copy and pasted from a member of another forum..........

[Deplorable, thank you!]

I of course could have changed some numbers and wording and made the story fit me personally and posted that......but I do think it is a good read, albeit a little wordy and at times off kilter............  and people can insert their own "stats" to fit their personal storyline........

and yes I see his mathematical errors........ at over 1.3million miles if one averaged 50mph it is only 26,000 hours of seat time-- but that is a whole shit ton of seat time and experience
 but it still pales in comparison if you were to say........ work 40hrs a week 2080 hrs a year for 50 years of your life at the same job, doing the same thing..... that is 104,000 hours working...............

anyways here is his post..........


Everyone here, has heard me say this in various forms for as long as I have been a member of this forum.

It occurred to me, that this is a cornerstone of my professional life...... And that my career is almost completely based on the lack of fundamental knowledge required for a successful conclusion of some facet of a process. Yet my professional recommendation is inevitably to engineer out that need for knowledge..... To make it 'sailor proof'. That dichotomy disturbs me. I can see the inevitable conclusion of this process.

I ride motorcycles, because it is an affirmation that I can accomplish a difficult, challenging, dangerous, high stake, life threatening adventure. By and large (>99%) the sole responsibility for the outcome is in my hands. I have a low probability of causing significant harm to others, during the pursuit of my passion. In the near 200,000 street riding miles I have accumulated, I have injured one other person through my actions. If I assume 50 mph for my average speed, it's reasonable to state I am approaching 40,000 riding hours.

40K hours. I have been physically struck by one car..... In stop and go traffic, 30 years ago.

Every other event leading to damage to me, my bike, or property not my own has been the result of a decision I made. Each crash, near miss, accident, ticket, enraged driver...... Wake up calls. Sometimes I listened, more often a specific behavior would be repeated, until it bit me.

I am quite certain that I would not be riding today, without the active participation of my wife. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'd be dead.

Each crash, I end up with better gear.  Each crash, a thorough review of technique, material condition of the bike, physical condition and mental state of the operator, and the scenario occurs. Additional training is often a gating requirement for continued participation.....

Train the operator

The physics are harsh. Reality does not embrace foolish behavior. Lack of knowledge is no excuse. The physics don't care.

Impact speed which assures a fatal outcome is low. It's the sudden stop that does it. Glancing blows don't impart the full change in velocity. A crash at 60 mph into a grassy field, or gravel trap has completely different consequences than hitting a tree.

Jumping out of a second story window, gravity will accelerate anything to about 25 mph. Drunk college students die every year this way. Many more don't; I'm sure most falls at parties aren't reported. It's the ones that hit concrete, we hear about. Belly flops, headers, etc.

Paratroopers tuck and roll, to change that impact energy into a glancing blow. A significant number of serious injuries occur when the terrain is bad, because gravity and physics don't care. Training is paramount, but doesn't cover the random variations which are a certainty.

Proper gear helps. Not a panacea. Training, helps...... Controlling the situation, helps.

In a perfect world, a rider in shorts and flip flops is perfectly safe.

I don't recommend it.

[RCKT GRL]

Sounds like he should come to the track.   

[Deplorable, thank you!]

 

What I gather from the gist of this.....

He has constantly tried to improve once something bad has happened (well once it "bit him")

He improved his gear
He has improved his skills (yes Denyse he is a trackday junkie already or.... perhaps better considered a wanna be one as he attended over a dozen events a few years back and continues to attend more than one each year since)
He has even considered the consequences of his actions or inactions

but the biggest take away point I saw.........

At 60mph sliding across the road and into the grass or field or sand.........not so bad

At 25mph sliding across and hitting a tree or car or any mostly immoveable object, very bad............... and there are tons of cases to prove this theory via members on this very forum who have experienced one or both of these scenarios one or more times even............

ie........ when riding on public roads with traffic, trees, wildlife, gravel and whole plethora of other items that could abruptly end your life or atleast put you in the hospital- it best to dial it down and be a bit more cautious and not dip into that 8/10th, 9/10th or 10/10th that many on many group rides are at or beyond