Rather scary commute this morning, entirely my own fault. I decided to ride my Bertoni today, which is by far my fastest bike and one that always tempts me to go faster than I should. I turned out of my apartment complex and began riding (quite fast) to the entrance of the MUP parking lot which is about a quarter mile away. I always like to turn into the entrance at a pretty good speed because it's fun, and on this bike I can really let loose! So I got up to about 20-22-ish and as I'm approaching the turn I start checking for loose gravel, debris, etc. Nothing there so I go for it. That's when I notice that the gate is locked and approaching fast as it's no farther than 15 feet away from the main road! I laid on the brakes hard, the rear wheel locked up as I slid sideways, then it lifted off the ground. My right foot came off the pedal and touched the ground, and I was stopped. About 8 inches from the gate. Whew! If I had been on any of my other road bikes without modern brakes, I doubt I'd be at home typing this right now! Of course, on my other bikes I wouldn't have been going as fast...

Needless to say, I'll be looking at the gate from now on.