[jazzcatt]

Originally Posted by rg-one

I came across this piece and thought it was a nice read. Nothing earth-shattering, but with all the threads that have turned to bickering lately I thought it would be refreshing.

This was written by Jeff Hughes, and published in Sport Rider magazine, October 2003.

(snip)

So maybe it’s never been about speed after all. Maybe that’s why such a small, select group of people are able to ride for years and years without crashing—the fact that they ride fast is secondary to the fact that they’re always in control. They know their own limits.

And that’s the lesson for the rest of us—at least for those of us who wish to enjoy this sport for a long, long, time. There’s a choice to be made, every time we thumb the starter.

Thank you for posting this. Finally something that adequately describes how I ride. Not the always ultra smoothness of Mr. Mythical, but what I've quoted above. Knowing my limits, staying within them, choosing carefully when to push it, sometimes going 9/10ths, but never 10/10ths so I always have a little margin for error, and always, always staying totally focused on what is going on around me, especially at intersections (recalling my July 3rd close call). So far it's been working pretty well. 11 years, 115,000 miles, no drops, no accidents. Not world class, but a pretty decent record. Like my MSF instructor said, staying safe is about making smart decisions every second you're on the bike, always thinking ahead, sometimes denying yourself some fun in the process. But hey, you live to have some fun another day.

(Now that I've jinxed myself, my next post will be about my crash...)