Sunday, November 16, 2008

The butterfly killer

Hmmm... it has been a pretty long time since I put up a post, it is not that I had lost my ability to blether, but just because for some reason I simply because I couldn't complete any of the posts I started off with. So what's new? Well nothing much, life as a whole sucks, not because of some incident that happened, but well it simply does. One thing I have realized is that when the good times decide to leave me, they really go for good. So, a couple of months ago, I had a serious crash. Man I spent more than half of what my bike is worth, getting it repaired. Hell, I even got a new engine for Tres (that's Tres Cinquante, my bike). I wish my dad had bought me that 500cc I had almost convinced him to. Then one day he walks up to me and told me that because I wasn't such a decent rider, I wouldn't be getting the bike. He said he'd stand on a busy street with me, and if I could point out one rider who rode like me, he'd buy me the bike. And this was after I always slow down before I reach home. Moral of the story, I was (apparently) fast even after I slowed down. Any way, now that I have a new engine, I am forced to ride slow. Kinda breaking a horse, I would have to run in my bike. I did a maximum of 45km/hr for the first 500km, n now I am up to 80. Where was I? Oh yeah, the crash. I was doing around 75km/hr, riding in the center of the road, wondering whether I should overtake the small truck, driving more towards the right of the lane. Then all of a sudden, the truck swerved to the right into the lane for the on coming traffic. A split second later I knew why, when I noticed a pink blur in front of me. The truck was trying to avoid the lady on a pink scooterette. I registered 5 frames, and then time started back again. Frame 1: the pink blur. Frame 2: the terrible sound of the impact in my ears, my stomach on the speedo console. Frame 3: head on the ground (I went over, god bless the helmet), the sound of a screeching tyre (who the hell applied the brakes). Frame 4: I am on my back, sliding on my back-pack , looking at the friend who was in front of me speed away, with me hoping that he'd heard me crash and would stop to help me up, the familiar sound of metal on asphalt (after all, I am a frequent crasher). Frame 5: I am still on my back but facing the opposite side, the bike still sliding behind me, bleeding oil, all over the road (I am sorry Tres). No offence, but lady riders (and drivers to for that matter) truly scare me. For one, they have absolutly no control over their vehicles, and change lanes with no regards to other people. No one but lady drivers/riders and heavy vehicles can bully me around on the road. I am one of the most stubborn riders on the roads, and I take my bike to within an inch of the car next to me and keep it there till the other driver doesn't back off, but when it comes to lady drivers, ypu don't mess with them. Secondly they have no perception of speed and are reaaaally bad at anticipation. I have seen women on scooties doing 60km/hr with their legs dangling off the sides. Coming back to the lady I crashed into, she obviously made an error judging the speed of the truck that was in front of me. I went into her full throttle, which broke my front wheel and had caused the front tyre to lock (stopping the wheel from spinning) amazingly, my bike still maintained it's course, but unfortunately the impact coupled with the extreme breaking because of the locked wheel caused me to go over the handle bar. I landed on my head and rolled over to my back where I skidded on my bag, knowing exactly how a turtle, sliding around on it's shell, would feel like. Luckly no serious injuries for me n after about a month of rest, I was back on my feet. Running in an old bike is an experience in itself, but the one thing I realized was that 45km/hr is a really bad speed if you like butterflies. For some strange reason, whenever I rode at that speed, I clipped atleast a butterfly every 8-10 km. Day or night didn't matter, neither the area where I rode. The buterflies, simply kept coming at me. Even now, when I sometimes ride at 45, I do hit a butterfly or two, but only at that particular speed. Before I say goodbye, I'd like to add, that if you ride, always wear a helmet, because of it wasn't for my helmet, I would definitly have lost a major portion of my scalp in the numerous accidents I have had. Oh n if you happen to be riding at 45 km/hr, don't forget to pull your visor down unless you want butterflies in your face :)

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