Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Red Zone 9-24-11

There is a stretch of 280 north that climbs out of Palo Alto - starting at Sand Hill Road and climbs north to the junction with highway 92. Long sweeping curves of four lane interstate. Picturesque landscape and you are surrounded by fast company. Drivers up there have fast cars and they do not care to travel on the more fuel economic straight and crowded 101.

I take my time going through this section of 280. Back in 2006 on my FZ6 Yamaha i was pulled over with the Toyota i was following. Guilty - 85mph. We both got tickets and the CHP was a young guy that informed me that he knows that on a bike it is easy to get above 80 mph; safely. He probably would let me go if I would have been closer to 75. So, after traffic school i made a mental note of this area. Take it down a notch and take a slower lane. Let the cowboys run up or down the hill.

Today, 2pm I was returning from the city and so were a number of people. Southbound as you approach 92 CHP will sometimes sit with a radar gun under one of the 92 ramps. I will usually ride one of the two middle lanes. No CHP  today at 92; just lots of traffic going south into San Jose. Some drivers feel there is safety traveling in packs three abreast just like what they see in NASCAR. Do not allow them into your safety bubble. Go around when safe to do so. Do not sit on their rear bumper trying to intimidate them into getting out of the way. They do not use mirrors or turn their heads to check the lane they are moving into. Does it seem that anyone who would run door to door, side by side or tea party style with another car has issues? Either they are oblivious to what can happen or they want the other guy to lift - back off - this is my road and i say back off on my highway. Passive aggressive or just aggressive aggressive.

I do not like to pass on the right - very dangerous - but sometimes the tea party crowd likes to hold hands as they run down the hill. I will wait a bit until they get staggered a bit just to make the odds of one or two cars getting wild and wiping us all out, a lower number. There must have been 3 - 4 of these small packs. I get around and then get ahead and then back to a 75 mph range.

Then on my left in the fast lane a brand new black 5 series BMW shoots past me. As he does this we pass a CHP on the Sand Hill shoulder - he was getting back in his cruiser - must have had radar out and the engine running. It all looked like one smooth motion - we all knew he was after the BMW - so we gave him room to merge in and sweep past us all to the fast lane and then... "GOT HEEM!" The beemer saw the CHP  - but, too late and tried to weasel back into the pack.

Why does that make you smile or laugh or fist bump? Is it because so many times they shoot down the road and there are no CHP around? Well, if you get the CHP at your window chances are you cross the line. Happy trails and be careful out there.

2 comments:

Banzai88 said...

That's exactly why--cuz they deserve it! BTW, something about the colors or type size on this blogskills my eyes.

jgomez said...

this is an eye test - you are officially getting old.