Two Christmas stories where I lost control in ice and nothing bad happened
1) On my way up 101 North, somewhere between McKinleyville and Klamath, there was a low point between two hills where all the hail from Wednesday's storm was collecting. It took me too long to realize I was driving on ice and lost control of my car.
Thankfully, a few hundred feet before this was a dude in a Caltrans truck setting up flares. No sign or anything, no word on what he was supposed to be doing, but his presence was odd enough that I'd already slowed to 40 when I reached the ice.
With that, and the fact that I was the only guy on the road and there were no turns at this part of 101: "Losing control of my car" became "slowly coasting to the right until my car pulled itself over into the grass". My Tomato now has a tiny scratch in the paint of its right front bumper, but is otherwise unharmed.
2) Heading out for a late-night Ingress session in Crescent City (because there is literally nothing else to do in that town), it was super-dark and I couldn't make out the stairs on the porch. Taking my dad's wheelchair ramp felt like the safer choice, but it turned out that the ramp (along with everything else in his yard) was covered in ice.
As soon as I got my feet on the ramp, I started sliding down. I stayed upright, though, and, while this ramp doesn't have handrails, I managed to steady myself on the siding of the house.
My feet had no traction, and I knew I couldn't step off the ramp without falling over, so I shifted my balance, pointed myself in the right direction, let go of the house, and rode down the rest of the ramp like a kid in a 90's skate video.
By the way, the stairs I avoided were covered in even thicker ice. I definitely would have slipped and fell if I went down those steps. The ramp, as it turns out, actually was the safer choice.
Thankfully, a few hundred feet before this was a dude in a Caltrans truck setting up flares. No sign or anything, no word on what he was supposed to be doing, but his presence was odd enough that I'd already slowed to 40 when I reached the ice.
With that, and the fact that I was the only guy on the road and there were no turns at this part of 101: "Losing control of my car" became "slowly coasting to the right until my car pulled itself over into the grass". My Tomato now has a tiny scratch in the paint of its right front bumper, but is otherwise unharmed.
2) Heading out for a late-night Ingress session in Crescent City (because there is literally nothing else to do in that town), it was super-dark and I couldn't make out the stairs on the porch. Taking my dad's wheelchair ramp felt like the safer choice, but it turned out that the ramp (along with everything else in his yard) was covered in ice.
As soon as I got my feet on the ramp, I started sliding down. I stayed upright, though, and, while this ramp doesn't have handrails, I managed to steady myself on the siding of the house.
My feet had no traction, and I knew I couldn't step off the ramp without falling over, so I shifted my balance, pointed myself in the right direction, let go of the house, and rode down the rest of the ramp like a kid in a 90's skate video.
By the way, the stairs I avoided were covered in even thicker ice. I definitely would have slipped and fell if I went down those steps. The ramp, as it turns out, actually was the safer choice.