur and blood. Not good. Better to pancake Thumper than turn yourself into road pizza, yes?
Dogs are a little more fun, because you play mind games with them. When Spike comes running at you, his little canine brain is calculating your speed and figuring out where to intercept you. So you slow down for a moment, then roll on the gas and race away. This changes the interception point and confuses Spike, and you’re gone.
Then comes deer. The book says you slow to a walking speed and see where Bambi’s headed. However, fat chance of that happening when Bambi runs out in front of you in the middle of the night, right? So our instructor, Stevie, gave us his personal, near-foolproof method: turn another car into your deer blocker. Ride up on the back of a car or let one pass you and they will see the deer first. The book recommends using another car’s headlights to extend your own vision, so it’s not a great leap.
After that came the alcohol discussions. What driver’s education course of any kind wouldn’t have a drinking-and-driving segment? This one came complete with a video featuring Chip Esten. It’s cheesy and silly and doesn’t take itself seriously, but it still gets the point across and you learn something. At least we were paying attention and not doodling on our books while it was running.
Exercise-wise, it was swerve day. High-speed swerving to avoid a car backing into your lane was easy. Slow-speed swerving around cones kicks my ass. I don’t know what it is about the slow-speed stuff that’s so tough for me, but it’ll be easy to practice should I ever get my hands on a bike.
Of course, slow-speed weaving was destined to be part of the evaluation for our licenses, which we did last night after a week off. How’d it go, you ask?
Stay tuned.
Topics: General, Motorcycles |