Beware the leaves

[Speedy1959]

Hi All,
Due to the crappy weather i havent ridden since Sunday the 30th October.. I wont get chance till the next weekend ( 12th - 13th Nov)..
On my last ride I met up with a mate who seems to have a satnav built into his head..
He knows some amazing routes and tiny "forgotten" B roads (Small roads / Lanes)..
There was 5 or 6 of us in total. Most of them had semi off road type bikes.
Normally I love those rides and discovering tiny villages / pubs for food etc..

The beauty of these lanes is that they are tree lines and very lush..
But at this time of year when the leaves are falling and the roads are damp then its one stage up from ice in slipperyness!
I am VERY aware of the treachory of wet leaves and ride very appropriately on those sorts of roads..
Even so there was one particular lane where I was concentrating on some gravel just before a bend and so hadnt noticed the wet semi rotted leaves just before the gravel..
The front slid sideways and my feet shot out..(I was doing maybe 20mph) I didnt come off but it certainly raised my pulse rate!

I could feel her twitched and spinning several times till we got back onto the more major roads.
Bikes do "talk" to you...You just have to listen!

Normally I love those rides but I think I will leave it maybe a month until the leaves have rotted and blown away..

Looking forwards to taking her out this weekend.. Missing riding already.

S

[grog]

Same here after storms Speedy, tree litter, leaves etc, need to be so careful. Not just riding, moving bike around also, lose footing on tree  debris over she goes.

[frenchgixxer]

Hi All,
Due to the crappy weather i havent ridden since Sunday the 30th October.. I wont get chance till the next weekend ( 12th - 13th Nov)..
On my last ride I met up with a mate who seems to have a satnav built into his head..
He knows some amazing routes and tiny "forgotten" B roads (Small roads / Lanes)..
There was 5 or 6 of us in total. Most of them had semi off road type bikes.
Normally I love those rides and discovering tiny villages / pubs for food etc..

The beauty of these lanes is that they are tree lines and very lush..
But at this time of year when the leaves are falling and the roads are damp then its one stage up from ice in slipperyness!
I am VERY aware of the treachory of wet leaves and ride very appropriately on those sorts of roads..
Even so there was one particular lane where I was concentrating on some gravel just before a bend and so hadnt noticed the wet semi rotted leaves just before the gravel..
The front slid sideways and my feet shot out..(I was doing maybe 20mph) I didnt come off but it certainly raised my pulse rate!

I could feel her twitched and spinning several times till we got back onto the more major roads.
Bikes do "talk" to you...You just have to listen!

Normally I love those rides but I think I will leave it maybe a month until the leaves have rotted and blown away..

Looking forwards to taking her out this weekend.. Missing riding already.

S

Yup. always hated the country lanes at this time of year when I was commuting to work in SE of England. Another was sunlight direct into my eyes first thing in the morning. But what spooked me the most, on country lanes, was going raound a corner and right in the "racing line" so to speak was a big pile of horse shit, thoughtfully deposited and just left there but a bloody jockey..

[Stepdoug]

Can never be too careful 😜

[GSXKING]

We don't have country lanes so much but Mt. Glorious can be treacherous when leaf litter has gathered usually in the middle of the road as cages drivers just plough through it. I've had many a scary trip with the result like you described you're milliseconds from crashing some times 😳😳😳 luckily your reflexes are as fast as your arse puckering lol 😂

[VladTepes]

Mt. Glorious can be treacherous when leaf litter has gathered

Snap! I was gonna say the same thing.
Wet leaves when motorcycling, and wet grass when 4 wheel driving.

Both approximate friction free (grip-free) surfaces....

[urbanus]

Yep, leaves can be a real issue but since I moved here in 2018 I discovered a whole new list of things that can try to loosen your sphincter when out for a blast.  In no particular order as they say:
- Drunken French farmers
- Sober French farmers
- Any Belgian behind the wheel of anything moving
- Cow shit
- Sheep shit
- Trees falling in the road because the summer has been so dry and the autumn wind arrives
- French hunters who mistake you for a boar (seriously.. driving on roads here anywhere near a wood during hunting season is more dangerous for us than the boars/bambis/birds/anything else they feel like taking a pop at.
- Enormous tractors with a 5 year old at the wheel and an even larger trailer behind, neither of which seems are fitted with indicators that work.

and we have leaves as well

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Yep, leaves can be a real issue but since I moved here in 2018 I discovered a whole new list of things that can try to loosen your sphincter when out for a blast.  In no particular order as they say:
- Drunken French farmers
- Sober French farmers
- Any Belgian behind the wheel of anything moving
- Cow shit
- Sheep shit
- Trees falling in the road because the summer has been so dry and the autumn wind arrives
- French hunters who mistake you for a boar (seriously.. driving on roads here anywhere near a wood during hunting season is more dangerous for us than the boars/bambis/birds/anything else they feel like taking a pop at.
- Enormous tractors with a 5 year old at the wheel and an even larger trailer behind, neither of which seems are fitted with indicators that work.

and we have leaves as well

So you are saying to avoid anything French or Belgian on the road? I'm glad Belgium doesn't make cars, I try to avoid Renaults and Peugeots at all costs

[Batkwaka]

As Postie Supervisor this is quite annoying and caused a lot of injuries on the Ct110/NBC110 Honda's.
why the fuck would you plant desiduous trees next to the road?

[Kiwifruit]

But evergreen trees drop leaves all year round. Wifey often makes the point about Councils poor choice of planting. Usually because they get too tall or too large and will take all the light. Wifey is a garden girl, I can now see why she plants what she does where.. Last couple of days we have dropped two trees that we planted. Foolishly I asked why ? Because they were intended to be shelter trees for the ones growing below them.....silly me !! It's such fun playing with my chainsaw (christened the new chain) and chipper that l don't complain.
Certainly take your point Batty, leaves are slippery.

[Will14]

@Speedy1959  was this planned or a coincidence? 

[frenchgixxer]

Yep, leaves can be a real issue but since I moved here in 2018 I discovered a whole new list of things that can try to loosen your sphincter when out for a blast.  In no particular order as they say:
- Drunken French farmers
- Sober French farmers
- Any Belgian behind the wheel of anything moving
- Cow shit
- Sheep shit
- Trees falling in the road because the summer has been so dry and the autumn wind arrives
- French hunters who mistake you for a boar (seriously.. driving on roads here anywhere near a wood during hunting season is more dangerous for us than the boars/bambis/birds/anything else they feel like taking a pop at.
- Enormous tractors with a 5 year old at the wheel and an even larger trailer behind, neither of which seems are fitted with indicators that work.

and we have leaves as well

You missed the frogs always going around a corner on the wrong side of the road! I now live in France too and generally feel a bit of trepidation going around a blind corner, whilst covering the brakes lol. Also going through wooded areas and deer running straight in front of you. Had a few near misses but, thankfully, not with boar yet. A few friends have had their fronts rearranged by those big buggers

[Rynglieder]

You missed the frogs always going around a corner on the wrong side of the road! I now live in France too and generally feel a bit of trepidation going around a blind corner, whilst covering the brakes lol. Also going through wooded areas and deer running straight in front of you. Had a few near misses but, thankfully, not with boar yet. A few friends have had their fronts rearranged by those big buggers
[/quote]

You are absolutely right. I know from last year's 3000 miles around France that on the gorge and mountain roads some drivers think that the white line (if it exisits) is something that they should line their engine sump up with. hey drive too fast and straighten out the road, I always had to be prpared to defend.

[Ghostchaser]

Cheers guys that gave me a laugh this time of the morning