I lost a good mate a couple o three years back. Blasting through a corner on his zzr11, he hit an oncoming Picasso that had crossed the white lines in an effort to straighten the corner. Killed him instantly.
Very sad day.
But I still ride.
Faster, but more observantly and sensibly than ever!
I know my mate would want it that way.
Ive had three major-ish crashes in the neck-end of twenty years riding; All of em the fault of a cage driver.
Pure n simply, I ride because it gets me hard, if you'll pardon the french, and few things in this ever-more sanitised day and age does, (Missus excluded, of course!
). Anything that gets you hard/wet has got to be good!
I think part of the problem for even asking the question 'Should I still be riding?' comes from two things; Advancing years and driving cars.
Im the only person I know who hasnt yet succumbed to four wheels and I only have one mate who still has a bike, (though rarely rides it)!
Ive got a four year old Son, ?yr old Wife, 18yr old Stepdaughter, ???????illion pound mortgage, the usual more-money-going-out-than-coming-in probs that everyone has but there is simply no way I could ever not ride a bike.
I think that generally as you get older you get more cautious, (and you get less bendable and more breakable!
). That, combined with a lot of peoples need to get a car license and car fer the family or whatever, (Im lucky; My Missus already drives!), means that a bike seems less and less as a 'need' and more a luxury.We forget that we need the rush that only carving a corner or burning a Porsche-off whilst on two wheels in an armoured PowerRanger suit, dragging a sparking slider that sets fire to the chasing car behind, all the while grinning insanely and cackling like the Joker on meths...
Or is that just me?...
I love bikes, me...
Oh, n welcome aboard Knot!
)
- feminine memory is phenominal when linked to slights and scorn - either real or imagined
