Make wise choices

Joined
Dec 30, 2005
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the canyons
With a new riding season for many of us just getting under way, I thought I'd post a friendly reminder.

A fellow Motorcyclist who was friends with several of my friends, was out riding yesterday, and made an ultimately fatal choice. For whatever reason he was passing traffic over a double-yellow on a blind right hand turn in a Canyon, and hit a car head-on. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The people in the car he hit, were fortunately okay physically, but will no doubt have nightmares, possibly for the rest of their lives. Not to mention the family members and friends of the rider.

I've made some spectacularly poor choices in all the years I've been riding. Fortunately I've been lucky so far.

I don't make too many bonehead moves these days like passing on a double-yellow in a blind turn, as the older I get, the more I realize things can go very bad, very fast.

Think of those who love you, and try to make wise choices so you come home.

RIP, Mike
 
Sorry for the loss of your friend. I'd like to ask you since it sounds like you rode aggressively in the past, what is the thinking that you can get away with a blind move like that? You KNOW if there's oncoming traffic it's all bad. No disrespect intended, I've never been that bold, confident, whatever.
 
I met him maybe a couple times. An acquaintance at best. But I know quite a few people who were friends or better acquaintances with him. The friends I know, all say it was out of character for him. I don't know what he was thinking. I don't know how well he knew the road. There is a turn lane partway through that bend for the opposite direction of travel, maybe he mistook it for another travel lane opening up.

I don't pass over a double-yellow on blind turns, and never have. But like lots of Motorcyclists, I have made some risky choices, mostly in my younger days.

This thread is just intended as a reminder to my fellow Motorcyclists, to make wise choices as the riding season gets underway for many of us.
 
Losses like that are something you carry a long time.

Many many years ago two of my cousins from different families were bar-hopping having a drink at as many bars as they could on there bikes all night and one of them had an expired inspection. The one with the expired inspection started speeding and the other one caught up to him and told him to slow down. And he said don't worry about me I do not have any family to support, worry about yourself. And then the police started chasing them. At a big intersection each took different roads, and the roads were wet from a rain that had stopped. The one without inspection was going way faster than traffic normally traveled and came over the top of a hill in the road and there were stopped cars on the road ahead. He skidded on the wet road and hit a metal utility pole. The other rider got home, put his bike in his shed, got his wife in there van and went to the other cousins house to see how he was doing, and saw him laying on the side of the road. The funeral had a closed casket. While he did not have a wife or kids to support, his mother, sisters, brothers, friends, and many cousins missed him a lot.

Drinking and riding do not mix.
 
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Sad for the loss, thank you for the thread to get us all thinking about the riding this year. I’ve been out a good bit even over the winter here in Colorado but if you’ve been off the bike for a while, give yourself some time to get acclimated, give yourself some extra space, and get back in the groove safely, y’all.
 
We all are lucky up to a point for some the point is close and for others far away . I had a dear friend that was a tail gunner in WWII on a B17 he got shot down and was in a pow camp. He told me when it is your time to die you will die no sooner no later.
 
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Sad. We had a guy retire with 36 years. Rode an HD and just a cruiser style of rider. Wore all the “PPE”.
Pulls in for gas, takes off helmet … then spots pumps out of gas.
Decides to cross road to other pumps ... no need for a helmet. Car comes out of nowhere and he T-bones them - goes airborne landing on his head. RIP.
 
Reading some of these remarks, maybe as a reminder, we are all human and make mistakes, lucky whoever is reading this that their mistakes didnt cost them their lives. But it could have happened to anyone, wrong place, wrong time, wrong decision, lack of concentration, calculation.

No one is perfect and no one knows this person, he could have been a reckless rider or he could have been the most safest rider of anyone here and just as the OP said ... "for whatever reason" ...
 
Sorry to hear about this. :( I rode with a couple of younger guys many years ago and one of them ended up getting killed by being too risky on the road. I saw him crash twice while riding, but he never got hurt in those cases. When he crashed and died, he was riding alone. I've done some pretty wild things on motorcycles, and like 02SE mentioned, I've also settled down a lot and look back and see that I could have died many times over if I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, riding season is spinning up, so all you cycle riders stay safe and enjoy the ride.
 
Thanks for the good and timely pre-season reminder. Stories like that are exactly why I only ride off-road. Even without distracted drivers, the street rider faces many serious threats to their personal safety and their life. R.I.P. amigo.
 
Condolences to the family and thanks for the timely reminder. Riding season is indeed upon us, and I've saddled up again after a hiatus of several years. It's true that it comes back "like riding a bike" but the reflexes and skills refresh take a bit of time.

Even with all the PPE one can wear, it's always a risk to throw a leg over any 2-wheeled vehicle. Especially these days with so many bad and distracted drivers. Remember to ride well within your limits, allowing a good 20-25% safety margin to account for bozos or just small things like gravel/dirt/rocks in your lane.

Safe riding to all.
 
Words seem inadequate to express the sadness felt about your friend Mike...
May the love of those around you help you through the days ahead...
 
It's not enough to visualize a safe trip home... it requires more then 100 decisions per mile... after all life is he prize...
 
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