And the number one reason not to be squidly...

CrashBomb

Registered
Ok, I don't have any pictures from my Sunday ride but I'd be completely remiss if I didn't tell you guys (and girls, of course) about today's adventures. This may end up being long and complicated, but...

All in all it was a great day, talked to some great people and got a ride in an honest to God supercar.
super.gif


I unrolled about 200 miles of road this afternoon, about half highway and half backroads. I probably never got more than 50 or 75 miles from home, but I ended up a few places that even I've never been before (and I've been bombing around the backroads around here for years). So I found some killer twisties and straights that I didn't know were there but I didn't really get to wind the throttle very hard because the damn cops were EVERYWHERE today.
guns.gif


At one point I was stuck in some construction related traffic jam and in the next lane was a GMC truck pulling a trailer with a cool old DMC Delorean sitting on it, turns out he lives in my area but just bought the car from someone in Michigan yesterday and was bringing it home. So I ended up talking to the guy through his window for about five or ten minutes while we waited for the paving crew up ahead to let us through. I've always wanted one of those old DMCs. I guess that's what happens when you're a child of the 80s and watched Back To The Future a few too many times during your impressionable youth. I asked the guy what kind of plans he had for it and he said, "well the first thing I have to do is put a flux capacitor in it." I just laughed and said, "you, sir, are my new hero."
bowdown.gif


About an hour later I pulled into a gas station to top off and there sat a guy and his wife in a car hauler carrying an Enzo Ferrari with Florida plates on it, once again just bringing it home from buying it. As it happened he was a fellow Ducati rider and we started to shoot the breeze about bikes and cars and such.

It was his first Ferrari and he was so excited and flattered that someone was impressed with it that we stood there and talked about cars for probably 20 minutes before he looked at my bike and said, "you ride a Hayabusa, I'm sure you like to go fast. Do you want to go for a ride?" :o I was like, "hmmm...let me think about this...do I want to go for a ride in one of the most incredible cars anyone has ever built with some guy I just ran into at a gas station, who's name I don't even know? Hmmm...do I? HELL YES I DO! WHERE DO I SIGN MY NAME?!?!"
vuur1.gif


He backed the thing off the trailer, told his wife, "I'll be back in a minute, I want to show my new friend what I just bought," (to which she just rolled her eyes) and we strapped in and took off. Let me tell you that thing will GLUE YOU TO YOUR SEAT.
firedevil.gif
Man, if I had an extra half a million dollars or so that's definitely what I'd be driving around in. So I got the first (and probably the ONLY) ride I'll ever get in a Ferrari and met the only genuinely cool rich person I've ever met. Who else would give some kid a ride in his new Enzo just because he liked my bike?

We went past some guy that (doesn't anymore) rode a Yamaha, didn't know if it was the R6 or the other one...the FJR or whatever. I say he used to ride it because he was currently being bent over the hood of a police cruiser and being handcuffed by the two nice officers. I have no idea what he did but apparently his Yammy wasn't fast enough to outrun the 5-0. I yelled my sympathies to him but I don't think he could hear me over that sick F1 sounding monster killer engine. So if anyone rides a blue and white Yamaha that just got arrested in Ohio...you have my condolences, my friend.

Anyway, after all that adventure I was on the way home and got to (almost) witness a squidy on a Kawi crash his brains out.

Let me set up this scene for you, since anyone who's still reading is probably like, "yeah yeah...cut to the part about Mr. Squid crunching up his Kaw."

I'm coasting up to a stoplight on a typical buisness district four lane where I'm about to turn right onto an interstate on ramp, when some goon on a ZX9R whips out of a parking lot in front of me and pulls into the straight through lane to my left, I'm in the right turn lane, about to get on the interstate, he's going to go through the light and continue on the four lane. (at least I think it was a 9R, whichever one has that weird snout thing in the front that looks like it's always yelling at you...or whistling...or something). No gear at all, shorts, and flip flop sandals. Yeesh. I nodded to him and gave him a friendly "how ya doin'," figuring he'd be gone in a second anyway.

So I stopped for the red and then pulled onto the on ramp and I noticed this greenish thing RIGHT behind me, I mean like practically trying to clmb up on my swingarm. I rolled my eyes and thought, "hmmm...I see Mr. Squid wants to tell his all friends he raced a Hayabusa? Well whatever, I'm going to be mature and let him have his fun since I'm not wearing the greatest gear either today and really don't want to get torn up any more this summer. Anyway, I'm only getting on this interstate for about 2 miles and then I'm getting right back off. So why bother?" As soon as we got off the entrance ramp he, of course, lifted the front wheel and zipped past me. I figured he was probably already on his cell phone telling all his buddies that he just dusted "the world's fastest motorcycle" on his (not quite a) liter bike. So I said to myself, "hell with it, that thing is just too UGLY to lose to. I mean I'll admit I don't have a problem with the Kaws and I even kind of like the looks of the new 14, grills and all (aaaaaaa don't hit me) but c'mon, that snout looking thing is just silly."

So I twisted my wrist a little and let the horses out to play. I passed him (and my exit) at probably 140 and he quickly became nothing more than a little green spot in my mirror trying to keep up.

Assuming that I'd proved my point after another mile or two, and figuring I'd never see him again anyway, I rolled the throttle closed and turned off at the next avalible exit and got back on the highway headed the other direction to go back to where I needed to be.

Lo and behold in about a mile or so in the opposite direction, what do I see on the other side of the median from me? What's left of a very familiar looking green Kawasaki sort of hanging upside down by the bars on a concrete retaining wall. I still can't figure out how he got it up there. The only thing I can come up with is he was embarassed and was trying to push the bike off the bridge when a car hit him on purpose to put him out of his misery.
laugh.gif


I'm still kicking myself for not having a camera to document this because you wouldn't believe the angle and position this bike was in unless you saw it. I have no idea how it got there but it must have been an exciting couple of seconds for anyone watching. Anyway, squidly was lying on the shoulder at the end of a long and gristly streak of blood and skin puncuated only by bits of green plastic and assorted bike parts. Several cagers had already stopped to help him and he actually didn't look all that worse for wear for a smack up like that, he just lost a few layers of very tender skin. He was sitting up and looked coherent and all that so I guess at least he's not dead. I would have stopped and offered some help but I could already hear the sirens (like I said the roads were crawling with cops all day) and I figured the last thing I need is someone saying I had anything to do with the whole deal, so I beat feet for home and slid into the garage just as the rain started to come down.

What a perfect ride on a perfect day.

And seriously, all kidding aside I hope the guy on the ZX makes it ok, squid or not. Hopefully he learned his lesson.

Anyway, that was a long post, but I knew a lot of people here would appriciate a Sunday afternoon ride report from the great big woods of Western PA (and eastern Ohio)

Later

-C
 
Riding in that Ferrari must have been the greatest thing ever. I mean a busa's got all the speed you need, but an enzo, that's sick. Hope the squid wears his gear from now on.
 
Some one needs a digital camera to stick in their pocket!!!

What a day, you may want to buy lotto and take tomorrow off so you dont ruin your luck.
tounge.gif
 
Oh man after all that I forgot to mention the best part of the whole squid incident...

I noticed when he pulled in front of me at the light he was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey...you'll never guess the name on the back. That's right...you guessed it...give the man a ceeegarrr...he was wearing a Rothlessberger jersey (or however you spell it, not a football fan so I don't know these things). Fortunately, I don't think that was anything for him to be embarrassed about after the fact, there probably wasn't enough left of it for anyone to read...probably just an R here and there and a couple of yellow S's strewn amongst the wreckage.
 
That sounds like a very complete day! I'd love to ride in a Ferrari.
 
That's great, so many people would have said " naw that's ok". You've got this day for the rest of your life. I think that's awesome. I think you should get a lotto ticket too.
 
Ride in a Ferrari? Man that's just so cool--especially have someone you never met taking it off the truck to give you a run. Someday--maybe--I can get a ride too!!! Nice day!
 
now that sounds like a completely satisfying way to spend a "lazy" afternoon
biggrin.gif
 
Back
Top