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Scary Incident on the Meanie..

1K views 19 replies 17 participants last post by  powershotent 
#1 ·
Yesterday I took the meanie for my first little road trip on it, from western to eastern Washington. My wife was over there (she barrel races her horse), and the weather was decent so I decided to make the trip over. The ride there was great. It got a bit chilly going over Steven’s Pass though the North Cascade Mountains, so I had to stop and throw on my heavier gloves as my face mask (I was wearing the shortie helmet), but then I was back on the road again.

Then came the ride back, during which I had the scariest moment I’ve ever experienced on the bike. It was about 5pm as I was coming over the peak of the mountain pass, and the wet roads were starting to become a bit icy. I slowed my speed down and everything seemed to be fine. All of a sudden I start getting hammered by extreme wind gusts coming down the steep mountainside on my left. It kept getting stronger and stronger, and all of a sudden as a sharp left curve was coming up, the wind starts pushing me toward the right. Now, I live in the foothills of the cascades, and we get strong winds quite often, and I’ve felt it push me around before, but this was different. Since the ground was icy, I swear I could feel it pushing and sliding my bike over the ice. I was trying to turn against it and ready up for the upcoming left curve, but it just kept pushing me toward the right. It slid me all the way from the left side of the left lane to the middle of the right lane (thank goodness there was no other traffic). On dry ground I’d have had no problem with just leaning in to battle the wind like normal, but since I was on ice, all I could think about was the bike coming out from under me. All the while I’m seeing that hard left turn coming, as well as the barrier on the right side of the road, which was all that separated the road from a 1000+ foot mountainside cliff. I was at the point where I’m deciding when I’m going to purposefully lay the bike down if I cant win the battle with mother nature, cuz if I hit that wall while sitting on the bike I know I’ll most likely be flung over the wall into the valley depths. Luckily, as I came closer to the left curve ahead the wind suddenly started letting up, and aside from my frayed nerves, all was fine again.

It took about 10 minutes after that ordeal for my stomach to drop back down from inside my throat, and me to feel calm and comfortable again. That was really the first time in my life where I literally felt like death was very eminent. All I can do is hope that it will be the last..
 
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#8 ·
Good thing you had the Meanie! Never would have made it on the 900! Ha ha! Just kidding! Were you able to remove the stain from the saddle?
Thank goodness i'd not eaten much that day, otherwise i'd probably still be working on that. LOL :lol:
 
#11 ·
Sounds very similar to a ride report I read of a guy riding in Alaska, he was literally blown off the road in a strong wind. He said pretty much the same as you, the wind kept getting stronger and he kept leaning but because it was a gravel road, he just kept sliding towards the edge...

Unfortunately for him the wind didn't die down in time and his bike was blown right over the edge, he jumped off before going over with it. He got to ride back in the cab of the tow truck with his wrecked bike on the back. :-(

Glad you kept your wits about you, stayed calm and stayed upright! :)
 
#13 ·
Ain't motorcycling in Washington great? I know exactly where you are talking about and it can get a little tricky at that point about any time of the year. My wife, who is a really decent rider, does not like that section going in either direction especially going up the pass toward Leavenworth. Glad everything worked out OK for you.
 
#14 ·
What the heck were you doing riding a motorcycle on ice? If you're from that area you should have known the likelyhood of running into it and not have ridden that day. Wake up people.
I take it that you're not familar with the microclimates in this area. The day he went over the pass was a great day for riding. But, one has to remember that the weather can change drastically in the Cascades. There is usually never anyway to tell until you get there. Take a breath.
 
#16 ·
I take it that you're not familar with the microclimates in this area. The day he went over the pass was a great day for riding. But, one has to remember that the weather can change drastically in the Cascades. There is usually never anyway to tell until you get there. Take a breath.
I agree, and hang out with Vulcan Viking more. :wink:

And that's why I ride...

You don't get that feeling in a car...
 
#18 ·
Greendragon - That was really a well written description of your experience - I felt my heart rate increasing as I read it. It's quite a relief that it turned out okay and you did a good job keeping a level head. Congrats to you for keeping your bike upright, maintaining awareness of your surroundings, and having a last second strategy of having to purposely lay down your bike. But its certainly good it didn't get to that point.
 
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