One more thing to look out for...

[alanmcorcoran]

Tonight I was rushing from one music venue to another and riding somewhat aggressively, although not what I'd consider recklessly. At one point I had to exit the freeway due to an accident/closed lanes, and had to complete the rest of my trip on what we refer to out here as the "surface" streets (as if the freeways magically float above the fray!)

At one point I got stuck behind a slowpoke in the left lane and, wanting to make the green light, I zipped around her/him on the right and, well, sped towards the intersection. The light turned yellow just before I reached the point where I knew I'd make it so I gave up and put on the brakes. Except I didn't stop. I heard a weird sliding/scraping noise and my bike continued right into the intersection. Somewhere deep in my lizard brain, in .03 seconds the synapses came up with "you are on sand/oil/gravel of some sort, treat it like ice, better lay off the brake til you get traction and then try again." Which I did, and I stopped, just before the midpoint of the intersection. I managed to avoid getting clipped by the cross traffic, which, lucky for me, could only go left.

I looked back to see what the hell I had slid on.

It was a plastic tray or box of some sort, about the size of a large pizza box but not as deep, perhaps one that held a mini-pallet of plants at a nursery or an errant utility cover of some sort. Jet black, practically invisible unless you were specifically looking for it. I had the unfortunate timing to have my wheel right on it as I applied the (front) brakes (only.) The brakes on the Strat are really quite good. Two enormous disk brakes and, although I've had some close calls due to stupidity, they have never let me down. You can stop pretty damn quick. But, not if your front wheel is astride a slippery patch of plastic and you didn't use the back brake. My (incorrect) instincts saved me from going down or worse, and I continued my ride with a strange mix of terror and pride (and a dose of adrenaline.) But now I know... there's one more GD thing out there I've got to look out for.