I was out numbered 3-1 today

[Jersey mike]

I left the house today just after 10am to go to Deleware and have lunch with the college kids. It's pretty much a 2 hr ride door to door and it was a beautiful morning.

To get there I have to take the NJ Turnpike over the Deleware Memorial Bridge to Newark,DE.

So it's about 11:15am or so, I'm minding my own business riding along at a nice pace in very light traffic at about 73mph. This section is 3 lanes and I'm in the right lane and in my mirror I can see 3 bikes rolling up...Harley's.

Well 2 decide to slide into the center lane and ride staggered and the 3rd decided to stay right behind me in the left tire track, now their pacing me. After about 3/4 of a mile I'm closing in on a 18 wheeler, I can see cars behind the 2 bikes on my left and I can tell they want to box me in. With room to spare I signal, roll on the throttle and slide into the center lane in front of them. I could hear their bikes attempt to speed up but it was too late, the transition was smooth and easy. All they did was get their guy behind me blocked in as cars came with the other bikes as they tried to stay with me.

After I passed the rig, I signaled and moved back into the right and again the 3 goofballs tried the same thing but a different guy was along side me in the center lane right tire track. This guy decided it was a good idea to pretty much ride the paint and with his hard bags in my lane. I tried to be civil and reduce my speed to 70 and let them go but they wanted none of it, they wanted to pace me again. I even gave a nice left hand wave along and go ahead...nothing.

Once again as I was still in the right lane I saw I was closing on a U-haul moving slow and I held my speed hearing them accelerate heavy to nudge ahead of me. Again I rolled on the throttle, signaled and moved center. This time I stayed there and they decided another tact. One guy stayed behind but in my right tire track one guy moved into right lane left tire track and the other was left lane right tire track, now I have an official escort. We rode like this for a few miles,at first I just held my speed, 75-77.

The 3 lanes were coming to a merge down to 2 lanes about a mile ahead so I decided enough was enough.  I nice and easy bumped to 81 and it was too easy I could hear them roll on to catch up as they neared my rear tire I rolled on again to 83ish and again I could hear their bikes accelerate and as they neared my rear wheel again this time I went right to 87ish and they tried again to hold their formation around me.

As we approached the merge I signaled and bumped it again but stayed below 90 and slid into the left lane, they tried to regroup behind me but this time I held my speed for as long as I could and once I cleared a few cars on my right I got back in the right lane with the 3 stooges about 15 cars back separated by several cars.

Why all this makes me shake my head, but it was fun to hear their bikes strain to move and I just rolled on the throttle slightly was able to do as I wished.

[Bighead]

You may have been outnumber 3-1 but you had as many cylinders as the 3 combined

[Firefighter]

Sounds scary, these days you have no ideal what people are up to, and if you acted aggressive or gave them a one handed salute, well you just don't know.

[Chrisj CMA]

I wouldn't have pissed around with the them like that, at the first sign of aggression I would have had the speedo to 120 and left them in the dust.  The same thing may have been fixin to happen to me a few years ago and when these HD boys came up from behind I just rolled on the juice until they couldn't keep up.  Wasn't much over a century.

[Oss]

Mike if I had a dime for every time I took that road I could buy something nice for the bike

You did good keeping under triple digits the whole road is one giant speed trap in delaware I like chrisj would have tried to get a whole lotta road open behind me right away soon as I saw the scene unfolding and no LEO's around

[JimmyG]

  Mike, on my trip last year out west, I would meet these HD guys everywhere. I was pulling my trailer and my routine would be, leave the area with them trying to keep up and just say bye bye. Really pissed some of them off.  One dude and his gal dropped a couple gears and zoomed past me on a long stretch out in Wyoming. I let him get about a mile ahead, then cranked the throttle and as I approached, could hear him drop a gear and give it all he had. I just rolled on past him, gave a little wave and pulled out about a half mile ahead of him, then slowed down. He pulled up giving me a thumbs up and yelling,"let me buy you a drink". I passed, but gave him a friendly smile as I rolled on. I just love the power of the fat girls. 

[old2soon]

I deal with the lower power bikes on a regular basis. Ross-da prez-and I were headed west across Illinois on a 2 lane he was lead and I was trail. We were on our way to LaCross. Come up on a largish group of "them". Ross twirled his left hand rolled on the loud and as we got towards the front of the group a couple of them attempted to accelerate. We just rolled on a tad more and made it LOOK and SOUND effortless-which B T W-it was!  Absofrikkinlutely LOVE it when I let one git ahead from a light and before they are aware of it they are lookin at my taillights.  RIDE SAFE.

[Jersey mike]

Mike if I had a dime for every time I took that road I could buy something nice for the bike

You did good keeping under triple digits the whole road is one giant speed trap in delaware I like chrisj would have tried to get a whole lotta road open behind me right away soon as I saw the scene unfolding and no LEO's around

Oss, I really wasn't in a go fast mood today, I was just looking forward to have lunch with the kids. I was just rolling along real smooth, listening to my music and enjoying the beautiful morning. Hell when the started playing around I even thought about dropping a gear and goosing the 'ole girl a little make a point but I declined and minded my manners. One thing I've learned about guys on HDs you can hear their every move and still have time to out manuver them.

I know it's easy enough to mash the gas and leave 'em behind and there is a time and a place for that, but today I didn't want to give them the satisfaction or impression they chased me off.



BTW...lunch with the kids was great. I've been texting with my daughter the freshman and she's been a little down. Panicking over her honors calculus so I brought her her old notes from AP Calc in high school along with a text book and workbook. She looked great and seemed in good spirits. I can see she's becoming a young woman...I miss her. My son was his typical low key self, he's going to have a tough semester with his courses but since he's a sophomore he's got it all down pretty much. I can see the difference in him too, he's matured quite a bit. It was great they made time for the old man and had lunch today, what a beautiful campus UD has.

[cookiedough]

same here daughter in 1st year at UW college.  She was nervous first day all alone but a few days later made 10 good friends in her dorm area that weekend moving in.

Very weird to not have her around since been here for 18 years    

my sophomore high school boy is also very low key and pretty much independent not needing us anymore as well.  It will only get worse once in December he gets his drivers license am sure.  He is a good student and all but very into his own thing not in a group of friends his own age.


As far as 3 to 1,  I almost had that today taking cycle to work, although I thought for sure the 2 HD cops were going to nail me doing near 70 mph in a 55 zone.  One was off the road and luckily for me the next one 200 yards up the road already had someone pulled over.  Nice new HD cycles never seen them around much in this area having police on HD cycles.  Luckily the first cop gave me a break and did not pull me over himself he hoping thinking NICE cycle going by him right??   

[sleepngbear]

I had a slightly different experience today. Approaching some stop-and-go traffic on the way to work this morning, I heard this very interesting rumble coming up behind me. When I got to a stop I looked over to see a really pretty red Hyabusa with Yoshi exhausts. Boy did that sound nice. Needless to say it made for a slightly more spirited and entertaining than usual blast up the highway for the short time I was on it. Good guy riding, too -- he was content to hang behind me as we weaved past a couple of SMV's (which I know he didn't have to if he didn't want to) and then cracked it good as I was getting off my exit to a sound almost as lovely as my own. I have no idea how fast we got up to, but my helmet was definitely tugging on the chin strap harder than usual. 

[Crackerborn]

The last time I had trouble with a few more bikers than just me, it was a gaggle of zip-splats. Since we weren't in a long distance race, there was little chance of me out running them over any short distance. The sport de jour was to run the old fart into oncoming traffic (two lane country road, not very much traffic) by putting two in front of me, four behind, one of which would take away the inside of the lane as the two in front would suddenly brake anytime a cage would be approaching. The darksider almost left a patch of tire on the asphalt when the brakes was heavily applied when the chance appeared. Once on the shoulder, the Ruger appeared and it seemed to diminish the high spirits of my new playmates since they seemed to rethink coming back to recreate some more and they turned around and left me in peace. That shoulder of road looked like a dandy spot to enjoy a Cuesta Rey #9 while they found something new to entertain themselves with far from me. Apparently there is a club here in my slice of our banana Republic that thinks this practice of running other riders off the road is a good initiation practice.

[Firefighter]

Their giving you good advise, "just go fast",,,,, right.