Cattle cornering!

So I've written about this before. What's the number one determining factor in how fast you should take a corner? It all depends on how far you can see, doesn't it? Or, how fast the bovine road blocks will let you. What the heck?

The blog's been quiet. I've been riding a lot. On the weekend before Thanksgiving I taught a class with my dear friend Al. We're doing it again this coming weekend. That will finally wrap up the training year for the program. I'll have to do a post next week on what kind of folks are taking a motorcycle training class in December. Or what kind of instructors are crazy enough to teach it.

I took some extra days off for the holiday. Part of having some relaxing downtime just has to involve wandering aimlessly through the farm country around us. I can string back roads all day and never see the same stretch of blacktop twice. Yes, it's a blessing to live here.

Coming around a blind corner I was greeted by these four legged speed bumps. Ok, maybe they're more like barricades!

This photo was taken after I had completed the corner. After negotiating the cud-chewing obstacles, I executed a u-turn to take a photo. The cattle weren't visible from where I entered the corner. Fortunately, I actually listen to the stuff I teach about cornering. This day it paid off. As you can see, the cows didn't seem to be much impressed by the bike. They had hardly moved during the whole process. Such is the giddiness brought about by unexpected freedom, I guess!

Backing the camera lense away, it makes me shudder to see the bike headed into a center-punching position with the black cow. I don't even want to think about rolling quickly out of a corner only to hit the cow!

Worried that someone else would hit the cows, I pulled up into the nearby driveway. The only one home was an older woman. She hadn't noticed the escapees. The woman made a call while I tried to get the livestock off the road. They weren't exactly what you would call cooperative. Traffic here is very light which was a great thing under the circumstances.

Before too long a pickup pulled into the drive next to Elvira. I offered to help herd the cattle, being an old farm boy. Of course, my idea was to ride the bike around and sound the horn. These guys thought I should actually help chase the cows. Oh well. Seeing they were outnumbered, or maybe it was the grain bucket, the cows were once again behind a fence. The two guys went to find the escape route. I continued on my ride, the rest of which was pretty uneventful.

There's one thing I do have to say, though. Andy probably never had this usage in mind, but you can actually herd cattle in a Roadcrafter!

Miles and smiles,

Dan