This week yet again we lost a fellow biker. Long days of riding, back-to-back long distances, and fatigue bad luck what ever. The truth is a good soul was laid to rest too soon leaving behind a grieving family and a few friends. The rest of the world will forget in a matter of weeks may be days, the Facebook posts will fall down the timeline, the tweets will be buried, the newspapers well they just about managed to sell a few more copies with the death of a biker on a big bike. Today there are judgments and there is gyan. What happened? Then come the guessing games. Maybe it was fatigue, maybe the breaks gave way, may be the rider was going too fast, maybe was not able to bank the bike, was a novice, was a good rider tried too hard to keep up with the boys …. It’s endless for about 3 days. The postmortem report gives closure from the speculation – internal injuries. In the end the family and the friends grieve alone.
A lot of us bikers push the limit once too often, brag about the speeds we reached, proudly share the 1000 Kms runs without a break, share horror stories of near misses over a drink, take off on 10 K in 7 day missions the list is endless. I am guilty of it myself. So why the gyan? If we are so learned what are we doing about it? All our experience, and learning for the day a biker goes down never to get back up again, and mark my words at this very point some hard headed fellow biker who is short by 2 days of leave from office is planning a 8000 Kms X 7 day trip, motivating his buddies to take the plunge with him. When was the last time you said NO? No to a certain road because it was unsafe, no to a certain speed because it was not ok? No to a couple of extra 100 KMS because it was too much in a day? No to riding like a maniac at night to get from point A to point B? How many times did you put your foot down and said NO I will not be party to this? If you did then my guess is that you got snickered at behind your back, got called a chicken or worse your pretend friend called you a back stabber for not taking that trip with him / her.
Pushing the limit on safety is like drinking and driving you cannot do that even one time! Same with safety you cannot ignore it even once. And lets not make bones about it; safety is not about just the helmet the gear and the boots, because when you hit the concrete at 150 Kmph no amount of gear will save you. You will get hurt and really badly hurt. You may not get lacerated or get road burns but your insides will turn to mush and your brain will dislocate inside your skull – oh yes the helmet will protect your skull from cracking but fat lot of good that will be to you when you are dead or even worse a vegetable for life. Are you angry yet? Well you should be because this is the truth, the truth always hurts and unless you have one of those nine lives stacked away ready to use, you better pray that the next high speed high fatigue crash either leaves you completely unharmed by sheer luck or you end up dead on the spot, being a vegetable will be no fun for either the biker or their family.
This part I will get a lot of flack for and there will be many judgments on this article but I will say it any way. If you want to end up an old biker with the engine still running and a couple of lac kilometers on the ODO you know that safety is about discipline. You also know that when you are old only a certain type of friends will still ride along side you. The ones, who will still be alive. So the next time some one makes a trip that is more than a 550 odd kilometers a day, rides faster than their guardian angel, goes without a break for more than an hour, rides without gear, rides on a rickety bike or rides when fatigued. Say NO!. Loose that friend or one day you will loose that friend anyway and then you will be party to the blame for a rider dead. Every one of us who have pushed the limit, been party to the limit being pushed or bragged about it so that some idiot with a piddly ego wanted to better those stats, we are all guilty. Say no and stop making kilometers, speeds and hours into medals to be stuck on our jackets.
To all the experienced bikers out there the cross is ours to carry …… to all bikers everywhere God be with you on the road you are going to need him.
3 comments:
True, Ambika. The peer pressure to try insane feats is immense and you can't always cheat death. I don't think that one's riding ability can be 'certified' by the riding speed. I think the essence of riding is much more: it's about enjoying the landforms as you ride, respecting other road users and embracing the elements of nature.
True, Ambika. The peer pressure to try insane feats is immense and you can't always cheat death. I don't think that one's riding ability can be 'certified' by the riding speed. I think the essence of riding is much more: it's about enjoying the landforms as you ride, respecting other road users and embracing the elements of nature.
i agree with almost everything you said, but i would still maintain that my limits are different from yours. i've done 1000 km in a day, sticking to below 80, riding safely, taking planned but time efficient breaks, etc. and who knows, the road may end for me on an overnight 600 km ride in rain or just outside my doorstep in the middle of a bright sunny day under a rashly driven truck. i think what's important, is to be fully aware of the risks you're taking, and be prepared to live (or die) with them. and always keep your loved ones in the loop.
Post a Comment