Lifting feet off the pegs at RR Xings

Now, whether you are on your VFR or in the minivan do you:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Hold you breath when you pass a graveyard?

seems silly, but this is a habit I cannot break.  And yes, I STILL flip one cigarette and smoke it last with a wish.

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Now, whether you are on your VFR or in the minivan do you:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Hold you breath when you pass a graveyard?

seems silly, but this is a habit I cannot break.  And yes, I STILL flip one cigarette and smoke it last with a wish.
I Lift my A*s going over R/R tracks. My knees handle the chatter better then my tailbone. I never knew about the smoke superstition may be that explains my luck.. :rolleyes:

Sometimes I stand up slightly on the pegs, not the other way around! And I thought only teenage girls did the flip-a-cig thing?   :rolleyes:

ps - don't go!

I know for a fact that TimC just downshifts, floors it and ramps railroad tracks... :rolleyes:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 21 January 2010 - 07:29 AM, said:

Sometimes I stand up slightly on the pegs, not the other way around! And I thought only teenage girls did the flip-a-cig thing?   :rolleyes:

ps - don't go!

I havent been a teenage girl for some time now!!!
[image: Posted Image]

Like Seb, I usually (see below) just get my butt off the seat a little and 'float' over RR tracks.  Graveyards don't bother me much, and I quit smoking 8 years ago.  http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/wink.gif

And VFRW ain't bad.  A bit more irreverent than good ol' VFRD!   :huh:

[image: View Post]tpierce(MP), on 21 January 2010 - 08:21 AM, said:

I know for a fact that TimC just downshifts, floors it and ramps railroad tracks... :laugh:
:laugh:   If only we had video of that.  It was purely by accident but it was funny as hell.  I'm just glad I landed it!

My favorite quote from any VFR ride, this one by Travis:  "VFRs aren't dirtbikes."   :rolleyes:   http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

Nope x2 - these must be quaint 'murican superstitions I missed out on growing up, although I sometimes used to flip a ciggie when I smoked sometime in the last century...   :rolleyes:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Why would you do this when you really should lift your butt off the seat?  That's the safe way to go over any irregularity in the road.

[image: View Post]JamieDaugherty, on 21 January 2010 - 10:46 AM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Why would you do this when you really should lift your butt off the seat?  That's the safe way to go over any irregularity in the road.


Its a superstition thing, not a technique thing.  I put this topic here outta lack of a better place.

[image: View Post]TimC, on 21 January 2010 - 09:44 AM, said:

Like Seb, I usually (see below) just get my butt off the seat a little and 'float' over RR tracks.  Graveyards don't bother me much, and I quit smoking 8 years ago.   Posted Image

And VFRW ain't bad.  A bit more irreverent than good ol' VFRD!   Posted Image

[image: View Post]tpierce(MP), on 21 January 2010 - 08:21 AM, said:

I know for a fact that TimC just downshifts, floors it and ramps railroad tracks... Posted Image
Posted Image   If only we had video of that.  It was purely by accident but it was funny as hell.  I'm just glad I landed it!

My favorite quote from any VFR ride, this one by Travis:  "VFRs aren't dirtbikes."   Posted Image    Posted Image

I know they dont make good Dirtbikes with street tires @ 100mph   Posted Image Posted Image

As for Superstitions..

Just be sure to move to the right so the rest of us can pass..

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 10:49 AM, said:

Its a superstition thing, not a technique thing. I put this topic here outta lack of a better place.

I'll take technique over superstition anyday. Railroad tracks can be bumpy, slippery, and at odd angles, with my luck I'd go down trying to pick up my feet!

Though while in the cage I admit I sometimes hold my breath at graveyards.

And I hope you know I was just kidding when I voted go to VFRWorld. :rolleyes:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Now, whether you are on your VFR or in the minivan do you:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Hold you breath when you pass a graveyard?

seems silly, but this is a habit I cannot break.  And yes, I STILL flip one cigarette and smoke it last with a wish.
I "float" over RR tracks, also; keep breathing by ANY graveyard, and quit smoking eons ago.

[image: View Post]Ryanme17, on 21 January 2010 - 11:04 AM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 10:49 AM, said:

Its a superstition thing, not a technique thing. I put this topic here outta lack of a better place.

I'll take technique over superstition anyday. Railroad tracks can be bumpy, slippery, and at odd angles, with my luck I'd go down trying to pick up my feet!

Though while in the cage I admit I sometimes hold my breath at graveyards.

And I hope you know I was just kidding when I voted go to VFRWorld. :laugh:

Just kidding hun?  What about the 4 other guys? :rolleyes:    :huh:

Didnt even vote...

dont do any of those three and i believe you have been to the dark side already http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/smile.gif

But we always hold our breath thru tunnels... WELL until we went to Dillon, CO crap is that really a tunnel or a path to china///

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 11:44 AM, said:

Just kidding hun? What about the 4 other guys? :rolleyes: :huh:

Only a few minutes later, and make that 8 other guys... :laugh: uh-oh.
But we LOOOOOVE you. :laugh: Right???

[image: View Post]JamieDaugherty, on 21 January 2010 - 10:46 AM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Why would you do this when you really should lift your butt off the seat?  That's the safe way to go over any irregularity in the road.
Absolutely!  With any upcoming RR tracks or pavement joint (like at bridges) or ANY irregularity, I get an inch or three of daylight between my arse and the saddle.  The knees become "shook absorbers" (yes, I did say "shook"   :huh: ) and the bike's suspension doesn't have to deal with your bodyweight as it jolts over the RR tracks.  

If you have a steady pillion, you should train her (him?) to do the same, as that extra weight that's cantilevered way back on the bike really hammers the suspension.  Leverage, yaknow.

This is pretty much discussed in every MSF rookie class and "how-to" book.   :rolleyes:   

And by the same token, a racer's weight is supposed to be largely carried by the legs, not the arse!  That's why nobody can even walk after a two-day Freddie/Cali/Yammie Champ/Penguin or other racer school!   :laugh:

[image: View Post]Trace, on 21 January 2010 - 01:02 PM, said:

[image: View Post]JamieDaugherty, on 21 January 2010 - 10:46 AM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Why would you do this when you really should lift your butt off the seat?  That's the safe way to go over any irregularity in the road.
Absolutely!  With any upcoming RR tracks or pavement joint (like at bridges) or ANY irregularity, I get an inch or three of daylight between my arse and the saddle.  The knees become "shook absorbers" (yes, I did say "shook"   :huh: ) and the bike's suspension doesn't have to deal with your bodyweight as it jolts over the RR tracks.  

If you have a steady pillion, you should train her (him?) to do the same, as that extra weight that's cantilevered way back on the bike really hammers the suspension.  Leverage, yaknow.

This is pretty much discussed in every MSF rookie class and "how-to" book.   :rolleyes:   

And by the same token, a racer's weight is supposed to be largely carried by the legs, not the arse!  That's why nobody can even walk after a two-day Freddie/Cali/Yammie Champ/Penguin or other racer school!   :laugh:

thank you "Captain Didnt read the whole thread"   :laugh:

[image: View Post]dendron, on 21 January 2010 - 11:21 AM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 06:57 AM, said:

Now, whether you are on your VFR or in the minivan do you:

Lift feet off pegs when you go over railroad tracks?

Hold you breath when you pass a graveyard?

seems silly, but this is a habit I cannot break.  And yes, I STILL flip one cigarette and smoke it last with a wish.
I "float" over RR tracks, also; keep breathing by ANY graveyard, and quit smoking eons ago.

+++++++ and there are open beds in many mental hospitols! :rolleyes:
on the pegs gets the weight off the front tire and centers the load.

When I smoked, I did the cig flip, but I never knew why!  Now I know, superstition!  I should have known.  I just did it because my friends did it.  Yes, I used to be a follower....   :rolleyes:   Otherwise, I am not a superstitious person.  But, now Karma on the other hand....

I was taught to wheelie across the tracks. That way only the rear tire and suspension is abused. Posted Image

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 01:07 PM, said:

thank you "Captain Didnt read the whole thread"   :laugh:
You're welcome, Captain "Doesn't know to put his weight on the pegs instead of his arse at RR tracks".   :rolleyes:

And I did read the whole thread, so to add to the superstion issue...and because of your location in southern Maryland (SMIB-land!)...there is a long, long, longstanding superstittion is that when you are on Tucker Road (Oxon Hill area) and pass over Henson Creek in the middle of the night with a load of cheerleaders in your car...if you and your passengers didn't holler "GOAT MAN, GOAT MAN, GOAT MAN!!" at the top of your lungs (along with assorted cheerleaders screams of terror that could break the glass in your 1968 Dodge Dart, ahem), the Goat Man would run out from under the bridge or the very dark woods and GETCHA!!  You could feel your scalp hairs get all tingly, believe me!

But that was back when the bridge was a tiny, bumpy, single-lane-both-ways deal that you had go over very slowly.  Or....to really send the cheerleaders into hysterics...you actually stopped and cut the lights!  They'd go friggin' BONKERS!.  You could smell the pheromones in the air.  Ahem.

Yep, the Goat Man Bridge.  I wonder if anyone of high school age in Oxon Hill still does that bit of nonsensical fun.  Prolly get shot by a crack dealer now.   :laugh:

Oh....and the "raising the feet over RR tracks" is for cars.  I've heard it all my life but don't know where it came from.  And none of us smoked in high school, believe it or not, so we weren't flicking ciggys at the Goat Man Bridge!   :huh:

I pretty much ignore the tracks and the graveyards.
As for the cigflip, being completely superstition free and very practical, I have flipped on occasion, but for completely unsuperstitious and practical reasons. Wouldn't want to light up the wrong one at inopportune moment.
God forbid Timmy or his kin would catch a wif of that during business hours.
Worked every time. Knock on wood.

I know the Goatman story well.  Is even in the book "Wierd Maryland"  I will have to go there and verify.

and yes it is  a carry over from cars, but for some strange reason, i do it on a bike and now i cant stop.

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 02:34 PM, said:

I know the Goatman story well.  Is even in the book "Wierd Maryland"  I will have to go there and verify.

I figger that every town in the country has something similar to the Goat Man Bridge story for late night scares with a carload of cheerleaders!   :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia....atman_(Maryland)

If you go there....make sure you yell!   :huh:

[image: View Post]Trace, on 21 January 2010 - 02:40 PM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 02:34 PM, said:

I know the Goatman story well.  Is even in the book "Wierd Maryland"  I will have to go there and verify.

I figger that every town in the country has something similar to the Goat Man Bridge story for late night scares with a carload of cheerleaders!   :rolleyes:

http://en.wikipedia....atman_(Maryland)

If you go there....make sure you yell!   :huh:

all i need now are the cheerleaders............

So if you get up on the toes over tracks and quit cigs, odds are you won't need to worry about the graveyards... http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/wink.gif

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 02:34 PM, said:

I know the Goatman story well.  Is even in the book "Wierd Maryland"  I will have to go there and verify.

and yes it is  a carry over from cars, but for some strange reason, i do it on a bike and now i cant stop.

Okay, feet off the pegs because of some superstition... but why stick them straight out in either direction, screaming "WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" for the half mile before an after??  I just don't get it, my friend.   :3:

[image: View Post]JETS, on 21 January 2010 - 11:10 PM, said:

So if you get up on the toes over tracks and quit cigs, odds are you won't need to worry about the graveyards... http://www.vfrdiscus...tyle_emoticons/default/wink.gif
Haha....good one!   :fing02:

[image: View Post]Trace, on 21 January 2010 - 02:28 PM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 01:07 PM, said:

thank you "Captain Didnt read the whole thread"   :beer:
You're welcome, Captain "Doesn't know to put his weight on the pegs instead of his arse at RR tracks".   :fing02:

And I did read the whole thread, so to add to the superstion issue...and because of your location in southern Maryland (SMIB-land!)...there is a long, long, longstanding superstittion is that when you are on Tucker Road (Oxon Hill area) and pass over Henson Creek in the middle of the night with a load of cheerleaders in your car...if you and your passengers didn't holler "GOAT MAN, GOAT MAN, GOAT MAN!!" at the top of your lungs (along with assorted cheerleaders screams of terror that could break the glass in your 1968 Dodge Dart, ahem), the Goat Man would run out from under the bridge or the very dark woods and GETCHA!!  You could feel your scalp hairs get all tingly, believe me!

But that was back when the bridge was a tiny, bumpy, single-lane-both-ways deal that you had go over very slowly.  Or....to really send the cheerleaders into hysterics...you actually stopped and cut the lights!  They'd go friggin' BONKERS!.  You could smell the pheromones in the air.  Ahem.

Yep, the Goat Man Bridge.  I wonder if anyone of high school age in Oxon Hill still does that bit of nonsensical fun.  Prolly get shot by a crack dealer now.   :dry:

Oh....and the "raising the feet over RR tracks" is for cars.  I've heard it all my life but don't know where it came from.  And none of us smoked in high school, believe it or not, so we weren't flicking ciggys at the Goat Man Bridge!   :goofy:
Ohh come on now.... tell the truth the goat man was hoping somone had 1 RUBBER BOOT and was looking for love... The cheerleaders was just a cover.. :goofy:

[image: View Post]5thGenAchmed, on 21 January 2010 - 11:22 PM, said:

[image: View Post]timmythecop, on 21 January 2010 - 02:34 PM, said:

I know the Goatman story well.  Is even in the book "Wierd Maryland"  I will have to go there and verify.

and yes it is  a carry over from cars, but for some strange reason, i do it on a bike and now i cant stop.

Okay, feet off the pegs because of some superstition... but why stick them straight out in either direction, screaming "WEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" for the half mile before an after??  I just don't get it, my friend.   :goofy:
I see you have noticed :fing02: