Motorcycling History

Sorry that I have neglected this page for a wile. Life has been just trudging along and I haven't had much to report. It has been cold and wet and the start of the Holiday session has kept me off the bike most of this month. Anytime I'm off the bike I start to think about my past rides.

It seems the earliest memory I have of riding is on the gas tank of my dads Honda XL175 in somwhere around 1974 or '75. I remember the bike was orange and I'm sure that I could pick it out of a line up if I had to. I remember they where cutting a new road and my dad and I decided to check it out. At some point he got up on top of a hill over looking the roadwork. He then went down the hill and I remember thinking that he wouldn't be able to make the ditch... and he didn't make the ditch. I was maybe 3 or 4... could have been later, I really don't have a clue.

The most famous rides I don't remember is my first little blue mini bike. I remember it had a brown seat and blue paint, but I have no memory of riding it. My mother does remember my first ride. Seems I ran over my Brother who wasn't even walking yet. Oops, sorry Bro!

I was also remembering my old Yamaha YZ80. It was on that bike that I really fell in love with motorcycling. Not going fast, not jumping, not kicking up dust or mud... just riding. You see, it was on that bike that one day way back when, I was riding with my father and maybe child hood friend. We where riding on some land near Pickwick Lake that was owned by the TVA and open to the public. We had camped in a campground that was part of the Stat Park. There was a trail that went from the camp ground to "Big Hill" It was on that trail, dodging trees and rocks that I first ever remember it ever happening to me.

I'm not sure what to call it. I have heard it called Zen, or becoming one with the machine or road. But I sure know how it feels. It's that point when your not thinking about dodging the tree, or your line through the rocks. Your not feeling any sensations. There isn't any heat, or cold. There is no pain or discomfort. Your mind is totally free and your body and the machine are working together independent of thought. You are both completely aware of every single thing going on, but your also detached from it all. Your riding completely off of instinct, and your riding well.

TVA sold off the land surrounding Pickwick in the early 1980's. Houses where built and developments where put in. All the trails are closed, but I can still close my eyes and see all the trucks parked at the base of the big hill. All the motorcycles and three wheelers. The dust and exhaust in the air. The smell of gasoline and two-stroke oil. 50 people sitting at the bottom of that hill just waiting for the next fool to give it a try.

Why can't I find any place like that to take my own children?

Short Weekend ride

I got in a short ride on Saturday of about 200 miles. Not much to report, and I had no plan for anything other than riding when I left the house. I just went west and bounced between the traffic of DC and Fredrick.

The temps where about as perfect as it could get with a high of 74 and the sun was shining. The leaves where in full color, and the ride was great.

I noticed a ton of high end sport cars on the road being driven slowly but grey haired old men. There where a ton of bikes out two. I even saw 2 other FZ1's! The only bad part of the trip was on the way home, coming east on Highway 100 (a heavily traveled 4-lane divided highway with controlled access). The normal traffic flow on this stretch of road is 60 to 70 mph, with a good number of people running 80+. There where 4 or five cars cued up to pass a slower (65mph) car in the right lane. Now, normally I try to avoid passing on the right, but this que of cars was going nowhere. The lead car was maybe doing 2 mph faster than the car she was trying to overtake. I moved up on the right, and put on mu blinker to move in behind the first car when the second car in the que closed the gap as tight as he could in order to block me. I feel in behind the second car, riding just to the left of the dividing line. The second car then started failing back from both the first car and the car they where trying to pass. I fell back into the right lane to get around him, when he started speeding up again to block me. I dropped from 6th to 5th and blow past him. I first though about blocking him, but then I remembered reading about a guy in Delaware that got booted off road by someone who he had pissed off on the road. I decided fleeing may be the smartest move and jumped ahead in traffic, putting several cars between me and that vehicle made me feel a good bit safer (even if I was doing 80 in a 55).

I'm telling this story because I don't understand why this guy would try and block me. It's not like I was going to hold him up in traffic. It's not like I slow him down in any way. Come on, I don't ride a Harley! Maybe he felt I was going to fast, or maybe he didn't like getting passed on the right (I hate that myself) I don't know. I guess he was just a ass hole.

Helmet laws are funny, and the furry they cause when they come up for debate is mind boggling. The AMA http://www.ama-cycle.org/ does not support helmet laws stating that it maintains a long-standing fundamental belief that adults should continue to have the right to voluntarily decide when to wear a helmet. Sounds all well and good. The AMA goes on to dispute the many arguments given by people that support helmet laws. These being Injured motorcyclists are uninsured and disproportionately rely upon the public to pay for their injuries, The costs associated with unhelmeted motorcyclist injuries and fatalities compel the enactment of mandatory helmet laws to save taxpayer dollars, and Mandatory helmet laws are the most effective way to reduce motorcyclist injuries and fatalities. I have to agree with the AMA that these reasons are all crap.
But here's the reasons I support helmet laws.

First off, people are stupid. The AMA says it believes that adults should have the right to decide. Sounds good and for a long time I believed it too. Then I went to Florida where the helmet law was repealed and I was shocked by the number of people without helmets. I'm not talking about riding down the strip either, I'm talking about 70 mph bumper to bumper on I-70. These people are stupid! No one I knew wore a seat belt before it was required by law, as a kid I didn't ware a helmet on a bicycle and growing up in the Seventies, I don't think I ever road in a car seat. Why not? Because it wasn't required by law, and since it wasn't required people didn't do it. Everyone knew that seat belts saved lives, that car seats saved babies, and kids bang there head on bicycles, but nobody protected themselves. We have become dependent on laws to help us judge what is safe and what is dangerous. Helmet laws are needed simpley because people are stupid.

The AMA says that the most effective way to reduce motorcyclist injuries and fatalities is to prevent crashes from occurring in the first place. Helmets and helmet laws do not prevent accidents. But helmets may prevent a death and injury. No one is saying that we can't have helmet laws and effective rider and driver education. Better designed intersections, or anything else. A helmet law should not replace any of these safety measures, but it should be used with them.

I do understand the appeal of having the wind in your hair. And I also understand that effective helmets don't look so hot. But a helmet is not an item of personal apparel. No more so than a hard hat, safety glasses, or steel toed boots. All of which are required by law if you work in the right environment. A helmet is a item of personal protection equipment, it should be treated as such, and required by law in the right environment.

Ride Safe,
Deacon