A tragic story was posted here recently about a fatal accident where a father of three boys hit someone from behind at a high rate of speed. On the heels of that story, I picked up the paper a few days ago and read this story in my hometown:
Woman killed in motorcycle accident near Millersville - capitalgazette.com
As the father of 5 and a person with many other responsibilities, I'm often asked by friends how I am comfortable with the risks of riding. Even friends who are long time, skilled riders have asked themselves, in the wake of these stories, if they should give this up. The truthful answer is maybe and how you determine the right answer is to ask yourself are you good at risk management?
If you're the kind of person that likes to romp through traffic at 150 mph then I'm going to say you suck at risk management. Some 19 year old driving their mom's minivan is going to change lanes right in front of you someday and leave you dead if you're lucky and in a diaper and feeding tube and a burden to your family if you're not.
I've had my S1000RR north of 160 mph on a public road. It was in a remote place where there was not a car around for 10 miles on a well maintained interstate highway. A group of us were headed off into the mountain twisties and this was a deserted road to get there. We had a blast with very little risk above tootling along at 70 mph. When we came home the following day on the same road it was very gusty and windy. I knew we probably shouldn't push it but one guy took off and my ego got the better of me and off I went to show him that my BMW could run him down and pass him - I did at about 165 just about the time I caught a gust of wind and the front of the bike lifted off the road. I let my ego override my judgement and saw in a flash my future wearing a diaper.
I've spent my whole life turning gas into an adrenalin rush and I've made it to 56 years old by being really good at risk management. But I still screw up like the story above. I fly a Pitts (hence the moniker) flying high performance aerobatic maneuvers low to the ground. This is sport where judgement errors claim the life of a friend just about every year or two. So maybe I'm just highly sensitized to managing the risks. Every time I strap on the plane I make sure I pinch myself and ask if my head is in this; do I have a plan for what I'm about to do; and what are the parameters that tell me I'm off the plan. That's why I've been doing this for as long as I have when some dear friends are gone. It makes diving a plane at the trees at 240 mph "safely managed."
When you jump on your bike, do you pinch yourself and ask if you're mentally frosty? Do you have a personal set of rules about what you will and won't do - regardless of what your riding buddy is doing? If you're doing chit where you can say, if that minivan changes lanes, I'm dead then I'm going to say you need to look really hard at your risk management skills. It doesn't take courage or crazy good skills when you're just rolling the dice to see if you live or die.
If you've got enough discipline to do good risk management then there's no reason you can't be all the hooligan you want to be. Wheelies at 120 mph - chit yeah, bust 'em out for your friends. Just don't do it in traffic or better yet, take it to the track if you've got the courage to compare your skill to people that really know how to ride the thing. Because here's the thing - a rider who has no skills or perspective is going to be impressed with your high speed romp in traffic but who cares what that guy thinks? And the riders with great skill and experience are going to think you're a squid and organ donor so you're not impressing them either. So why do it?
Woman killed in motorcycle accident near Millersville - capitalgazette.com
As the father of 5 and a person with many other responsibilities, I'm often asked by friends how I am comfortable with the risks of riding. Even friends who are long time, skilled riders have asked themselves, in the wake of these stories, if they should give this up. The truthful answer is maybe and how you determine the right answer is to ask yourself are you good at risk management?
If you're the kind of person that likes to romp through traffic at 150 mph then I'm going to say you suck at risk management. Some 19 year old driving their mom's minivan is going to change lanes right in front of you someday and leave you dead if you're lucky and in a diaper and feeding tube and a burden to your family if you're not.
I've had my S1000RR north of 160 mph on a public road. It was in a remote place where there was not a car around for 10 miles on a well maintained interstate highway. A group of us were headed off into the mountain twisties and this was a deserted road to get there. We had a blast with very little risk above tootling along at 70 mph. When we came home the following day on the same road it was very gusty and windy. I knew we probably shouldn't push it but one guy took off and my ego got the better of me and off I went to show him that my BMW could run him down and pass him - I did at about 165 just about the time I caught a gust of wind and the front of the bike lifted off the road. I let my ego override my judgement and saw in a flash my future wearing a diaper.
I've spent my whole life turning gas into an adrenalin rush and I've made it to 56 years old by being really good at risk management. But I still screw up like the story above. I fly a Pitts (hence the moniker) flying high performance aerobatic maneuvers low to the ground. This is sport where judgement errors claim the life of a friend just about every year or two. So maybe I'm just highly sensitized to managing the risks. Every time I strap on the plane I make sure I pinch myself and ask if my head is in this; do I have a plan for what I'm about to do; and what are the parameters that tell me I'm off the plan. That's why I've been doing this for as long as I have when some dear friends are gone. It makes diving a plane at the trees at 240 mph "safely managed."
When you jump on your bike, do you pinch yourself and ask if you're mentally frosty? Do you have a personal set of rules about what you will and won't do - regardless of what your riding buddy is doing? If you're doing chit where you can say, if that minivan changes lanes, I'm dead then I'm going to say you need to look really hard at your risk management skills. It doesn't take courage or crazy good skills when you're just rolling the dice to see if you live or die.
If you've got enough discipline to do good risk management then there's no reason you can't be all the hooligan you want to be. Wheelies at 120 mph - chit yeah, bust 'em out for your friends. Just don't do it in traffic or better yet, take it to the track if you've got the courage to compare your skill to people that really know how to ride the thing. Because here's the thing - a rider who has no skills or perspective is going to be impressed with your high speed romp in traffic but who cares what that guy thinks? And the riders with great skill and experience are going to think you're a squid and organ donor so you're not impressing them either. So why do it?