Originally Posted by cyclezen

C4L - I'll keep this short as possible to not hijack the thread. My crash was on a local fav moto road - the 150 between Carpinteria and Ojai. I was leading a group ride on a Sat. Was a mellow pace, but as I approached a tight, blind curve, a Hummer came around the curve mostly over the double yellow and in my lane. Left me about 5 ft on the far right (curve to left). I was center my lane but good training kept me from fixating on the Hummer and was able to stand the bike up and move far right of the lane and focus past into the curve. I missed the Hummer by about 18 inches, but couldn't hold the tight turn after that and went off. I was trail braking a bit to scrub some speed, so I went off at about 35 mph. Bike tumbled a bit, but no serious damage. I, however, tumbled a bit further and came to a stop on top of some boulders - that did the damage. I was lucky I didn;t suffer spinal injury. I was lucky to have my riding buds. And as it turned out, the reason the hummer was in my lane, he? (did not stop, so can't say who was driving) decided to pass a pair of cyclists in the blind curve. The cyclists were an MD and an EMT, and were my first responders... I apparently also had a nice helicopter ride, which I didn;t remember because I did go into shock. I was/am always ATTGATT, and the gear did help a bunch. Was there anything I could have done? I could have been 10 sec sooner or later and the whole thing would have been just a 'close call'. I still ride motorcycles, but cycling has always been higher on the list and continues up there. I've made it a point to bring my motorcycle awareness and scanning to riding the bicycle, 'reading' and anticipating problems and issues has saved my bacon, on the bicycle, many times.
I understand and appreciate your decision - I still ride the moto, but mostly for local shopping and multi-day sport touring. California, from SB going north, is incredbly beautiful and diverse. Seeing it on the moto is the best way to get around for a 5 day tour.



I'm not trying to talk you out of trying other bars. But I firmly believe that a fundamentally sound position and posture lets us make best use of the potential in the equipment. Best of luck.