Wilsons Sandbox

Eric's note struck a nerve with me. I'm 45, a father, husband, teacher, and coach. Lately, I've had intermittent thoughts of leaving riding behind. This has been tough for me as I have been riding since I was 18. The sport is so ingrained in me and given me so much. My best friends have been made because of riding. Some of my best experiences also are because of riding. So why leave? I've been thinking of my 8 year old son and the what ifs. What if I get slammed by some inattentive driver? I've already ridden all 50 states, down to Guatamala, and all over Canada and Mexico. Lord knows I've had a lot of experiences. But the what ifs are there none the less. To further complicate matters, I bought a sailboat 3 years ago which I can share with my family. But it cuts into my riding time. So, if I choose not to ride to work, or even ever again, does that make me a coward? Or possibly would I have made a conscious decision to make the odds better that I will see my son graduate high school? Food for thought and debate. Cheers, Alex Jomarron West Dundee, Illinois USA __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000 guides! http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005, Alex Jomarron wrote:

> So, if I choose not to ride to work, or even ever again, does that make > me a coward? Or possibly would I have made a conscious decision to make > the odds better that I will see my son graduate high school? > Food for thought and debate.

Well said. Wisdom can be *called* cowardice, but it is still wisdom. I don't use a motorcycle for commuting and I try to avoid the rain. I don't care what people call me for that, but the wife and I got back into motorcycling for fun, so fun we shale have. -- Doug Herr doug@...

I could see how quitting when your son was born might make more sense than now that he's 8. At this point, I'd just make sure I have a hefty enough life insurance policy. I think that attempting to insulate yourself only serves to remove some of the joy of life and won't necessarily extend your life. You can be taken at any minute, like the girl here in town who stepped off the curb on her way to class and got nailed by a transit bus, just like in the movie, "Final Destination." My father was a private pilot as a hobby, something that is perceived by many as being dangerous. As he flew less to be a responsible father and to make more money (LOTS of dough, but no time to spend it), he was killed in his car on his way home from work when I was 5 years old. Mark At 6:26 AM -0700 4/19/05, Alex Jomarron wrote:

>So, if I choose not to ride to work, or even ever again, does that make >me a coward? Or possibly would I have made a conscious decision to make >the odds better that I will see my son graduate high school? >Food for thought and debate. >Cheers,

When someone asks me about taking up motorcycling, I halt the conversation and ask them to realize the only way to avoid getting hurt on a motorcycle is to not get on one. Resolve that one and move on. I still ask myself that question periodically. Getting seriously damaged sucks. Done that. Love travelling by motorcycle though, the places I've been and seen-only on a KLR. Am I a coward if I stop riding? What does that have to do with it? If I stop riding it only means thats what I've done. The inner motovations for actions are a fun entanglement. The webs we weave. -----Original Message----- From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Alex Jomarron Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 6:27 AM To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] NKLR-Cowardly commuters Eric's note struck a nerve with me. I'm 45, a father, husband, teacher, and coach. Lately, I've had intermittent thoughts of leaving riding behind. This has been tough for me as I have been riding since I was 18. The sport is so ingrained in me and given me so much. My best friends have been made because of riding. Some of my best experiences also are because of riding. So why leave? I've been thinking of my 8 year old son and the what ifs. What if I get slammed by some inattentive driver? I've already ridden all 50 states, down to Guatamala, and all over Canada and Mexico. Lord knows I've had a lot of experiences. But the what ifs are there none the less. To further complicate matters, I bought a sailboat 3 years ago which I can share with my family. But it cuts into my riding time. So, if I choose not to ride to work, or even ever again, does that make me a coward? Or possibly would I have made a conscious decision to make the odds better that I will see my son graduate high school? Food for thought and debate. Cheers, Alex Jomarron West Dundee, Illinois USA __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000 guides! http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide Archive Quicksearch at: http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: www.dualsportnews.com List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html Yahoo! Groups Links

On Tue, 19 Apr 2005, Ramey wrote:

> When someone asks me about taking up motorcycling, I halt the conversation > and ask them to realize the only way to avoid getting hurt on a motorcycle > is to not get on one. Resolve that one and move on. I still ask myself that

I'm not sure how true that one is. It's like saying "the only way to avoid getting hurt in a car is to not get in one." I'm missing a chunk of meat out of my left foot from not wearing proper footgear and getting into a motorcycle accident at age 18. My ribs occasionally ache as the result of a car accident at age 30 (seat belt cracked my ribs). Life is risk. All you can do is manage the risk. I don't ride without wearing full protective gear and being paranoid about what the motorists around me intend to do to me, and I don't do solo wilderness journeys (another risky thing to do) without making sure that I have full survival gear for any possible weather that I can encounter and if I feel the least bit nervous about conditions or water supply once I get to the trailhead and notice that the temperature is too hot or too cold or too dry for me to safely backpack with the gear I have on my back, I turn back and go home. I could die riding a motorcycle. I could die hiking alone in the wilderness. I could die if a car turned right into me as I'm crossing the street tomorrow during my daily jog. The answer is not to huddle in fear but, rather, to realize that all men die. Death is as unavoidable as taxes. All you can do is manage the risks, and try to shift things such that if you do die, it's only after having lived. And if you die doing something you enjoy, well (shrug) at least you died in a way of your own choosing, rather than in a way that totally sucks (like cancer).

> question periodically. Getting seriously damaged sucks. Done that. Love > travelling by motorcycle though, the places I've been and seen-only on a > KLR. Am I a coward if I stop riding? What does that have to do with it? If I > stop riding it only means thats what I've done. The inner motovations for > actions are a fun entanglement. The webs we weave.

I believe you are a coward if you seek to eliminate (rather than manage) the risks in your life. Life is risk. All you accomplish by becoming, as Sophie Scholl put it, "people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe", is to become good Germans in 1934, afraid to live, afraid to stand up for what is right and true because that would involve risk. Without risk, you are merely a useless animal taking up space on the planet consuming resources without making any contribution towards making the world a better place. All that is good, all that makes the world a better place, involves risk. You try to manage the risk, but if you wish to live, rather than roll your spirit up into a tiny little ball and hide in a cave of going through the motions of life, risk is unavoidable. The Nazis executed Sophie, but she lived more in her young life than a dozen middle-aged American sheeple huddling in fear in their 8 ton SUV's and fortified gated communities. -E

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, imperial-4776@w... wrote:

> But lets be honest about this! > > BMW's are a lot safer than KLR's right ? > > Tinker Belle

in the hands of a fool, even a hummer is a killing tool. bmw's make you FEEL safe , hence try more dangerous things. i have had a few bike friends who parished due to thier 'trusty' bmw's in the hands of a experienced rider , the klr excels. lets face it bmw's are easy to ride, to those inexperienced guys can do what the experienced guys can, but when something goes wrong..... lets just put it this way, who will be able to react better? clint