There is a huge and often unnoticed difference between being fearless and being brave. Being brave is when you make yourself do something that scares the crap out of you whether that is parachuting , taking a walk in the park or sitting in the same room as a big spider. I`m sure that a lot of racers and extreme sport participants are not at all scared when they do whatever activity it is they do so they are not being brave at all, they are just having fun or earning a living.
Don't Travis Pastrami jump out of a plane with no parachute hook up with a mate after a few ,000 feet and then gets passed a parachute. That's pretty big (dumb/trusting/better not be banging his misses) balls.
I think bikes as we get a thrill are like wing suits for jumpers. Next time, get him to wear the outfit and you leap off the wardrobe
"Unlike sailing you really can go beyond your ability and get in trouble". Have you done much offshore single handed sailing?
It matters no how well you lived. All that counts is getting to that nursing home in one piece and enjoying the smell of urine for as many years as possible. Eye on the prize, people.
Sensible option. As long as its 'good nursing home' where I dont have to sit in said urine for too long
Sorry to hear about your losses. I ride on track and road. I’ve had more friends with life changing injuries related to track riding than road - don’t get me wrong, I know the road is a far more dangerous place. Clearly I’m aware of the risks, and all of my riding is calculated. I’m exceedingly careful when it comes to blind bends, junctions, hedgerows etc... it’s a risk, yes, but one I’m fully aware of and willing to take. Frankly what’s the point of a performance bike if you’re not going to use it. Got into downhill mountain biking as a “safer” bet, put myself in resus twice last year, internal bleeding and fractured vertebrae. Turns out superbikes are much safer
If you want your arse to twitch like a rabbits nose at a lower speeds, try going out on your bike when there's an inch or two of snow down with cars whistling past you on a motorway. I'll guarantee you won't be looking at the fekin countryside. p.s. My testicals are decidedly average, handsome I admit, but definately average.
Used to do that regularly (well, not the motorway bit) when I was 17. Mismatched water-proofs, a pair of massive leather driving gauntlets, two scarves under an open face Nolan lid, wellies and an old waxed jacket. Gloves and scarf were usually frozen at the other end. The worst thing I remember about riding in snow was that it made my asthmatic GP100 even slower and clogged everything and caused it to overheat. And that snow can be very wet. Much wetter than rain..
I remember riding to my girlfriend's on an MZ in snow. Ten miles and i didn't use my brakes except to stop at the end of the trip. No traffic cos who'd be stupid enough? I couldn't ride back home that night, the front wheel was frozen solid. Caught hell from the gf's father next day for staying overnight.
Ice was worse. I remember cresting a hill to see a white sheet across the road and someone on a Moto Guzzi trying to make it up the other side, his feet down and skating in all directions, brakes on and the bike slowly sliding back down hill with cars backing up behind him. Don't know how he got on, I had other things to think about. Whenever I read the advice today that when riding over ice you should keep your feet on the pegs, grip the tank with your knees, avoid the throttle and brakes and just keep going I always think, yeah, tell me about it, and I see that bloke slithering backwards on his Guzzi.
Riding bikes in snow sucks. I bought a mint Bonnie in California on an impulse... Bought a helmet, insurance and rode back to Colorado. The weather really started to break in Glenwood Springs, so I spent a small fortune on better gear at a Harley store to try and make the last 50 miles back home. As I rode into Vail, it started snowing heavily. Fortunately I had my trusty Visa card and stayed in the Village Inn for two days whilst the snow storm passed. I was blue from the cold, but mainly from the dye that stained me all over from my new leathers! What a laugh.
Yeah! Done the same thing on a BSA Bantam with an Everoak helmet and brown gauntlets, got rid of the gauntlets as soon as I could because every time I rode in the rain because of the dye, my hands looked like I'd dipped them in shit and it wouldn't wash off. Similar sort of thing here on a MZ Super 5, girlfriend and I got on the bike with ice on the seat and when we got off half an hour later the ice hadn't melted
I used to like it when it just started to snow at night. Remember one night on the Upton to Bere Regis road on my FZR600R in the dark and the snow started to fall and it was like jumping into hyperspace as I tucked down low.
I packed road riding in years ago. Quite frankly it scared me. I know, I know slow down and all that.... no! Riding super bikes slowly is shite. They are totally impractical and are built and designed to excite. At a race track in my case. Roll on the new V4! Wooooo hooooo......
