Protect your lane!

I have been doing a lot of riding recently after a couple weeks without my scooter I feel compelled to rack up the miles. I know have over 2,600 miles and will continue to add on to that. I have been very busy with work as of late but nearly every day after work I take a ride around the city before succumbing to hunger and am forced to hunt down dinner. One of the nice advantageous of a small scooter is that there isn’t a restaurant out of reach for me and parking is always a breeze.

Besides hunting food on my scoot I prowl for two other things, other riders and women. I will usually cruise the hot spots at night looking for either of the above. When I find the women I fall in love and when I find a group of sport bike riders I tear up the streets with them. Often I think they don’t initially realize I am on a scooter but after seeing that I am able to hold my own with them I tend to gain some respect. It really is fun to be riding in a large pack and assuming everyone knows how to group ride it can be much safer.

Now safety is something I am sure we are all concerned with but sometimes it isn’t enough just being aware of the dangers rather than taking measures to prevent a potentially dangerous situation. Now in the last few weeks, especially with the holiday, I have noticed many cagers with an obvious disregard for the laws of the road. I can not tell you how many cars I have witnessed blatantly run red lights and/or cut off bikers.

This brings me to my point which was emphasized to me by some of the other riders I have been out with: Protect your lane! Being that we are only riding on two wheels means that we have a decisions to make about which third of the lane to ride. Often I find myself moving over to the outside of the lane when coming to a stop at a light. My reasoning has always been to avoid the slick spots caused by cars leaking oil.

Well while at a light the other night with another biker occupying the lane next to me a car came speeding right in between us, splitting the lane, and proceeded to run the red and cut four lanes over to make a left exit. I look over at the rider next to me who’s mouth is open almost as far as mine but what came out of his made much more sense then the profanity spewing from mine. What he told me was that I need to be careful and protect the lane. He pointed out that cagers are quick to disrespect bikers but being on a scooter leaves us especially vulnerable. So next time your out there riding, especially at night, be aware and protect your lane!