Close Calls

Spending eight months on a scooter driving all over Europe, one would seem bound to have some close calls. I had this incident in memory at towards the end of the trip on my re-entry into Italy from France in late October or early November, but a letter I reviewed of the incident place it first thing possibly the first day out of Rome heading north although I have no recollection of this occurrence at this time.

The worst of close calls or series thereof, I was driving north on the Italian coast, where I got onto a toll-way by mistake, and by the time I realized it - I couldn't turn back - all one way. The road was beautiful, two lanes in either direction high up on the cliffs and steep inclines of the coastal mountains, with a panoramic view off to the left of opalescent blue and turquoise sea and sky, as far as one could see; verdant rocky patched mountains transpiring high into the sky on the right. The problem was gusting off shore cross winds. These gusts were periodic and my scooter being very light would be blown from the slow lane into the fast lane, which would be no problem except, that vehicles in the fast lane might be going twice as fast as I was.

A sudden gust no matter how hard I counter-leaned and I could not hold the scooter in the lane. This was scary stuff. It was only to be a matter of time before a gust hit just at the right moment, to blow me into the path of a meteor Mercedes or a tractor trailer wipe-out like an insect on the windshield.

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