You roll down a long straight into a sharp right downhill... the hillside hiding the tighter, harder, steeper, left downhill, immediately following... that is really more of a U-Turn... that the righthander dumps you into...
You know it's there... so you're dropping through the gears at the end of the straight... squeezing on the binders and thinking in your head; "This thing is usually sandy, so take it slow..." as you lean into the corner, and back over into the left, running tight onto the center stripe... to stay out of the sand on the outside...
You concentrated on the road in front of you... not the bike following...
Looking back in your mirror, you expect to see the friend following you, on her Harley Fatbob, who's never rode this road... You expect to see her following along where you went... how you went...
... Your eyes focus on the mirror expecting to see just that in its reflection...
In that split second, as your eyes move to the glass, the sound of an impact hammers through your helmet...
...As your eyes see the reflection in the mirror, of her Harley slamming into the guardrail and your friend tumbling across the pavement... to slam into the rail herself, a split second later....
But you can't keep watching... 'cause the road bends back right... you have to grab hold and get your own ride shut down and parked... somehow... The Fear of What's happened behind you... spinning in your brain.
... You leave your bike in the road... there's no where else to shut it down... and... run back up the road muttering... "No...No... No... Jesus.... No...."
When you get there, she's standing beside her bike, kind of stunned... the front end of her Harley, wedged under the guardrail.
A few seconds of stuttering are exchanged as you look at hands, arms, legs... eyes... questioning... looking for and hoping to not find any serious injury... and miraculously... finding none...
The thought is flipping through your head... "She almost didn't put her helmet on... thank God I pushed it..." ... as you look at the gouges on the side of her crash pot...
There's always that possibility... that risk. It exists even if you take that same road in a Toyota... It's a risk that every rider has to weigh and decide... is what my Motorcycle gives to me... worth the risk?
I've weighed that many times... and the answer is always the same... and, for me, it takes scant seconds to reach the decision..
The loss of Riding... The loss of the Open Road, is a greater cost, and a greater risk to my life... then My Motorcycle will ever create.
But... just the same... there are sights... I can do without.
... and next time... I'll think about the road I take a little more... when I'm not sure about the experience of those I'm gonna ride with...
Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian
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1 comment:
Glad to hear she wasn't hurt badly, although I'm sure she's pretty shaken up. Hope the bike wasn't too damaged. Like you, my answer is always the same & hardly requires thought. Take Care.
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