I knew I would eventually meet that one driver -- the one I mentioned the other day -- while riding the Italica Bulldog 150.
Just got home from the encounter, with minor scratches to body (left elbow, left knee, just like my motorcycle school "wreck") and bike.
I was entering a 15 mph traffic circle, and wasn't even going the full 15 mph, both because of conditions (rain, some wind, fairly heavy traffic) and because was maybe 50 feet out of my turn onto the road from a gas station/convenience store parking lot and so would have had time to develop much speed even if I'd wanted to.
I saw the guy. You know the guy: Car doing the herky jerky as he vacillated between stopping or just trying to sneak into the traffic circle ahead of me, even though I was already in it and therefore had right of way.
I went down. I suppose it might have been just my body's reaction while on a wet surface and in a slight lean that caused it, but I think it's more likely that I gave the rear brake a slight reflexive squeeze at the instant I saw he was going for it (which he was), just enough to skid the rear wheel. I was up, back on the bike, and moving in probably ten seconds. Pulled over at the next convenient place to adjust mirrors and check for any serious damage, then rode home.
Would I have hit him if I hadn't gone down? Probably. And then it would have been "his fault," but both me and the bike would have likely ended up in considerably worse shape.
Shit happens. And I was out and about specifically because it was rainy and breezy. The way you get good at riding in such conditions is by riding in such conditions, so I decided to run out and gas up the bike because why not?
Mileage between last fill-up and this one: 68.8 miles per gallon. Average mileage so far: 69.6 miles per gallon.
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