Arkansas Report

[Joel S]

Greg, thanks for the info and update and the care and concern you have shown. Tony, sure hope you heal up well, my thoughts are with you.

[beedawg]

Someone bring Tony a laptop so he can see all the people wishing him well.     Or maybe he'll feel like hobbling over to the library today.

Tony, sorry it happened, man!  I suppose the good news is that it didn't happen early in the spring!

Brent

[gdawgs]

dang, what a year.  get well.........and I have crutches if you still need some. 

[Deplorable, thank you!]

 When Tony, Greg, Brian and Roger showed up to drop off Tony's Bike, he was all smiles and as I made a little fun of his walker, he was quick with his witt of "yeah but, It is super lightweight".

The bike has certainly seen better days, I am not sure if Tony wants a picture or list posted up but lets just say it needs many many parts.

[Yul]

Could it be time to reevaluate the culture of group riding here with the Co-Director crashing more times in one season than many in a lifetime of motorcycling?
I mean no offense.  I am just indicating the alarming statistics of this group and crashes.  And it would not be an issue if the mantra of the this association did not include an emphasis on safe riding. I just recall the front page having a outline of safe riding practices which I thoroughly respected.  Has the absence of that page now communicated a philosophy shift?  Has the focus of balancing of riding safely and fun been eliminated?

I am just curious.  I have not attended a group ride with anyone here, but reading these recent reports and posts about crashes has been rather concerning to me.

[aschendel]

Best of luck Tony, I enjoyed meeting you and riding with you a bit this year, hope you heal up as good as new.

Yul, hard to know.  The culture of group riding on this board is pretty broad and as such a corporate reevaluation might be difficult.  We tried to come up with a pacing system the other day and no amount of circling could resolve the innate complexities (yet); I think this would be comparable to that.

For me, I know that every single time I throw a leg over my bike is a good time to reevaluate my riding.  And right after that, every decision, prediction, and eventual outcome is more data to be crunched.

a.s.

[Ray916MN]

Could it be time to reevaluate the culture of group riding here with the Co-Director crashing more times in one season than many in a lifetime of motorcycling?
I mean no offense.  I am just indicating the alarming statistics of this group and crashes.  And it would not be an issue if the mantra of the this association did not include an emphasis on safe riding. I just recall the front page having a outline of safe riding practices which I thoroughly respected.  Has the absence of that page now communicated a philosophy shift?  Has the focus of balancing of riding safely and fun been eliminated?

I am just curious.  I have not attended a group ride with anyone here, but reading these recent reports and posts about crashes has been rather concerning to me.

I've covered 10's of thousands of twisty miles with Tony over the past decade and this is the first year I've ever known him to be involved in a crash. In the past decade there has been no change to the way the MSTA thinks of riding safety. Knowing Tony, he is reevaluating his own riding as he knows, the first and primary person responsible for any crash is the rider.

I too crashed earlier this year, while leading in TN. Probably somewhat of a similar situation to Tony's, I crashed on a road where I had slowed down because I had seen gravel on the road and expected to see more (Tony had moderated his pace due to wet conditions). I failed to see gravel in a heavily shaded corner while coming out of bright sunlight and rode straight through it and crashed. Did the group dynamic have any hand in the crash? Nope, not as far as I can tell. Had I seen the gravel at the pace I was going, I could have easily ridden around it. For me, what I'm learning after having a detached retina a few years ago, my eyesight just ain't what it used to be. The insults of age I'm learning are catching up with me, and as these impact people to varying degrees, I doubt it really has anything to do with the group dynamic or balancing of safety and riding fun.

Given Tony's history and the group's history I would not be surprised if he might be coming to the same conclusions as me, but in any case, as always the thing which the club emphasizes still obtains, the rider is the one who is responsible for the crash and the rider needs to reevaluate their riding following a crash.

FWIW.

[gely]

Nice first post, moron!

Tony, see you in Goodhue County shortly

Could it be time to reevaluate the culture of group riding here with the Co-Director crashing more times in one season than many in a lifetime of motorcycling?
I mean no offense.  I am just indicating the alarming statistics of this group and crashes.  And it would not be an issue if the mantra of the this association did not include an emphasis on safe riding. I just recall the front page having a outline of safe riding practices which I thoroughly respected.  Has the absence of that page now communicated a philosophy shift?  Has the focus of balancing of riding safely and fun been eliminated?

I am just curious.  I have not attended a group ride with anyone here, but reading these recent reports and posts about crashes has been rather concerning to me.

Damn, you beat me to it.

[Deplorable, thank you!]

 I am not offering up any lame excuses for Tony, he knows what he did wrong or didn't do right.

But since I have the bike in front of me and have seen hundreds of crashed bikes over the years.
I will offer this up, his front tire was brand new the day they left (i put it on) The crash happened early the first day of riding.
The tire right now is not even scuffed on either side within 1.5" of the edge.....It is highly likely a contributing factor in the crash (I was not there and am not flying 800 miles away so I can't do an accident reconstruction). This does not make it any better or any worse, it is still a crash. But it is a factor to consider

 Furthermore considering I have customers who have crashed more than a half dozen times in a single season (yes from those other forums), and plenty more who wear crashing as a badge of honor( again from those other forums), I think Tonys 2 (and it is 2...the deer hit was not a crash, the wind blowing a parked unattended bike over is not a crash) crashes this year, both in Arkansas compared to his years without a crash and tens of thousands of miles riding this year alone....Well it can happen to the best of riders, it is unfortunate.

YUL-way to join just to be a douche, must be from one of "those forums" douchebaggery is a pre-requisite.

Why don't you post up your real name and your riding resume'...The "real" members on here all know who each other are.

[gely]

Is it too early to get some popcorn?

[Greg]

This thread is about extending good thoughts toward Tony. Let's please keep it in that vein.

[jimmy]

Sorry to hear of your accident Tk. Heal up quick Bud!

[Chris]

First off Tony get well.

Could it be time to reevaluate the culture of group riding here with the Co-Director crashing more times in one season than many in a lifetime of motorcycling?
I mean no offense.  I am just indicating the alarming statistics of this group and crashes.  And it would not be an issue if the mantra of the this association did not include an emphasis on safe riding. I just recall the front page having a outline of safe riding practices which I thoroughly respected.  Has the absence of that page now communicated a philosophy shift?  Has the focus of balancing of riding safely and fun been eliminated?

I am just curious.  I have not attended a group ride with anyone here, but reading these recent reports and posts about crashes has been rather concerning to me.

Yul, having not ridden with Tony or any of us for that matter, you should STFU.

[pkpk]

Tony, how many years have we ridden together??? How many years has it been since we both had our last major accidents.....I think it was 10 now and they both involved stupid cage drivers.)  I really wish you didn't have that solo crash, because now it means it's probably my turn. 

Hope all is well with you and you are able to manage.  Let me know if you need anything,  Make sure you are healed by Twistar next year.

Paul

(Sarcasm alert)  PS, maybe it's time you stopped riding with groups and get yourself a Gold Wing.  I hear group riding with sportbikes is dangerous on this forum. 

[pkpk]

BTW, thanks for letting us know Greg.   I wonder if this would be a good time to chip in for a cheap laptop for Tony.