Sudden scare on the bike? Don't panic, adjust

You flinch at the sudden deafening roar of a Harley gunned while in the echo chamber of a freeway underpass you’re riding through.

A squirrel darts in front of your front tire, you’ve got to miss it.

Or, riding into a blind turn, a truck appears out of nowhere, blocking the trail, and it’s all you can do to keep from crashing into it.

Sudden things happen while we ride, and the best thing we can do is to stay steady and ride past the obstacle, if at all possible, or make a safe controlled stop.

I had a high school teacher who gave the best life advice I’ve ever heard to this day. It’s very simple, but brilliant: Don’t panic, adjust.

That also applies when we’re on the bike trying to avoid some surprising obstacle that pops up. Adjust by calmly maneuvering the best way you can through the chaos, stop if necessary, or just keep on riding.

Not always possible, for sure, but still, a good way out of some scary situations.

I just did a ride where I seemed to be constantly dodging things here and there all ride long, for 51 miles.  About 15 or so squirrels scurried across the path in front of me at various times, a startled deer launched its panic escape, it’s back hooves kicking dirt onto the trail in front of me. Then, out of nowhere, a park ranger driving a pickup, floored it onto the trail, spewing plumes of damp dirt as it turned onto the bike trail right in front of me. I saw this just after riding into a sharp curve that was shrouded by tall, thick brush.

In October, I expect the squirrels to be out trying to gather nuts for the winter at fever pitch. They run across the bike path with no awareness of passing cyclists that could run over them. Or, on one of their ill-advised path crossings, they could get caught between a bike’s wheel spokes, and crash the rider and snap a bike frame in the process. It sometimes happens. So I’m on the lookout for them this time of year.

But when, out of the blue, a white park ranger pick-up truck pulled onto the trail as I rounded a blind curve, well, it was a scary surprise, to say the least.

“Whoooah, whoooa!” I gasped. I eased on the brakes as I veered right trying to avoid the truck as well as the soft dirt on the shoulder.  Hitting the truck, or a braked bank on the soft dirt along the trail would have thrown me off the bike.

“Sorry sir,” the ranger driver said as he drove past, smiling. I barely managed to safely ride through, and it was all over in about three seconds. But man o’ man, I talked to myself as I rode on, realizing, hey, if I’d been riding a second or two faster, I would have smacked into that truck and...

Didn’t even want to speculate how bad it could have been. But when you look at like this: One second of wiggle room was the difference between a bad crash, and avoiding one. It makes you pause for a little bit. You know you just dodged a big, deadly, bullet.

I thought about hanging a U-turn, riding hard to chase down the ranger/driver and tell him he just about killed me, and what was he thinking? Didn’t he look to see there were no approaching riders before he gunned the truck onto the blind corner? Man, I couldn’t believe it.

But, nah, I just rode on.

I told myself it all turned out well, so just leave it alone, let it go.

Then, later in the ride, another park truck passed in the opposite direction, and it said “Park Ranger,” on the side, like this was the big boss at the wheel. At least he gave plenty of room to ride past his truck. I thought about doing another U-turn, catching up to the boss and telling him what happened, and that maybe he should have a talk with a certain driver/ranger about how not to kill cyclists.

But I didn't. I just rode on.

I was OK. I just wanted to let it all go. So I did. And said a little prayer of thanks to the sky.

But at the end of the ride, after escaping a series of close calls, mainly with squirrels, I was pretty much emotionally drained from continually riding in a state of high alert. Hope I got my ration of close calls out of the way for awhile with that ride. It was ridiculous how many times I had to make evasive moves.

But to survive sudden scares on the bike, remember, hold off from making a jerky, erratic move or a panic brake, both of which can make you crash in a heartbeat. Instead, work calmly toward an escape route with the bike, and that can include a firm, but controlled stop.

I know, this isn’t always possible, even when you stay relatively calm, sometimes a crash is gonna happen.

Just keep in mind: Don’t panic, adjust. Words to live, and ride by.

Til next time, remember to pull on a helmet every time you get on the bike. Then, keep the rubber side down and ride safely. Just don’t forget to have a blast.

-- Mark Eric Larson