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[ST] Good, Bad and Ugly



Howdy,

	We came upon the Bonneville accident shortly after the
ambulance arrived (3 VFR's two up and a Trophy 1200). We started to
pull over to see if it was anyone we knew because we know several of
the RAT people. But the police got anxious and waived us through. Then
we later came upon the accident scene where the Venture rider was
killed. And finally, while sitting at the gas station in Leakey talking
with many of the RAT riders, we learned of a guy on a green Sprint
having wrecked in FM 335. Unable to contact John we were quite
distressed for the rest of the weekend. I finally got ahold of him
Sunday afternoon to confirm that it was him that wrecked but that he
was okay. Needless to say, it was a tough weekend for motorcyclists and
emergency response teams in the area.
	Now that I am trying to start the tour business, the issue of
rider skill level and group riding is sitting in the forefront of my
thoughts. I normally ride a spirited pace at 7-8 tenths unless I am
sight seeing. However, when leading a tour I force myself to slow down
and ride a much more conservative ride. I encourage people to read
articles like "The Pace" and other books to better equip themselves for
events like these. I agree that having a preride meeting to discuss the
route is essential. The dilemma is that many people are impatient and
have very short attention spans. So there is a delicate balance to be
achieved. If they stop listening, a longer meeting is a moot point.
	Another thing I try to do is to let the riders know ahead of
time that a particular tour may not be suitable for novice riders. I
have a SPECIAL NOTES section for each ride I organize to cover such
details. But again, the attention span issue is a problem. I try to
keep the pertinent info on my tour ride websites to a minimum. It seems
that many people have a hard time reading just the headers on a page.
Perhaps this is just an unfortunate byproduct of the soundbite
mentality that pervades our society. I routinely field questions from
people concerning a ride that I have already covered thouroghly in the
FAQ or SPECIAL NOTES section. Each ride has the date in large bold
letters at the very top of the page and yet I still get people asking
me when a ride will take place. Go figure!
	It is frustrating. It is hard to get people to spend just a
minute or two of their precious time to actually pay attention for
their own good. I must confess that at times, I too succumb to that
kind of behavior and have to remind myself to avoid it. It iis sad that
often times it takes something as drastic as witnessing the Bonneville
accident or any others to get a person's attention.
	Just remember, it is better to be a slow rider that arrives
than a fast rider that dies. Simply being "fast" is not a sufficient
measure of a person's proficiency at riding motorcycles, but
unfortunately, it is the most readily apparent and obvious factor to
observers.
	Take care and be careful.

Adios,

- -- 
Scott Friday
98-VFR800@xxxxxxxxxxxx
2001 Honda VFR 800 Fi His in Red
1998 Honda VFR 800 Fi Hers in Blue - RED BODYWORK FOR SALE!!

http://BackroadMotorcycleTours.com/
http://sfriday.com/
http://pages.tca.net/sfriday/ (mirror site)




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