Okay, not a mountain, more like a large hill, or whatever you call a pile of dirt that goes up over twenty feet with a windy road laid on top going around a sharp blind corner.
I was coming up on this corner, debating how fast to take the corner. And I noticed I couldn't see around the side of it. Thus, I opted for the suggested speed sign, always a safe bet on a corner. As I was coming up the road, there it was. A semi-truck pulling a trailer came around the corner towards me. They weren't just slightly over the line. They were a good solid into my lane by at least 3/4ths at apex and then started moving back into their own lane.
In a car, that'd be trouble. In a motorcycle, that's plenty of room and I had a good distance gap between me and when the semi appeared. I swerve over to the far side of the road and decrease speed. The semi started edging back into their own lane increasing the safe zone. Thus, I didn't need to flat out stop, dare the opposite side, go off road, or anything crazy. As I got closer, I glanced to the front of the semi, then back away to the edge of the road, and then noticed the far edge of the road is all broken pavement. Then I glance back to the center between the broken edge of the road and the semi-truck. Had plenty of room to maneuver. Plus, if I needed to I could have come to a complete stop pretty quick. But I wouldn't have wanted to do that until after I was out of the fire of the semi truck head on. My absolute last resort if everything would have went worse, like if the semi had kept coming towards me, then I would have found out just how sharp the downhill dirt is. As I said, it would have been an absolute last resort if everything had gone absolute way worse, but I say it, because if it came down to that versus colliding with a semi, I'd rather collide with dirt.
I didn't feel at risk in this. I recognized I couldn't see around the corner as I approached it, and expected anything. I had plenty of time to react and did so quickly and effectively. And kept good control of the bike the whole time. But this is the first time I had the text book semi-truck in my lane pop-up around the corner. It is talked about in all the books and MSF training course. A classic text book example of the dangers of blind corners. So be fore-warned it is a real life example.
Reflecting on some keys. Recognize you don't know what is around a blind corner, so don't push the speed and be ready to react. Secondly, you go where you look. I kept my focus right in front where I wanted to go between the semi truck and broken edge pavement. Thirdly, remember classic danger reactions swerve out danger and/or brake. Fourthly, keep escape paths, know where you can go, have backups of where you can go. Fifth, keep having fun, and the key is being safe, dangers happen all the time, even in cars, so many things almost happen driving a car you become immune to it until you start driving a motorcycle and notice just how much crazy stuff is going on in cars and other cars. The key is to be safe so you can keep enjoying the ride.
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