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The Article by Leslie Baldacci a former Sun-Times reporter


You hear them before you see them, which is a very lucky thing for them.

I'm talking about the bands of speeding motorcyclists who use Chicago-area expressways as their personal obstacle courses and drag strips. With summer in full bloom, these knuckleheads are moving at top speed.

To call them accidents waiting to happen is inaccurate because waiting is passive. These bikers seem to be aggressively courting death and dismemberment.

I don't want anyone's guts on my windshield, and I figure you don't either. Because these drivers clearly are not looking out for themselves or their passengers, it's up to the rest of us to look out for the both of us. Here's how.

If we keep an ear out, we will know to keep an eye out. Lucky for them, their bikes are very noisy. Listen for a high-pitched whine that sounds like a swarm of supersize, very angry hornets coming up behind you on the highway, coming up very fast, aiming to plunge a stinger into your rear bumper.

This din, as loud as an ambulance, will temporarily distract you from the business at hand, which is piloting your own vehicle on whatever busy, dangerous highway you happen to travel. Try not to let the distraction unnerve you. Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. Check your rear and side mirrors, and you'll probably get a visual of the fast-approaching hornet swarm.

I usually count at least four motorcycles in a group. No one wears a helmet. The guys are often shirtless, leaning forward so far that they're practically lying down on their bikes. Maybe it's to cut wind resistance and go faster. Maybe it's to avoid bugs, I don't know.

The girls hanging on to the drivers are usually wearing halter tops and likewise leaning forward, offering a brief view of their lower back tattoos as they speed off into the distance.

If you're driving a car at 70 mph in the fast lane, the swarm will pass you in a matter of seconds. So figure the bikers are going at least 85-90 mph. This reckless disregard of the law and their own personal safety will likely stun and annoy you, in the way that teenagers acting like teenagers are often annoying. But that doesn't mean we are not still responsible for our teenagers, and so we must also feel responsible for these idiotic young adults.

They don't take it seriously, but we must: There is nothing -- no doors, no roofs, nothing -- between their limbs, their thick skulls, their skin and the road. Nothing between their bodies and your car. Nothing between a girl's butterfly tattoo and concrete pavement.

The first thing they teach you about riding a motorcycle is that motorcyclists have to be smarter than other drivers to stay alive because motorcyclists are exposed and vulnerable. It takes longer to stop a motorcycle than a car. To even the odds just a little, cyclists must make a habit of anticipating surprises.

A highway full of cars is like a prairie full of stampeding buffalo or a plain of charging rhinos. From inside a car, protected by steel bars and air bags, these motorcycle thrill-seekers look like the biggest fools on the planet, trying to outrun a herd of charging rhinos while naked by weaving in and out and cutting lanes up the middle. Their bullfighter mentality contains no thought for the danger their risky behavior poses to their passengers and fellow travelers.

It's not about police enforcement. It's up to the rest of us to look out for them. We have to outwit the nitwits on the speeding motorcycles.

Fortunately, we can hear them before we see them. That way we can look out for those who don't look out for themselves.


Leslie Baldacci is a former Sun-Times reporter and the author of Inside Mrs. B's Classroom: Courage, Hope and Learning on the South Side of Chicago. She teaches at Dixon School.



I take riding very seriously...ftr

shadow0289

I've been told that I startle the hell out of people when I go by them. I'm the one in control. If I startle them, that means they are not paying attention anyways. "Idiotic teens Huh" what about the IDIOTIC old people that can't see over the steering wheel, Or the ****ers that think they can be in the fast lane of a 65 road when they are going 66 or 67 they think they are going fast. Why should my reckless disregard annoy or stun you. Its my life. What you never take chances in your life. You wont end up with "guts on your windsheild" you know why? BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY PAST YOU MORON. This pisses me off. People that think THEY know whats best for YOU. You know what I think is best for her, Shutting her ****ing mouth and paying more attention to whats going on around her, then she might not be so STUNNED when a group of bikes goes by her old ***!!!

Wheelie Boy

whats funny is the writer of that artical was prolly writing stuff down for this story while she was on the highway, which would cause here to take her eyes off the road, which is more dangerous then a street bike rider who is concentrating on riding, and only riding. And that "helmetless rider" **** is lame, just a lie to make sportbikers look bad, I cant remember the last time I have seen a guy on a bike without a helmet while riding on the streets/highway

Veggie Dave

OMG! 85MPH! You Yanks are all going to BURN IN HELL!

iwannagixxer

she's a liar, bikes dont even go 85.

but seriously, i agree with wheelieboy. i havent seen a helmetless rider on the highway since...ever.

DCMETRO1

hahahaha, I think everyone should get a D&D pipe....

Lotensin22

Longer to stop a bike than a car....her research is as good as her writing. Anyone wanna shoot this dumb broad?

I see guys with no helmets daily here, even guys doing spreaders past me, uphill, wearing tank tops. No lid.

The freeway though, nope. I don't remember the last time I saw a (sportbiker anyway) rider on the freeway with no lid. Harley guys sure, their dirt and grime-filled hair works just as well I guess.

smoothlee

some guy with a sportbike probably bonned her and left her for the honey with the butterfly tattoo...now she's pissed and looking for support.

you're doing 85-90mph!

SmurfKilla

When we were going to StuntFest a few weeks back, I saw quite a few guys without lids on the highway..Which in my mind is just phuckin nutz...
Practicing slow shiat at the spot with no lid is one thing..if you have the control then sure why not..But on the highway ??

That story probably holds true for any city highway that has a decent sportbike community..Obvisously the chic who wrote it has no clue about bikes...cars stopping faster than bikes...

But lets face it....we do probably scare alot of cagers out there when we are up to no good on the highway...I can understand a bit of negativity towards us b/c I know of some of the shiat (not often anymore) I'll do on the highway
probably looks scary as hell to a non stunt person.....

We should get her email address and let her know what we thought of her story...that would be funny..

Cheers
SK

not_me

This chick is dumb.

BTW to pass a car in seconds that is doing 70, you are prolly doing a lot more than 85-90.

Dam I just remembered, this chick is dumb. Lets gather and do burnouts at her school for the kids during break, since she doesn't like speeding....

Albgixxer

Thats funny, I can't believe how stupid some of these cagers are. Longer to stop a motorcycle? Leaning down to go faster? No Helmet? It's a free country!! I think a couple of bikes scared her and woke her up. At least now she'll be watching out for the next one.

She is the kind of person who fits well in a communist society

3824

Umm, this biaatch is stupid....however I did make a 4 mile run on the local express way wednesday after bike night in a wife beater with no helmet at 180 - but my girl has no tattoo of a butterfly on her lower back...

3Fifty

This is the kind of **** that pisses me off. This dumb ****, was on her way to work, talking on her cell phone, putting on make up, in her big *** tahoe, and just merged without looking. Dumb ****** like this should be pulled from their cars, and beaten with baseball bats. She didnt research any of her info, made assumptions, and was talking about something she knows nothing about.

Maybe the biker community will be lucky and someday she will drive off a bridge, or hit a semi head on....

HurricaneF2

:YEAH :YEAH

well said.

i still cant get over the part about cars stopping faster than bikes. if a tahoe weighs 4000 lbs and your bike weighs 600lbs with rider, how is it going to stop faster than a bike

XPnugget

that was some of the most biast one sided reporting that I've ever heard. what a dumb ****.

BMK Producer

lol...i hate those f-en pipes the cops showed up so many times to the stunt spot cause one of my boys has one on his ZX-7...lol

3Fifty

Yeah, D&D pipes not only saves the life of the person on the bike, but anyone within a 7 mile radius as well....

Mikie

http://www.forbesbookclub.com/BookPa...?prod_cd=IHKMI

She writes books and been teaching for 25 yrs.

Quote: As she later commented, "I thought I knew rough. I thought I had answers. I didn't know jack."

hmm...

snigg

that article is horribly written. someone needs to slap this ho

T-Dubby

HAHAH got my Yosh RS-3 hehe