Thinning The Herd

It has been about two weeks since I have been on the bike for any distance.  So this morning I rode out and back on my regular training route.

This route climbs through the Prescott National Forest on a two lane, well-paved road.  On the west side of the road there are 6,000 - 7,000 foot mountains.  On the east side a sharp cliff drop-off for most of the route.  The road is twisty with numerous sharp and steep turns constituting blind switchbacks. 

In the past two weeks I note that there have been three accident site investigation markings on the road.  All of these markings, and one of the sites, indicate a motorcycle-involved incident.  Two of the sites show that the motorcycle slammed into the mountain rock face at a high rate of speed.  One site has a single-track skid mark, ending with melted road surface abutting the flat rock face. 

On the return leg of my training ride today a large open-bed truck passed me on a blind curve, certainly exceeding the 20 mph speed limit.  He was followed by three other vehicles, close on.  Earlier two motorcyclists were ascending a steep switchback at 45 mph (20 mph speed zone), followed close on by three small sports cars.  One of the sports cars clearly was in trouble, as it skidded sideways in order to manage the sharp turn.

Well.  I waved nicely.