Here's mine : I was on my yearly pilgrimage (third) to Goa last Diwali season. Suzuki Fiero 2001 carrying with me and my better half and a huge haversack of approx. 25 kg loaded with luggage (which included 6 bottles of assorted liqour and a 3 litre wine can
). We were driving back to Pune after a 4 day long rejuvenating stay full of fish, cocktails and *other* Goan specialities. A friend was also riding solo on his Unicorn along with us.
We come close to a toll booth somewhere near Kolhapur and it being a bike, an attendant signals us to bypass through the leftmost lane. I slow down from approx 60 to 30 kmph and enter the lane. Just when I pass the booth, I realise a little too late that a few concrete blocks which were meant to demarcate the lane were lying haphazardly right in my tracks. I tried braking hard keeping my bike straight since I couldn't swerve and miss, but couldn't do well enough. Finally, I did hit one block and dragged it a few metres along with my bike. In a few seconds, I have completely stopped and I am now shaking with anger, much more than fear. I check my bike first, see that somehow only the crash bar and the gear shift were slightly bent, much to my relief. Then checked if my wife was all right - a little shaken up, but fine. Miraculously, no one was hurt (AXN amazing videos commentary!), we didn't fall and get hurt. Still furious, I park my bike, walk to the people and give them a piece of my mind - yelling at them and threatening to lodge a police complaint for negligence. The person who signalled us to drive through was missing (Helps to wear RayBan shades, military fatigue cargos and leather shoes). They were apologetic and I didn't press further. Then we got to the tea stall close by, and had a smoke to calm our nerves. Thanked heavens for helmets (heavens and hell-mates??
).
Conclusion : I had let my guard down for only a few seconds and that had nearly led us into an accident (though it may not have been that serious, but with concrete roads and blocks, you never know). That was the mistake on my part. Always be alert and don't take anything for granted.