Friends,
The roadworks happening right now on the Palms To Pines Highway are extensive and have involved a lot of stoppages during the warmest part of the day. I find that I’m annoyed sitting in traffic (surprise!) so I’ve diverted to taking what is colloquially termed The Banning Road—a poorly considered and haphazardly engineered pile of twists and turns that had inspired my most famous car crash. It’s no wonder that there are so many bits of motorcycles littering the roadside along the way.
Yes, with a new set of shoes (from your mom’s hyundai. -ed My Mom wouldn’t have a Hyundai, but these new tires sure were cheap…) I’ve started carrying a little more speed in those off-camber turns. This is a big mistake. The radii tighten mid-turn as a rule rather than an exception. Oh, and there’s no end of gravel, larger rocks and other debris right at the apex of many of the hairier corners. The steering goes light, the rear starts with a little howl, then starts to snap. Don’t brake here, because a spin is coming. Normally, if the road surface were clean, a little more throttle would induce a bit of oversteer and I could power right out. No drama. What’s happening instead is the summertime version of curling. Without the brooms.
I could really use a broom.
– bob