Yup-had to lay 'er down

[ozmoses]

Ate shit today.

Took the woman to check out a garage/barn I'd like to put up, get her opinion & input. On the way back she seemed a little squirmy so I thought -"hey, I'm ridin' knobbies why don't we just putt back on dirt roads " So I took a left...

The road, which I've not been on since last Fall, turns to dirt after 100 yds or so, posted 30 mph. Houses & driveways are close to the road w/ some limited sight lines on the turns, so it's not a place to haul ass but it is a nice ride.

Unfortunately, nobody told that to the Subaru who was more on our side than his own. I had plenty of time to see the car so adjusted my line to the outside-all was well until we entered what turned out to be a lefthand turn which was crowned to the right. The real problem was what turned out to be freshly applied calcium-chloride solution which made for zero traction instantly. We were down, and sliding, in an instant; just like ice. There really was no time to react. It was "oh, s-" boom!

Just before seeing the car I noted the speedometer at just below 30, like I said the plan was to putt home. We slid 45 feet!! I swear we accelerated after hitting the ground, that stuff felt like grease under my boots when I stood up.

This was her first crash & she was my first concern ( I am so glad it was a lowside ) no real injuries or rash. I checked her over & instructed her to sit down where she was off to the side & gather herself.She was surprisingly calm and mentioned later that as soon as she stopped sliding and stood up the realization "that wasn't so bad" struck her.
Even as I was sliding, with her atop me for a bit, my thought was more like " she will never ride again."

Bike was still in the road ( minimal damage there too ) so I went to pick it up.

As I was doing so another car came by, saw us & stopped. Young guy got out to check on us. After realizing it looked worse than it was, he mentioned that the town had just regraded, rolled and applied the calcium choride last week and that we were not it's first victim. Moreover, that nobody living on the road was very happy w/ the new & improved version they now had to drive on. As if to confirm this, another car stopped to ask what was happening & told me the same.

In thinking what i could have done differently, I come up w/ the lame not been there. How could I have known about the calcium chloride? No signs, construction or otherwise. It has been raining off and on for several days, so visually there was nothing to identify.
The obvious answer is to have been travelling even slower, but even at 5mph there would have been no traction. In all my years, I've never seen this stuff applied so heavily...just a fucked up situation.
I'm always glad when I log on to see no new threads here & would prefer not to be posting one myself, but I am thankful it was such a minor incident.

Lesson learned ( again): expect the unexpected

[hardwaregrrl]

Glad you both are ok, I'm assuming she wil ride again!!! Thought about calling the county/city dot and complaining with a few neighbors on your side? Did the Subaru dude stop?

[MOzarkRider]

Were you both ATGATT?

[ozmoses]

This is the sticks, ain't no DOT just the town garage; like a lot of places, you're on your own.
Having lived here most of my life I can tell you that in recent years Town road supervisors think they know much more than they actually do! I've seen several roads made much more dangerous by their "improvements".
Seems like the old timers did a lot more with much le$$.

Subaru did not stop but what I forgot to mention is that, according to the guys who did, Sub-y is often all over the road; didn't sound too neighborly about it, either. In all honesty ,though it did start the chain of events, that was insignificant compared to the calcium chloride solution which was just literally invisible.

ATGATT, what's that?

Yes, I was but she, despite my frequent admonishment, was half-gat. My new policy is to actually enforce my old policy, to wit: ATGATT or No-Go!

[red bud]

dude glad it all came out good

[KTM_Paul]

Why Calcium Chloride?? sorry we don't get that downunder, is it to prevent Ice or something?

[YOUNZ]

Originally Posted by ozmoses

Ate shit today.

Took the woman to check out a garage/barn I'd like to put up, get her opinion & input. On the way back she seemed a little squirmy so I thought -"hey, I'm ridin' knobbies why don't we just putt back on dirt roads " So I took a left...

The road, which I've not been on since last Fall, turns to dirt after 100 yds or so, posted 30 mph. Houses & driveways are close to the road w/ some limited sight lines on the turns, so it's not a place to haul ass but it is a nice ride.

Unfortunately, nobody told that to the Subaru who was more on our side than his own. I had plenty of time to see the car so adjusted my line to the outside-all was well until we entered what turned out to be a lefthand turn which was crowned to the right. The real problem was what turned out to be freshly applied calcium-chloride solution which made for zero traction instantly. We were down, and sliding, in an instant; just like ice. There really was no time to react. It was "oh, s-" boom!

Just before seeing the car I noted the speedometer at just below 30, like I said the plan was to putt home. We slid 45 feet!! I swear we accelerated after hitting the ground, that stuff felt like grease under my boots when I stood up.

This was her first crash & she was my first concern ( I am so glad it was a lowside ) no real injuries or rash. I checked her over & instructed her to sit down where she was off to the side & gather herself.She was surprisingly calm and mentioned later that as soon as she stopped sliding and stood up the realization "that wasn't so bad" struck her.
Even as I was sliding, with her atop me for a bit, my thought was more like " she will never ride again."

Bike was still in the road ( minimal damage there too ) so I went to pick it up.

As I was doing so another car came by, saw us & stopped. Young guy got out to check on us. After realizing it looked worse than it was, he mentioned that the town had just regraded, rolled and applied the calcium choride last week and that we were not it's first victim. Moreover, that nobody living on the road was very happy w/ the new & improved version they now had to drive on. As if to confirm this, another car stopped to ask what was happening & told me the same.

In thinking what i could have done differently, I come up w/ the lame not been there. How could I have known about the calcium chloride? No signs, construction or otherwise. It has been raining off and on for several days, so visually there was nothing to identify.
The obvious answer is to have been travelling even slower, but even at 5mph there would have been no traction. In all my years, I've never seen this stuff applied so heavily...just a fucked up situation.
I'm always glad when I log on to see no new threads here & would prefer not to be posting one myself, but I am thankful it was such a minor incident.

Lesson learned ( again): expect the unexpected

If you live long enough, there may be a sidecar in your future!

[gloud]

To keep the dust from the dirt road down.

Originally Posted by KTM_Paul

Why Calcium Chloride?? sorry we don't get that downunder, is it to prevent Ice or something?