Crossroads,a question

[not2slow]

I am in no way as an articulate a writer as one of my favorite that contributes here on a regular basis, speaking of UberGoober of course, but I hope I can at least get you interested enough for your TRUE heartfelt thoughts on what you feel about what I am about to post here.

A very few of you know that I did a couple day trip up to the Tail of the Dragon and some of the most awesome roads that this country has to offer anyone that enjoys riding motorcycles around the first of June. At first I had a bud going with me but something at work came up that prevented that from happening for him. I was disapointed but as we all know things like this happen and as I have been up there countless times it was like one of those hey this can be one of those"a man and his machine on the road" lol type of trips and to be honest I was really excited about it.

So the ride up through the north Ga. mountains and the several passes on the Tail etc. were as fun as always. I got in about 375 miles total before I decided to stop for the day. Stayed at Two Wheels Inn in Robinsville( just a side note if you are up that way, every room has a enclosed garage that you can park your bike in).

So the next day I leave out around 8:30 do a couple passes on the dragon and hang out at the resort for a bit, then head over to the Cherohala Skyway . For those that have never been, if its at all possible PLEASE try to make it there if you can. In my personal opinion it is at least 10 times as fun as the tail. But I tend to enjoy the faster sweepers to the tighter stuff that you find at the gap.

After close to 550(total) plus miles I am on my way home. Most of the time, and this wont matter to those that have not been there but when hwy 68 runs into 515, I usually slab it down 515 (15 miles or so) until you hit 129 in Blairsville and go that way back.(129 is a great road also) But this day I had skipped lunch and was a little beat and decided to cross over 515 and go strait down 60 as this was shorter time wise.

The reason I usually skip this part of 60 is because of the IMO dreaded "tar snakes".Georgia uses some type of injected material that fills in the crackes on the highway. I usually avoid this part of 60 like the plaque because of this. It really seems the hotter it is the more slippery they get.

My decision to travel hwy 60 has made me really think about my love of all things about riding motorcycles. I have been riding some type of bike since I was 9 yo. And I have always excepted the chance of being injured/hurt as a consequence. Let me tell you about my recent experience and lets share.

I am about 4-5 miles south of Suches heading for Riders Hill looking to grab a bite to eat before the hour and a half ride back to the house.

I am only doing around 30-35 because I hate this part of 60 because it suxs, and did I mention it suxs?. Going up is not that bad but going down is like riding on marbles IMO when it comes to the tar snakes.

Well here it comes, I am a bit to the outside of the middle of my lane because there were more tar snakes in toward the middle than on the out side at this point on the highway. There was a cager in front of me(she was my only witness and was like Florance Nightengale(sp) the way she came back and cared for me. And just a side note she was in her early 30's and was drop dead gourgous and I would have hit on her if I wasn't hurting like hell and she had 2 kids screaming about something in her car) lol.

But it was one of the most freaky things I have felt in my 40 plus years of riding. I ran over a 3 foot(or there about) tar snake perpendicular to my direction of travel. I mean I spent 8 years roadracing and the only thing I can relate it to was like a bike that had dropped oil on the track because in an instant my front end stepped out to the right by at least a foot or more, which put me in the side of the road gravel and then in the grass a foot from the guardrail, then I was down. The lady in the cage in front on me said I did a complete flip in the air. She is watching this in her review mirror of course, and because this road is gaurdrail on one side and mountain on the other it took her a bit to find a place to turn around and come back. She was amazed that in the couple of minutes it took her to turn around I was already up and sitting on the gaurdail.( The R6 was a total loss, the only thing keeping the front wheel attached to the bike at all was one brake line lol.)

But at LAST here is the question if anyone is still here and reading this. I am 8 days from my 51st birthday, I have a son that is starting college after the summer and yeah I have insurance that will cover that and way beyond but no matter what before this freak accident and by that I mean a FREAK deal I would have said the day I can no longer ride go ahead and put me in the box because I can not deal with no longer being able to ride. But BECAUSE of the way this happened,no one turning left in front of you, a jackass hitting you from behind, etc. etc. it just made me think and I want to hear how anyone that has had a simular situation wotked through it. Thanks.

[UberGoober]

Its amazing how fast things can go off the rails. I rode for more than 20 years before I had a situation that put me off the bike while it was still moving. I wrote about that before so I won't repeat the story here, but for all the reading about what could happen, thinking about it and planning for it, when my accident happened I did exactly the wrong thing and paid a price for it. (Although, luckily it was a very very small price.)

The good news is that you were using your head, and tried to slow enough to account for the dangers you knew were there. That's the thing about experience, you did your best to mitigate the situation and in the end it probably helped you out - think about how much worse it could have been if you had been running hot. You have good instincts, trust them and you will be fine 99% of the time. That other one percent is always there and we either learn to live with it or give it up.

In my case, the one percent was just too much. With two little kids and another on the way I have a duty to be here with them not out doing my own thing. Insurance be dammed, my kids need a dad so I parked the GSXR for a while and then sold it.

I'm not sure if I miss riding or just the freedom from responsibility I had before I started a family. Whatever, I try not to think about it too much.

[bzb]

I'm partly with you here, although I *almost* bought that Ducati from Blue Moon about a month ago. Lucky (or unlucky) for me, the bike was sold the morning I went to go look at it!

Although my wife encouraged me to ride, I always felt so super guilty. It wasn't that I was riding hard, or going up 60 and trying my luck with the tar snakes. I just felt guilty that I'm out for 4-5 hours riding up to meet some friends in Helen... with zero contact with family and nowhere near any help if anything were to happen.

On top of that, I barely rode in the last 3 years. Three summers ago, we had record rainfall, and Lake Lanier filled up after a record drought.

Two summers ago, it was 100 degrees for a record number of consecutive days.

This summer, it's been 95+ for the last month and a half.

I don't, nor will I ever, ride without leathers. And it's just insanely uncomfortable to do so in this heat with the humidity. Not to mention sweat in my eyes is not a good combo with contact lenses. I rode for fun, and that shit just ain't fun.

So naturally, after my prize Ducati got away, I got the next best thing. A Yamaha.




Attached to a pontoon boat.

[Süsser Tod]

Your invincibility is gone?

The last part where you mention there was no one else involved tells me that you were expecting to be able to get away accident free as long as you made no mistake. I don't know if you did, I don't know how fast you were going, how were the conditions, etc. But it got you into an accident and you had little to no control, that really messes you up.

I had a freak accident that sent me to the hospital, it was a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, with little I could do.

DAMN! How do you prepare for that!? Your skills, hability, equipment won't help you, you're fucked up and there is nothing you could have done to avoid it. Life just threw a low blow at you...

And you realize you're just a fragile little punny human...

And try to stay away from harm...

But that's just how life is. It will throw low blows at you, ride or not. There are SO MANY stupid ways to die that's not even funny. You could even try to live in a bubble, and slipping on the shower can get you.

So, I realized that life is out to get me, I'm not getting out of here alive. I should better enjoy it.

[Electrical_Tech]

Great closing line Suss