Roll Off & Ride On

I’ll admit it…I’m getting tired of hearing about all these bike accidents.  One snuck up on me yesterday through the Forks of the Credit which is arguably one of the nicest roads around.  It’s also challenging and very well traveled.  It commands respect.

Riding with a friend their yesterday I led us through the cool morning air and early fall colors.  It was early crisp and almost all ours.  Completing the route at highway 10 we decided to retrace our steps and do it all again.  After the famous hairpin and subsequent right hand curve I looked back waiting to see my buddy’s light to follow me.  I waited far longer than I should have and quickly knew something was wrong. The Wee and I made a 180 to head back down.  My heart wedged firmly in my throat as I came back down to a stopped car and the black Kawasaki resting on it’s side with the front wheel under the car.  My friend sat on the shoulder of the road and naturally my first move was towards him.  He’s fine and that’s all that matters.  Fellow riders lifted the bike up and I limped it down the hill to a safe spot where we could assess further.

At the end of it the Kawasaki went home on a truck with my friend safely tucked inside.  I watched them roll away for as long as I could see them.  I don’t take lightly the gift of riding and I don’t take light the way it might impact others.  My friend has a wife and kids that need a Dad.   I need to do what I can to keep him safe.  I’m sure I begin to sound like a nag but I can live with repeating my safety banter.  I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do all I could.  He’s a great person and needs to be here for a lot longer.  He's got a great attitude and see this accident for what it was...a lesson.  A tough one but a lesson none the less.  We'll ride again.

Later that same day the Forks would claim a life.  Another rider somehow struck a guardrail and was thrown off his motorcycle.  Someone is missing a son, brother, dad and friend today and that makes me step back and really consider all of it.  While I don’t know what happened I know what I see on the streets.  Inflated egos, over confidence and some poor decisions all at speeds that simply don’t work.  While I’ll say again I don’t know what happened to the rider who lost his life yesterday I’d like to hope it might make the rest of us gear down a bit and realize that there’s more to all of this than a quick corner.  May he rest in peace and I hope the family can find some happy memories as they work through this. 

I really think we all need to slow down a bit, myself included.  I’m not on a pedestal; I’m on the ground with everyone else who I’d like to think would like to see another day.  I’ve said it before…life is short and moves fast so you don’t need to.  Slow down and savor it.