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Ben's recent post about dodging a loose tire (Run free! Fly!) on the freeway got me to thinking . . .
I have had a long and interesting driving career. Motorcycles since I was about 8 years old, 18-Wheelers, and hundred's of thousands (really) of miles in cars and light trucks. I drive so much that I have rarely sold anything that was not completely worn out (290K miles on the last light truck).
Basically every kind of rig that's ever been made . . .
I am a safe but aggressive driver, with an excellent record, but nevertheless, if you are out there a lot, things happen. I have seen and occasionally impacted a lot of stuff on the freeways. Occasionally I have been the "dropee" myself.
For all the weird stuff I see (but miss) I cannot help but actually imagine the item(s) falling off a truck in front of me when I am on my bike. Many times the most coherent thought is Aggghhhhhkkkk! (or Holy sh!t!!)
Anyway, some of the things I have encountered:
In my truck: Guy in a convertible looses a battle with a bag of Cheetos (the puffy ones). Not sure why he was fighting with it, but he did get it open. The bag ripped spectacularly and I promptly drove through a rather large cloud of puffy cheetos. Many came in the window so I had an impromptu snack (using the 10 second rule of course).
In a 78 Ford van: I had large double mirrors (for trailer towing). I looked out the right mirror just in time to see the top convex mirror fly off (the glass came out of the frame). Watched in the lower mirror as it impacted the windshield of the car behind me and exploded into shards of glass . I pulled off, but he did not so I assume it caused no damage.
On "Well Oiled Machine": Driving downtown on US 75. Came across about 20 cast iron frying pans of varying sizes scattered across the highway. Had to dodge a few but that was no big deal. Could not help but think how annoying it would have been to be caught in a cloud of bouncing cast iron frying pans when they dropped off the truck or whatever that was carrying them.
In my Ford Bronco: Going 70 up the freeway, car beside me. The car in front dodged into the next lane, I could not due to the car beside me. Ran over a stop light! Big one too, they are much bigger than they look up on the poles. Bet they are expensive too! Glad I am not the one that lost it. WHAM! CRUNCH! No damage to my truck (cause it was a Bronco).
Driving my GS750 on us287. Flat out in the middle of nowhere, no bridges, no trees, nothing. A construction cone falls out of the sky directly in front of me and I ran over it. (You know, one of those semi-soft orange cones.) Pondered that one for a while . . . trying to figure out where the hell it came from . . . maybe somebody was trying to tell me something . . . but the mystery was answered when I passed a semi in front of me. He had about 6 more of the things hung up in his dually wheels on the trailer (this was a pole trailer . . . no real box). One launched itself practically straight up as I passed him. Bet it went 100 feet or more!
On my Valk: Passed a brake drum off of a semi that was sitting on the shoulder. Those are pretty big . . . maybe foot and a half in diameter and a foot wide. Bet they weigh 100 pounds. Could see the tracks and bounce marks in the asphalt where it had landed. Went for a long way . . . made big dents in the road!
Coke truck dropped about 4 cases of Coke cans directly in my lane while I was on my GS750. They all exploded. Got to drive through a cloud of bouncing full Coke cans, aluminum shrapnel, and sticky coke. Man that bike was tough to clean after that. Me too for that matter.
US 380: Three squashed cars had fallen off the scrap truck and were blocking the highway. One (not squashed . . . much) car that had been traveling the roadway was on top of one of the scrap cars . . . guess that is better than underneath.
US 380: Got to see a GIANT tire rolling down the side of the road. It was one of those tires for a huge dump truck (about 14 feet high and 6 feet wide) that had fallen off the flat-bed semi that was carrying it (it could only carry two!). Two people injured in the small passenger car it ran over.
US 75: On my Valkyrie. Ran over a line printer! Large flat dot-matrix job that the paper fed through the bottom of . . . about 3 feet wide, by 1 foot deep, by 6 inches tall. It slid out from under the car just in front and beside me. Could not miss it. I figure it was going 45 mph. Fell off a flat-bed trailer along with a bunch of keyboards. I was pissed, as it threw me forward onto my tank and put a scratch in my brand new Valkyrie (from my jacket buckle). I work in the printing industry, and have always said it will be probably be what kills me . . . but how horribly ironic to be killed my the printing industry when I am not even at work!
US 75: On my Valkyrie: Drove through a puddle of (about) 10 penny nails. Somebody had lost a 50 pound ox or two of them on the freeway. Could hear them plinging off the fenders, wheels, and exhaust. Lots of cars were off the road after the spill. I pulled off and carefully checked, but did not pick up any nails. Phew.
I35E: 3 sheets of plate glass fall off the side carrier of the glass truck on front of me. Tempered apparently as it shattered into the little squares. Drove through the mess of flying glass in my truck.
US75: In my Ramcharger: Hit a water-heater sized box that apparently contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts. It exploded! I was immediately choking on packing peanuts, they came in the windows. I was picking them out of the Ramcharger for about 3 years after that (they would pop out of an AC vent, and kept showing up in the air cleaner).
I dodged an anvil in the middle of the highway in east Texas. Kept looking around for the Roadrunner or Wiley Coyote. Stopped to pick it up, but it I could not budge it. Had to have been over 300 pounds (I am as strong as an ox . . . or so).
Drove through a mess of silverware on us121 (on "WOM").
I dodged what was left of a 6-man hottub on us75 in Plano. Very shortly afterward found a slate-topped pool table to avoid. Then the pool balls. Did not see any pool ques . . . or the rack.
Those are just what I can think of off-hand. What have you run over lately?
I have had a long and interesting driving career. Motorcycles since I was about 8 years old, 18-Wheelers, and hundred's of thousands (really) of miles in cars and light trucks. I drive so much that I have rarely sold anything that was not completely worn out (290K miles on the last light truck).
Basically every kind of rig that's ever been made . . .
I am a safe but aggressive driver, with an excellent record, but nevertheless, if you are out there a lot, things happen. I have seen and occasionally impacted a lot of stuff on the freeways. Occasionally I have been the "dropee" myself.
For all the weird stuff I see (but miss) I cannot help but actually imagine the item(s) falling off a truck in front of me when I am on my bike. Many times the most coherent thought is Aggghhhhhkkkk! (or Holy sh!t!!)
Anyway, some of the things I have encountered:
In my truck: Guy in a convertible looses a battle with a bag of Cheetos (the puffy ones). Not sure why he was fighting with it, but he did get it open. The bag ripped spectacularly and I promptly drove through a rather large cloud of puffy cheetos. Many came in the window so I had an impromptu snack (using the 10 second rule of course).
In a 78 Ford van: I had large double mirrors (for trailer towing). I looked out the right mirror just in time to see the top convex mirror fly off (the glass came out of the frame). Watched in the lower mirror as it impacted the windshield of the car behind me and exploded into shards of glass . I pulled off, but he did not so I assume it caused no damage.
On "Well Oiled Machine": Driving downtown on US 75. Came across about 20 cast iron frying pans of varying sizes scattered across the highway. Had to dodge a few but that was no big deal. Could not help but think how annoying it would have been to be caught in a cloud of bouncing cast iron frying pans when they dropped off the truck or whatever that was carrying them.
In my Ford Bronco: Going 70 up the freeway, car beside me. The car in front dodged into the next lane, I could not due to the car beside me. Ran over a stop light! Big one too, they are much bigger than they look up on the poles. Bet they are expensive too! Glad I am not the one that lost it. WHAM! CRUNCH! No damage to my truck (cause it was a Bronco).
Driving my GS750 on us287. Flat out in the middle of nowhere, no bridges, no trees, nothing. A construction cone falls out of the sky directly in front of me and I ran over it. (You know, one of those semi-soft orange cones.) Pondered that one for a while . . . trying to figure out where the hell it came from . . . maybe somebody was trying to tell me something . . . but the mystery was answered when I passed a semi in front of me. He had about 6 more of the things hung up in his dually wheels on the trailer (this was a pole trailer . . . no real box). One launched itself practically straight up as I passed him. Bet it went 100 feet or more!
On my Valk: Passed a brake drum off of a semi that was sitting on the shoulder. Those are pretty big . . . maybe foot and a half in diameter and a foot wide. Bet they weigh 100 pounds. Could see the tracks and bounce marks in the asphalt where it had landed. Went for a long way . . . made big dents in the road!
Coke truck dropped about 4 cases of Coke cans directly in my lane while I was on my GS750. They all exploded. Got to drive through a cloud of bouncing full Coke cans, aluminum shrapnel, and sticky coke. Man that bike was tough to clean after that. Me too for that matter.
US 380: Three squashed cars had fallen off the scrap truck and were blocking the highway. One (not squashed . . . much) car that had been traveling the roadway was on top of one of the scrap cars . . . guess that is better than underneath.
US 380: Got to see a GIANT tire rolling down the side of the road. It was one of those tires for a huge dump truck (about 14 feet high and 6 feet wide) that had fallen off the flat-bed semi that was carrying it (it could only carry two!). Two people injured in the small passenger car it ran over.
US 75: On my Valkyrie. Ran over a line printer! Large flat dot-matrix job that the paper fed through the bottom of . . . about 3 feet wide, by 1 foot deep, by 6 inches tall. It slid out from under the car just in front and beside me. Could not miss it. I figure it was going 45 mph. Fell off a flat-bed trailer along with a bunch of keyboards. I was pissed, as it threw me forward onto my tank and put a scratch in my brand new Valkyrie (from my jacket buckle). I work in the printing industry, and have always said it will be probably be what kills me . . . but how horribly ironic to be killed my the printing industry when I am not even at work!
US 75: On my Valkyrie: Drove through a puddle of (about) 10 penny nails. Somebody had lost a 50 pound ox or two of them on the freeway. Could hear them plinging off the fenders, wheels, and exhaust. Lots of cars were off the road after the spill. I pulled off and carefully checked, but did not pick up any nails. Phew.
I35E: 3 sheets of plate glass fall off the side carrier of the glass truck on front of me. Tempered apparently as it shattered into the little squares. Drove through the mess of flying glass in my truck.
US75: In my Ramcharger: Hit a water-heater sized box that apparently contained nothing but styrofoam packing peanuts. It exploded! I was immediately choking on packing peanuts, they came in the windows. I was picking them out of the Ramcharger for about 3 years after that (they would pop out of an AC vent, and kept showing up in the air cleaner).
I dodged an anvil in the middle of the highway in east Texas. Kept looking around for the Roadrunner or Wiley Coyote. Stopped to pick it up, but it I could not budge it. Had to have been over 300 pounds (I am as strong as an ox . . . or so).
Drove through a mess of silverware on us121 (on "WOM").
I dodged what was left of a 6-man hottub on us75 in Plano. Very shortly afterward found a slate-topped pool table to avoid. Then the pool balls. Did not see any pool ques . . . or the rack.
Those are just what I can think of off-hand. What have you run over lately?
Actually, the log saved
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