Debbie and I went on a ride Saturday with out CMA chapter, to Gruene Texas for lunch. Turns out that Gruene had market days last Saturday, so we were there with about half of population of Texas. Fortunately, we did manage to find a nice restaurant that wasn’t too full, so we had a great lunch and headed back around 3pm. We haven’t been out on the bikes in a while, so the round trip was pretty tiring, but we almost made it home when God decided it was time for a miracle. I was leading, as we exited 183 south, headed over to get on IH35. I signaled and crossed over to the right lane, just in time for the car in front of me to turn on his signal in preparation for turning into McDonalds. I slowed and waited for him to start clearing the lane, then went around him. I was just in time to see Debbie braking hard in front of me to make a right into the Taco Bell next door. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going slow enough. I slammed on the brakes, rear wheel locked up and started sliding. I let off the brake a bit so I wouldn’t lose it, and slammed into Debbie’s left rear saddle bag bracket. Man those things are rugged. Hitting Debbie reduced my speed enough so I could actually come to a stop and put down the kick stand and get off without falling over. Debbie wasn’t quite so lucky, she was almost stopped when I hit her, and pushed her into the curb a foot or so ahead of her. When she heard the squealing brakes, she thought it was hers, so she straightened up the bike so she wouldn’t fall over, then felt the shudder when I hit her. Running into the curb was enough of a surprise that she lost her balance and toppled over. By this time I was getting off my bike and running over to help her pick it back up. We came out of the event pretty unscathed, Debbie got a bruised knee and shin, from where they hit the tank as she was stepping off the falling bike and I’m fine. The bikes have some cosmetic damage, i will need a new front fender, and Debbie’s bike will need to have the left saddlebag bracket straightened and a new left turn signal. All told, it could have been a whole lot worse, and after relaxing a bit at Taco Bell, we drove the bikes home without incident. I truly believe that God was watching over us, and it is fully possible that he allowed this to happen just so I could be an example for y’all. So now that you have heard this story, remember the title; Be Careful Out There!