Spring-like Weather Brings Out Squids

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

The temperature was in the 50s yesterday and lot of riders took advantage of warmth by pulling their bikes out, despite the fact roads are sandy and wet. Smart riders are cautious and keep an eye open for hazards. Then there are riders like the ones that a RIDE-CT reader emailed me about last night. Her name is Robin and here’s her story:

“I read your column every week and thought you’d be the best person to bitch to about the idiots I encountered today on Rt. 4 (in Harwinton). Apparently, I wasn’t going fast enough for the two guys on crotch rockets – my speed was 50 – so the first guy decided to pass me on the right, while the other took over my left side, straddling the lines because of oncoming traffic.

“As a I rule, I’m not into road rage, but this time I could not stop myself. We all got stuck at the same light, so I pulled up along side them and started screaming about their lack of conduct while riding. I got a smile and a thumbs up, which I suppose is better than the finger. I was upset for hours. No one on a motorcycle has ever passed me on the right on a major road like Rt. 4, especially with all the snow and sand on the road. Do you really need to write yet another column about motorcycle safety and ettiquette? Guys like this are the ones who give the courteous riders a bad name. Maybe they read your column. It would be nice if they saw themselves for the idiots they are while riding.

“Thanks for reading my rant. I just can’t believe how stupid they were.”

 Stupid and lucky. You showed admirable restraint. I probably would have flipped them off. This is not the time of the year to ride like a squid. As you noted, there’s too much sand and drivers aren’t watching out for motorcycles – not that they do a good job of this during the warm months. I seem to spend a lot of time on a soap box myself, ranting about loud exhuast pipes. It’s not the noise that bothers me as much as the fact ear-shattering pipes give all of us a bad name. As you noted, so do riders like the ones you described. There were idiots. You were doing the speed limit so what was the problem? It’s for riders like these that the word “donorcycle” was invented.