WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Should I stay, or should I go now?

If I go, there will be trouble

And if I stay, it will be double

The Clash

You are at an intersection on a tiny rural backroad that has ended in a T framed by a far larger, and far busier, main road. Four lanes run to the left and right. There is no traffic light, just the red and white stop sign for you. In the last twenty mile you have seen no other traffic, probably because they are all on this main road.

The vehicle flow is constant, with spats of slight gaps – but not enough for you to make that left on the far side of the road. 

It reminds you of a cloud-speckled day, when dapples of sunlight paint the Earth, for just a millisecond, and then are gone.

You wait. You look. You are trying to time traffic from both left and right.

They both seem to be working against you. Just when you think you have it timed, that one ‘old man with a hat’ is ten miles off the pace and he screws it all up. Rhythm, baby. It is all about rhythm.

You remember Mr. Greenburg, your high school music teacher, rolling his eyes and telling you that you have no rhythm. Nice. So encouraging.

But this time a spastic beat would not be just missing a note, but maybe missing dinner.

You try to focus, but then a woman in a large SUV, blaring teeny bopper music, rolls up behind you. In the mirror you see her right signal come on, and the phone in her hand. After 30 more seconds you feel this gal roll up a bit – losing patience to make her right. In your mirror you see her look down and then up again. She is texting – probably about you not turning.

The pharmacy that is controlled by the tiny, semi-unknown glands in your body start Breaking Bad… and you begin to hear Billy Joel singing Pressure.

This is a prime example of when Situational Awareness must come into play. Sharp attention, and the ability to quiet the distractions that are coming your way, are key. 

Although the Killer Left Turn might not be the issue here, it still bears note to remember that, according to NHSTA, 40% of motorcycle accidents involving other vehicles are due to another vehicle turning left. This makes left-turn accidents the most common type of motorcycle accident involving another vehicle. But in this situation, you just need to cross two lanes and make that left, while filtering safely through and into the flow of traffic.

Although the road is fairly large, there is no middle ground, there is no “no-man’s land” where you can pause halfway through – before getting into the flow of traffic. When there is, you can break this process into Part One and Part two. But not here.

Nope, this has to be one smooth move.

Your brain turns it up, and you slide into a more focused reality. The Japanese call this Satori. We call it “The Zone.”

Like Eddie Morra on NZT, you tune out the car behind you, you see and gauge the speed of the cars approaching from the left and the right.

Your mind goes into a cadence-like rhythm. If you were not doing a ridiculous form of road-math in your head, you might be able to hear your blood pulse. You are aware that the SUV gal has just laid on the horn, but it is somewhere back there, and not important.

You look right, left… then again. You have this; and as one car is just about to pass in the lane closest to you, you are already rolling forward. It clears and you cut across and bank to the left, minimizing your travel and getting into the left lane of the two-lane road with a steady roll of the throttle.

This all might seem like a lot – but, in truth, you probably run through this quite often. 

While riding, navigating a grocery store with a shopping cart, or walking down a crowded sidewalk. You perceive, evaluate, and then react to all you see; and sometimes it is good to think about how and why you do what you do. To decide if you should stay or you should go.