This is a bit of a rant so my apologies in advance for the length of this post, but this complete knob-end annoyed me this afternoon.
Was out for a blat today up the East Coast of Scotland with a m8 on his Blade RR3. We were on the way back home late this afternoon at about 5.00pm, traffic was a bit heavier than earlier on. Anyhow, we end up getting stuck behind a couple of cars that were in a queue that was headed up/led by three arctic lorries. Now, overtaking three arctics as well as a few cars sat behind them all heckling to also get past on winding "A" Roads takes a bit of skill and excellent judgement. So I'm up front looking for an overtake opening, m8tey boy on his Blade is behind me, ready to follow. We are waiting, ready to pick our spot and go. We both know from local knowledge where the overtaking opportunities are on this stretch of road.
Now as usual, when you are out with a mate or on a group run, your checking your mirrors constantly to make sure your buddy is behind you and what his road position is. This as we all know allows us to sometimes work out whether both of you are likely to be able to go for the overtake or only the lead rider will get past. So I know there's a longish straight coming up, albeit with a bit of a blind summit at one point so have to be ware of where that is. As we approach the left hander leading into this straight, I check my left mirror and see my mate on his blade. Ok - He's looking good to go and getting set up for the overtake to follow me. I then as a matter of habit before looking over my right shoulder behind me, glance in my right mirror to find it full of Ducati.
It was either a 1098 or an 848 in red. I have no idea which as he went past me on my outside ( but very close to me ) at **** knows what speed. Out on the other side of the road, around the bend completely blind into any oncoming traffic as he overtook me, the cars in front of me and the three arctics. If anything was coming the other way he had nowhere to go, absolutely nowhere. He could maybe have nipped in between the cars or arctics by way of force but it would have been a split second decision on his part and whether the gap was even there as he rounded the bend, I don't honestly know. Didn't look like it. I could not believe what I was seeing. A complete knob with no idea what he was doing winging it past a queue of traffic on a blind bend simply so he could pass us and get to the front where his m8 was sat on some other bike. We spotted his mate up the inside of the arctics on a previous bend. He had slowed right down and was looking over his shoulder to try and see where his Ducati buddy was. Anyway, once the Duke rider eventually got past the lot of us, he slotted in behind his mate and they sped off. A few minutes later, myself and my m8 overtook the same line of traffic on a straight where we could see it was safe to do so. As we came around the next corner we could see ahead that the pair of riders in front of us had turned off and headed up towards Knockhill. I was tempted to follow them and have words but I bit my lip, shook my head and carried on instead.
All I'll say is that if that Ducati rider continues riding his bike in that manner over the next few years, he may not be around for long. I will admit I'm not a saint on the road ( although I'm safe and sensible ), I'm a fairly quick road rider but folk riding like that have obviously not seen the carnage that involves a high speed road bike crash. I've watched a friend die in front of my eyes on a run out on our bikes and to see people take chances as described above really gets my goat.
Such is life I suppose and these idiots will obviously never learn.
Was out for a blat today up the East Coast of Scotland with a m8 on his Blade RR3. We were on the way back home late this afternoon at about 5.00pm, traffic was a bit heavier than earlier on. Anyhow, we end up getting stuck behind a couple of cars that were in a queue that was headed up/led by three arctic lorries. Now, overtaking three arctics as well as a few cars sat behind them all heckling to also get past on winding "A" Roads takes a bit of skill and excellent judgement. So I'm up front looking for an overtake opening, m8tey boy on his Blade is behind me, ready to follow. We are waiting, ready to pick our spot and go. We both know from local knowledge where the overtaking opportunities are on this stretch of road.
Now as usual, when you are out with a mate or on a group run, your checking your mirrors constantly to make sure your buddy is behind you and what his road position is. This as we all know allows us to sometimes work out whether both of you are likely to be able to go for the overtake or only the lead rider will get past. So I know there's a longish straight coming up, albeit with a bit of a blind summit at one point so have to be ware of where that is. As we approach the left hander leading into this straight, I check my left mirror and see my mate on his blade. Ok - He's looking good to go and getting set up for the overtake to follow me. I then as a matter of habit before looking over my right shoulder behind me, glance in my right mirror to find it full of Ducati.
It was either a 1098 or an 848 in red. I have no idea which as he went past me on my outside ( but very close to me ) at **** knows what speed. Out on the other side of the road, around the bend completely blind into any oncoming traffic as he overtook me, the cars in front of me and the three arctics. If anything was coming the other way he had nowhere to go, absolutely nowhere. He could maybe have nipped in between the cars or arctics by way of force but it would have been a split second decision on his part and whether the gap was even there as he rounded the bend, I don't honestly know. Didn't look like it. I could not believe what I was seeing. A complete knob with no idea what he was doing winging it past a queue of traffic on a blind bend simply so he could pass us and get to the front where his m8 was sat on some other bike. We spotted his mate up the inside of the arctics on a previous bend. He had slowed right down and was looking over his shoulder to try and see where his Ducati buddy was. Anyway, once the Duke rider eventually got past the lot of us, he slotted in behind his mate and they sped off. A few minutes later, myself and my m8 overtook the same line of traffic on a straight where we could see it was safe to do so. As we came around the next corner we could see ahead that the pair of riders in front of us had turned off and headed up towards Knockhill. I was tempted to follow them and have words but I bit my lip, shook my head and carried on instead.
All I'll say is that if that Ducati rider continues riding his bike in that manner over the next few years, he may not be around for long. I will admit I'm not a saint on the road ( although I'm safe and sensible ), I'm a fairly quick road rider but folk riding like that have obviously not seen the carnage that involves a high speed road bike crash. I've watched a friend die in front of my eyes on a run out on our bikes and to see people take chances as described above really gets my goat.
Such is life I suppose and these idiots will obviously never learn.
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