Jul 27 2009
Watch out for white
Did you know that speed regulating strips are dangerous?
Yep, you know the kind, those more numerous, shorter versions of the ’sleeping policeman’ (more like a sleeping Gordon Sumner I say. Inside joke, prizes for guessing.) that make you talk funny:
“Hey Jim, what kind of fa-uh-uh-uh-uh-ah-ah…”
Evidence? Last Sunday’s MotoGP race at Donington Park, England, the race winner being not Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo or Valentino Rossi but the second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso. It was raining lightly at, as it so often is in England, but not so heavy as to warrant rain tyres i.e. a rider’s worst nightmare.
Lorenzo and Toni Elias were challenging for the lead at one point in time but were taken down by white lines on the track kerbing.
Advanced riding clinics often tell riders to avoid these white lines because they’re far more slippery than concrete. And with two postcard-sized patches being all the contact a bike has with the road, losing traction even for a split second is disastrous.
It also highlights another factor about circuit racing (take note wannabe motorcycle street racers): it’s safer than riding on the street. Rossi himself has said he doesn’t dare hop on a scooter and pop down to the shops for stuff because on the road, a rider has far less control over other factors than he would on a circuit. And Rossi echoes the sentiments of other top-level bike racers. They might do 290km/h in a race, but not even 0km/h on the road!
Watch the line Vale!
And avoiding white lines isn’t just advice for bikers either. In wet conditions (or even dry ones) sometimes all that’s needed for a complete loss of traction is an initial upset – which white lines can provide.
But while white lines are a possible danger, speeding will put in a lot more trouble than you can get out of a lot quicker than they can, so above all, ride or drive with a cool head and stay safe.
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