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Hard Core Rider
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On my ride home from work today I saw this guy riding his Harley
wearing a button down short sleeved shirt, braces, dockers, open toed
sandles, and socks. At least he was wearing his helmet.
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Prolly not the best practice for safety.
Still, one of the things I've noticed over many years of getting to know
many riders is that the ones that seem the most vociferous around the
ATGATT slogan also seem to be the ones that like riding very close to
the edge with their speed. I guess if you are frequently riding at the
upper limit of your skill capability, going as fast as you possibly can
around every set of twisties, even riding beyond your sight line, then
riding with as much protection as possible provides at least a bit of
insurance against the inevitable go-down you are bound to have.
Similar to downhill skiers who say that if you don't fall a couple times
a day then you're not trying hard enough, except tar roads at high
speeds are much less forgiving than packed down snow covered hills.
Where as much gear as makes you comfortable with the risk factor you
take when you get on a motorcycle.
Good gear is a really good idea, I know when I had my last "go-down" my
gear saved my head and my life. (not to mention lots of road rash)
Still, I don't quite get the reluctance of the many of the ATGATT guys
to treat the other most important safety slogan as some type of evil
mantra, "slow down and live".
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I frequently see teen-age squids racing their sportbikes up seven-level hill
south of Palm Springs CA wearing only tank-tops, shorts, flip-flops, and, oh
yes, their helmets.
Of course, the daytime temperatures in PS have been well over 100 degrees
for the last week or so, but nevertheless they must have a busy Emergency
Room out there.
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You're observation exercises are being concentrated on the worng things.
What people wear is fal less important than where they are and what they're
doing.
Remember the guy in the lane who wanted YOUR lane? What was HE wearing?
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A green Land Rover.
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That'd be the perfect overcoat in traffic :-)
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