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netchef · 25th February 2008, 15:02

The object of this missive is not to point fingers, BUT to serve as warning to ALL bikers out there, anyone who's listening. I actually had to face a family comprising of father, mother, wife...who had just received a phone call from a total stranger that their son had been in an accident and could they please rush to xxx hospital!! I saw the disbelief, the horror, the grief.
AND the terror of it will never leave me.

180 kmph. Adrenaline. 1 Nano second. A ventilator.
That's the sequence that unfolded right in front of my eyes when 200 kgs of SBK met 2 tonnes of SUV at a combined speed nearing 300kmph...and nothing was the same any more. The chap that laughed and joked with us minutes ago over brekker was as limp as a rag doll and fighting for his life. All the bluster and swagger of gleaming SBK and that very heady petrol-head aura evaporated in that fraction of a second leaving a highway strewn with SBK odds and ends, and one shattered family.

WHY WHY WHY? Does nobody see it as a sheer waste? Who can comfort that mother or that wife?
The irony of a previous post of mine is not lost on me: I'd just begun to find a comfort zone with a mature bunch that took their riding seriously, but this accident has shaken everybody's faith. I do agree that it's all ordained from above and that these things are as indelibly fated as the next sunrise or the crop of wheat, but then we do wear helmets, don't we? We get our gear right. Who would turn down Kevlar protection and gloves with carbon fibre resistance if they were offered them? Tyres, brake pads heaps of other stuff, all insurance, aren't they? How much of a stretch then to opt for some restraint on the side. Some wisdom to tell you and even I that we're not superbike champions. That YES we don't have the requisite skills and probably never will. That though we may have the money to buy the same bike that a Rossi may ride, we'll never be able to get more than 30% out of it in comparison. NEVER.

Guys, listen to me. Please say those words to yourself every time you set out on a ride. You're NOT out to compete, and you'll NEVER be as good as the next guy. PLEASE SAY IT. YOUR LIFE COULD DEPEND ON THAT SIMPLE BIT OF HUMILITY.

P, my prayers are with you.

25th February 2008, 15:02	#24 (permalink)
netchef BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 583	The Crash The object of this missive is not to point fingers, BUT to serve as warning to ALL bikers out there, anyone who's listening. I actually had to face a family comprising of father, mother, wife...who had just received a phone call from a total stranger that their son had been in an accident and could they please rush to xxx hospital!! I saw the disbelief, the horror, the grief. AND the terror of it will never leave me. 180 kmph. Adrenaline. 1 Nano second. A ventilator. That's the sequence that unfolded right in front of my eyes when 200 kgs of SBK met 2 tonnes of SUV at a combined speed nearing 300kmph...and nothing was the same any more. The chap that laughed and joked with us minutes ago over brekker was as limp as a rag doll and fighting for his life. All the bluster and swagger of gleaming SBK and that very heady petrol-head aura evaporated in that fraction of a second leaving a highway strewn with SBK odds and ends, and one shattered family. WHY WHY WHY? Does nobody see it as a sheer waste? Who can comfort that mother or that wife? The irony of a previous post of mine is not lost on me: I'd just begun to find a comfort zone with a mature bunch that took their riding seriously, but this accident has shaken everybody's faith. I do agree that it's all ordained from above and that these things are as indelibly fated as the next sunrise or the crop of wheat, but then we do wear helmets, don't we? We get our gear right. Who would turn down Kevlar protection and gloves with carbon fibre resistance if they were offered them? Tyres, brake pads heaps of other stuff, all insurance, aren't they? How much of a stretch then to opt for some restraint on the side. Some wisdom to tell you and even I that we're not superbike champions. That YES we don't have the requisite skills and probably never will. That though we may have the money to buy the same bike that a Rossi may ride, we'll never be able to get more than 30% out of it in comparison. NEVER. Guys, listen to me. Please say those words to yourself every time you set out on a ride. You're NOT out to compete, and you'll NEVER be as good as the next guy. PLEASE SAY IT. YOUR LIFE COULD DEPEND ON THAT SIMPLE BIT OF HUMILITY. P, my prayers are with you.