fearful?

[bshultz0930]

just about everyday i dream of riding the twisties. i love them. its honestly the most exciting thing ive ever done.

BUT

all in all at the same time, i wonder which time will be my last time? that one fatal slip or mistake and everything just goes black. but what about my wife and kids? my parents will go nuts! i wear the correct gear (now i do), even after i wrecked in dec of 2012 and managed to walk away from a 50-70mph wreck with just a sore knee? yea i got lucky. but what if something had been slightly different and that was it? i dont ride out of my comfort zone, ever. i ride the way i know how to ride and keep it within my limits. idk if this is just me fearing this year with what happened last year? idk, its just something ive been thinking about a lot lately. anyone else think like this? love the sport too much and are willing to risk your life everytime you sit on the bike? i dont know. i guess im just going to have to get back on it again and do it.

[Pokey]

No real close calls for me so far, I ride within my skill level and don't allow anybody to veer me away from that. Sure I can have fun and push it "do that plenty", but for the most part I ride very much within my comfort zone. Of course too many of us get taken out by distracted cage drivers, but riding like you are invisible is always your best plan of action. Sure I have given it a bit of thought were I to go down and get hurt "or worse", but I love it too much and plan on riding until I no longer am able. And way too much bike for allot of folks out there whether they will openly admit it or not, I find myself in the less is more category the older I get and the longer I ride.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Pokey

[granda080]

I don't think there is anything wrong with that fear. I high sided a few years ago and was lucky to come away without any major issues. That said, every time I throw a leg over the bike I pray that I am kept safe. I think of my wife and my 2 little girls and pray that I am safe. It's the reason I ride within my limits and don't push to hard.

I've always thought that when it is your time, it is your time. I just pray it's not now or any time soon. I try to make safe choices all the time. Not just on the bike.

[BDBGoalie]

I've crashed a lot (8 or 9 times), and always when wearing gear. The gear will do wonders to keep you intact for the lowsides.

I've had two highsides. One was from someone hitting me on the freeway and I went over the bars. Not fun, but I managed to get the speed down before the impact so the damage was minimal. The other was totally due to riding with a group that had a dangerous riding style that ended with me doing an evasive maneuver to avoid stupidity. Although I avoided hitting the two bikes that crossed in front of me, I was not in control after steering while on the front wheel and over the bars I went. I've got a scar to remind me of that one.

My biggest lowsides were a 85mph crash in turn 13 at Mid-Ohio, and a crash on the dragon. In both cases the gear performed wonderfully and if anything I was just a bit sore after.

Thing that work for me:

• Wear all your gear all the time. It will save your life.
  
• I ride tame and laid back with large safety distances on all roads but curvy ones.
  
• Take the time to do head checks at every intersection. I even do it in the car now.
  
• Fight to maintain that 2-4 car length safety bubble at all times.
  
• Know you group. Conduct a briefing before you leave detailing the route, signals, and speed of the ride.
  
• I ride curvy roads fast, but not beyond my limits, and still within safety distances from other cars.
  
• I expect that everyone is going to try and kill me at all points and times.
  
• If the bike feels like it is going to go, I let it go. Sliding away from a lowside is way better than cartwheeling for trying to save the bike.
  
• If you are going to ride aggressively, do a track day. My street riding tamed down significantly after I realized how much safer and more fun the track is.
  

As far as fear goes, I think I've just accepted it. If something happens, at least I was doing something I love. I do everything I can to mitigate the risk while riding, but some cannot be removed. I think dwelling on that fear will cause you to ride stiff and limit the enjoyment, and potentially increase your risk if you are hyper-vigilant about the wrong things.

Edited March 26, 2013 by BDBGoalie

[Kmanlyst]

just about everyday i dream of riding the twisties. i love them. its honestly the most exciting thing ive ever done.

BUT

all in all at the same time, i wonder which time will be my last time? that one fatal slip or mistake and everything just goes black. but what about my wife and kids? my parents will go nuts! i wear the correct gear (now i do), even after i wrecked in dec of 2012 and managed to walk away from a 50-70mph wreck with just a sore knee? yea i got lucky. but what if something had been slightly different and that was it? i dont ride out of my comfort zone, ever. i ride the way i know how to ride and keep it within my limits. idk if this is just me fearing this year with what happened last year? idk, its just something ive been thinking about a lot lately. anyone else think like this? love the sport too much and are willing to risk your life everytime you sit on the bike? i dont know. i guess im just going to have to get back on it again and do it.

I think about this a lot myself, every time I go for a ride I kiss the wife and kids just in case. I wear all the gear and ride within my limits but you can't count on other people on the road to do the same, cagers or fellow riders. I haven't had my first accident yet but I know I will. To answer the question I love this sport/hobby too much to think about never doing it again, we only get one chance at life there are no do overs. Might as well get the most out of it you can.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Kmanlyst

[ScubaCinci]

I've had a few close calls, enough that I still ride in a spirited fashion but I don't take chances and if I'm just not feeling it, I back off. Guess what? It's still fun. You don't have to be riding on the edge to enjoy the ride.

[max power]

Good God, man. Dont ride with fear, ride with gear.

Hard to concentrate on the ride when you have all that shit running thru your brain.

[BDBGoalie]

Good God, man. Dont ride with fear, ride with gear.

Hard to concentrate on the ride when you have all that shit running thru your brain.

+1

[cOoTeR]

Have you done a track day? I know a handful of guys that were in the same boat as you and now they ride pretty much only on the track. There's a lot less variables to mess you up and a good organization will really improve your skill level. My first track day did wonders for me first it was a reality check as to how slow I was and how little I actually knew. Second I improved a lot. With the new knowledge of my improvement and how much safer a track was I slowed down and rode smoother on the road and it was even more enjoyable.

[Pokey]

Track days are great and all, but you don't leave the track. I like to travel all over the country and explore to my hearts content, to me that is what riding is all about, it is an adventure........and it is so worth the potential dangers and hassles I may encounter along the way.

[Uncle Punk]

I don't think you should over analyze this. Resolve your issues at your own pace. Everyone has different levels of risk, reward, commitments, skills, goals. You will find that you can get past this and enjoy riding again or you won't. It will be the right path for you.

I'm one of the have already crashed guys and found that it only affected me for half a day of riding the first day back. It never forced me to dwell on it or lose sleep about it. I went over it in my mind several times to keep from making the same mistake again but that was essentially the end of it.

Track days after the fact helped my riding immensely, I no longer have self inflicted uh-oh moments. The riding environment isn't any safer but I am. We all ride at a pace that we enjoy, that pace is different for everyone but the enjoyment level should be the same for the fastest to the slowest rider. Don't judge your enjoyment against others, it's an impossible task.

Your wreck is something to learn from, you know what happened. You should know what it will take to fix that one type of situation. You are going to hear "track day" from a lot of people. Having been there riding with you when this wreck happened I can without a doubt tell you that a track day would be of great benefit and most likely would have prevented the event if you would have had one prior.

[C-bus]

Just don't let it paralyze you. Adrenalin keeps you sharp by design.

Edited March 26, 2013 by C-bus

[Brownsfan1]

I ride within my skill set, you can't control what the idiots around you are going to do. I've had a plenty of close calls that made me think twice about riding, but I love it too much to give it up.

[flounder]

Start riding the track. Skills will increase, Thrill will increase. Safety will increase,

nuff said.

[Bad324]

at least for me, fear" keeps my ego in check and riding over my head on the streets

Edited March 26, 2013 by Bad324

[madcat6183]

Good God, man. Dont ride with fear, ride with gear.

Hard to concentrate on the ride when you have all that shit running thru your brain.

This, if you are riding with "fear" you shouldn't be riding. If you have a moment as you throw your leg over saying, well wonder what would happen if I did go down and didn't get back up, get in the cage and ride when your mind is clearer. At least take a few seconds to get the thought out of your mind. Concentrating 100% on what you are doing and your surroundings is all you should be doing on the bike, if it isn't, then at some point it won't end well.

I know I had a moment in Jennings this year hitting the back straight first lap, knowing my wife was 3 months prego and we had just got married, etc. I looked behind me, saw no one, sat up, slowed, cleared my mind, and boom, gassed it and never thought about it again. I won't the rest of the season, and know I can't do that in any other enviroment.

I'm with IP, I hope I die doing something I truly love, not while losing my mind sitting in some nursing home or assisted living or whatever. F that, I'd rather die riding, skiing, racing, etc. I do not want to be miserable in my final days.

[bshultz0930]

I've never riden with fear before, when I hoped on my wife's moto and went out with josh and Tim the last Sunday, I was fine. I think it's just getting back on my bike. Idk. I'm going to just have to so it and get it over with. I'm sure once I start ridin it again ill be ok. And YES I would live to track, but I don't exactly have the time (3 kids under the age of 2). I'm sure i could make time eventually, but tracking is one thing I really would like to do. I just need to find out if I can even get my moto in because its a street fighter. I have certified gear, but my modified moto is the only problem.

[blue03636]

I just need to find out if I can even get my moto in because its a street fighter. I have certified gear, but my modified moto is the only problem.

This shouldn't be an issue at all. I have seen everything from a goldwing to full race bikes. As long as it is in good working order there will be no problems.

[HeavyDuty]

Been riding over 40 years on July 2 2010 at 7:37 a young girl on a cell phone ran a stop sign from behind a tractor trailer 10 feet in front of me I T-bone her at 45mph I remember everything all I thought was dam this is going to hurt. The bike hit her right front wheel well I came off the bike over the right handle bar I had on a leather coat but the mirror cut thru the coat and ripped thru my stomach and broke of inside me my right hip hit her fender and drove the hip ball thru the socket I somersaulted over the car and landed on my left hip scattering it The girl panicked and stepped on the gas I got my hands up on her front bumper and she pushed me across the parking lot the only thing that stopped her from running me over was my bike wedged under her car and lifted the wheels off the ground. After everything stopped moving I tried to get up but that was not happening I told everyone not to touch me and played dead until the cops got there the first cop on the scene was my oldest son He thought I was in shock but I told him I was ok and what good would my panicking do or help I figured stay as still as possible until to paramedics’ got there To make a long story short my youngest son was getting married in 8 days and I made it to his wedding. Not the Drs orders but with lots of good drugs I made it. Now I’m back to 100% and loving every minute of riding I get (Over 11000 this past summer.) Oh ya to top everything off the girl had no insurance.

Back in the early 70s I was coming thru a intersection and a old woman ran the red light and broad sided me at over 60 mph the impact tore the bike in half (KZ 750 twin) and thru me almost 50 yards in to a parking lot I got up with only some minor scrapes and burses from that one and spent the next hour picking up all the pieces parts of my bike and loading them in to a pickup.

Do not let fear take charge of your life and destroy something that you love to do.

[bshultz0930]

Do not let fear take charge of your life and destroy something that you love to do.

amen.

[Tpoppa]

Your pace should NEVER exceed your confidence.

some good reading right here: http://www.sportrider.com/motorcycle_riding/techniques/

[RHill]

just about everyday i dream of riding the twisties. i love them. its honestly the most exciting thing ive ever done.

Sounds like you would have a great time at a trackday

[Hoblick]

trakday!