Clarksville, TN – If you’ve been following this motorcycle journey I’m on, you know that I’m uncovering thrill after thrill. I’m also soaking up the knowledge and advice from bikers who have been on their own journey for a long, long time.
I am by NO means an expert. My stories, and opinions are from a guy who is still just getting out of the starting gate.
Riding a motorcycle is dangerous. It demands my total attention. Disaster can strike in an instant. It’s something that you know going in.
Before I bought a bike, I was a serious “Type A” driver. By the time I reached my destination, I was convinced that every other car on the road was an idiot, or a moron, or shouldn’t be allowed on my highway. You know the type. I was THAT guy.
Changing my driving, (or riding) style was not something I did overnight. I still caught myself in some of the same habits I had before.
STUPID!
What I’ve decided is that I MUST park my male ego. We all have one, and some are worse than others. It usually leads to trouble, or even worse, a terrible accident.
In a previous column that I wrote about road rage, I stressed how I try to just stay out of the way of all the other traffic. Keep a proper distance from the car in front of me and so on. It doesn’t matter who’s fault an accident is, usually the biker gets the worst of it.
So I put safety first, and I check my ego at the door.
I don’t weave in and out of traffic. I don’t “run up” on the back of another vehicle. I don’t “flip” other drivers off. I don’t give them “that” look when I pass them. The only thing I want to do is safely navigate traffic.
I want to live to ride another day. Sometimes I just swallow my ego, let the “Type A” drivers do their thing, and roll on down the highway.
Please be safe out there. I’m doing the best I can to not let my ego write a check I can’t cover.
