I’ve noticed this (One of ‘those’ days…) is a very popular page. Today I re-read it. I saw a couple more typo’s and places where I wasn’t very clear. But more than anything else it was frustrating and disappointing to revisit that moment.
I know the guy had a life before all of this. He made a bad choice, but his choices had consequences far beyond his limited world. I had multiple conversations with the insurance companies. I learned his name, Mason Andrews. I learned that the driver he hit was terrified to get back in a car and was vowing to never ride again. I know that it took me almost a year to stop thinking about what I saw when I got back on a bike. Maybe that is why I still feel that tightness in my chest when I think about it. It was a brutal moment. Exceptionally fast and infinitely slow.
Spilt blood, bent steel, torn carbon, shattered glass, falling tears, and bare feet.
I still ride, obviously. The SuperDuke is in the same class as the S4R. And I have been seduced by carbon, ti, and steering dampers. But I try not to make those kinds of mistakes. I know what I don’t know. I don’t know the KTM well enough yet to really push it. I do know that you don’t push in rush hour traffic, at least not like that. Sure I break the laws and occassionally lane split when it suits my purposes. I use the power of that v-twin to scoot past the cages that would block my progress. But I also know what happens if I make a mistake…
Live. Ride. Breathe. Feel every moment. And understand that one choice will cause those ripples to move away from you and impact other’s in ways that you never imagined.
Tags: Commuting, Crash, Ducati, FJR, KTM, Motorcycle, S2R 1000, S4R 1000, SuperDuke, The Human Condition, Yamaha
The upgraded Pazzo levers showed up for the woman’s bike last week. It took me all of 10 minutes to throw them back on her Ducati. She seems to like the longer levers better. We really won’t know until she goes out for a ride and with rain in the daily forecast she’s not very interested in that idea just yet.
All of this reminds me of how nice it can be to deal with people and not corporations. I work for a corporation. I drive a car built by a corporation. Most of my food comes from a corporation. Read more…
Occasionally my German comes back… Usually at strange times and without context.
I didn’t sleep well. Too sore. I swam yesterday. I should get back to lifting weights. But neither of those are the root cause of my muscle aches. Friday night I slept wrong and woke up with a kinked neck which never really went away. Satuday was Crue Fest. 
After a couple hours of headbanging to my whole body was tweaked.
Maybe I’m getting too old to scream the chorus to various Crue tracks? Maybe. Buckcherry sucked. I skipped most of Papa Roach. The guy reminds me of a lame Green Day clone, which is course is yet another clone of the music I listened to in High School. Sixx AM was realy good, as was Trapt. I had a really good time. So, swimming was an effort to unwind the tension. It worked but only for a while.
Today is the first day without a contract. I slept in. I messed with the ceiling fan I have been trying to install. I need more parts. The ceiling angle is too steep. I talked to an auto parts store about picking up new seals for the slave cylinder on her Duc. It leaks. It has always leaked. $190 and it leaks because they shipped aluminum washers instead of copper washers. I am under-welmed to say the least.
I’ve got two more interivews scheduled for tomorrow and at least 3 more possibilities. This doesn’t include things that are already in-process. Something will turn up. It always does. I am still craving some moto-time, but I need to get my next gig lined up. That’s my priority at the moment.
Guten Tag
