bad experience on the road
 

quite a lot of threads on bad cagers and things they have done.

i am sure that over time, something will happen worse than this, but this is the most recent one and the one that really scared me.

we have all had someone sneak up on us and caught us off guard - or someone who kinda appeared out of nowhere.

i was heading out to sturgis, going north on the interstate between souix city and souix falls. driving along around 75mph. my support vehicle (aka wife, she doesn't ride) behind me. i am in the left lane of two lanes. nothing to my immediate right for quit aways. riding along in the middle of the lane.

next thing i know, i get passed on my left by some ahole going what seems like way over 90. appeared out of nowhere. he was less than a foot to my left.

thats correct, to my left.
there was no reason he could't have just used the lane to the right and passed me normal.

i check the rear view mirrors often and never ever saw him coming.

it was just all of a sudden. i thought i heard something to my left, but it didn't make sense. one of those situations where your mind goes thru multiple iterations of what could be happening in no time flat. i took a quick look at the left mirror and there was something there. next thing he was next to me. and luckily i was able to read the situation and not over react and swerve to my right too quickly. at 75 you just don't swerve quick.

the thing that just made this so weird is that it was another biker.

i can't believe that one biker would put another biker in that situation, or even put himself in that situation.

he must have had either some real confidence in my riding ability or a death wish.

like WTF.

Not to excuse the other biker, but why in the world are you camping in the left lane?

I had bikers pass me going north on my left while I am on a four lane in the left side of the lane. They are passing head on in the south bound lane for what ever reason I cannot figure it out! They weren't crotch rockets either!

Probably trying to make a point about "riding right". Not doing it in a smart manner tho. Perhaps drunk/stoned? If there is no traffic/sparse traffic I will usually ride right and pass left.

Mark,
Do not be surprised at anything on the roads, or who does it. Ride defensively and when you see an idiot just... "Git oughta the way so you can die another day."

Rude at the least but as mentioned above maybe he felt self-righteous in the fact that he thought you should be cruising in the right lane and not the left? Only guessing cuz who knows what's in someone's mind. Of course he could just be an A-H too...

if i had been hogging the left lane, thats one thing. and i understand the comment about 'camping' in that lane.

i was going along faster than other vehicles and there were enough other vehicles there that justified staying in the left lane.

so its like i was gaining on a vehicle in the right lane, although he was about a block up. and the last one i had passed was about a block back.

there didn't appear to be a reason to get over to the right for that small amount of time.

really glad it was a bike and not a car - i do have to admit that.

He sounds like an impatient a$$ to me. Glad yer ok.

some times you can't do the right thing fast enough

R

+1 - Yep there ya go....:cool:

For what it's worth, I will move to the left, pass a vehicle then move back right. Even if it is every 1/4 mile.

But out of curiosity, where was Mama? Did he also pass her on the left?