I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time
but never seemed to get around to it.
After yesterday, I have decided now is the time.
There was a motorcycle accident on Highway #1 in British
Columbia yesterday in the HOV lane. Our
son-in-law, Derek was right there next to the bike when he went down. The fool wasn’t wearing any protective
clothing, only a t-shirt! He suffered
severe road rash and I’m sure there were some other injuries to accompany the
rash. His bike landed on top of him and Derek
had to pick it up off of him. One can guess that he probably has some burns to
go with the rash. Protective gear would have protected him from that as well.
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| Ed and I May 2011 |
First some background. My husband Ed and I have been riding
for a long time. Ed started riding way
back in the 60’s before he drove a car.
I grew up around motorcycles with my brothers and took my first ride on
the tank when I was about 4. Ed and I
starting riding together two-up in 2001.
We put on 100,000 miles in seven years before I decided to get my own
ride. I have been riding my own now for
5 years. We do a lot of long distance
touring, having been from coast to coast, Alaska, and all over the USA. (We
only have 13 States to go) We have seen a
lot, experienced a lot and even instructed motorcycle skills for a local school.
We both come from an emergency service background and have seen and heard just
about everything there as well.
 | |
| Ouch! |
That brings me to my point and very strong opinion about
wearing your protective gear at all times, no matter what!! You may think it doesn’t look cool to wear
leather or any other type of gear, but sliding across the pavement with nothing
more than a t-shirt and shorts isn’t very cool either. Ever fall off your bicycle when you were a
kid? Remember how much that hurt. I sure
do. Picture the same hurt multiplied by
the speed of a motorcycle versus a peddly bike.
Ever seen a little kid fall while walking and scrape their hands or
knees? Again multiply it.
I have a scrape on my leather jacket sleeve from where I
dropped my bike in a parking lot. (I put my foot down when I stopped and there
was a large dip in the pavement that I didn’t see) so I went over. I wasn’t moving! There was no speed, or God forbid another
vehicle involved. Only me, and the pavement and it left a nasty mark. That mark is one of my many reminders to
always wear my gear. Thankfully it is on my jacket and not my arm.
You may think that it is cooler, temperature wise, to go
without your gear. We were riding in 120°F heat last summer for weeks on
end. We rode with our full gear at all
times. Like everyone else, we are human. Hard to imagine I know.
We had enough of the heat and thought we would try taking our chaps off for a
bit. (We did keep our jackets on). We rode down the road, about 20 minutes and
we pulled over and promptly put them back on again. It was much cooler with them on. We found that the sun was beating on our legs
directly through our jeans without the protection of the leather to stop it.
I’m not saying that it isn’t hot when you’re stopped in traffic, but once
you’re moving it really does help keep you cool.
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| Not quite this bad, but almost... |
We saw everyone around us wearing a colorful array of
clothing. T-shirts, tank tops, shorts, swim wear, flip flops, you name it,
other than being totally naked there wasn’t much there in the way of clothing.
We couldn’t imagine doing that. Remember
the last time you got hit with a bug, ouch! On bare skin! No thank you. We were also finding that dehydration could be a
problem. Luckily we always had lots of water with us, hot, but it was still
hydration. Just picture frying a steak
in a pan, or on your BBQ. That’s what is happening to your skin in those temperatures. The wind is also key, as it is a hot wind and
is also drying you out. Not to mention perhaps causing a burn all it's own. If you keep your gear on, your body will work the way
it’s intended to. It will sweat and cool you off. If you don’t allow your body
to cool itself, again it will dry out and you will become dehydrated. Dehydration affects your whole body and can
cause long term effects, even death.
Keep your gear on and keep well hydrated. (We found freezing water overnight helped a bit
to keep it cool).
We have occasionally rode with only our jackets and not
bothered with our chaps. It may seem a
bit cooler at times and you certainly don’t feel weighed down, but I personally
am not all that comfortable doing that.
I find that my confidence suffers causing me to be over cautious in some
situations. I also found on my style of
bike, 2009 HD Street Glide, without having fairing lowers the wind beat on my
legs and gave me very sore shins. Ed has fairing lowers on his bike, so he doesn’t notice that as much.
Bottom line…where your protective gear at all times. Whether it’s leather, nylon, or Kevlar,
or even a suit of armour, keep it on. It just might save your life, at the very
least, your hide.
Don’t even get me started on helmets! That’s another day :)
Ride on…Ride safe!
