Just a quick post tonight on the merits of wearing a helmet.
New Hampshire is one of the few states that allow motorcyclists to ride without a helmet. A few members of our little band of hooligans occasionally ride lidless, when the spirit moves them. No one comments or rags them about this. WTF, we're all adults.
I got word today that Box had an accident on Sunday that totalled his ride. He's okay and he credits this to his choice of wearing a helmet that day.
It seems that he was following a panel or box truck on Rt. 101 Sunday afternoon at around 4 PM. It was a sunny day and he was returning from a ride west of here. As the truck slowed to make a turn, Box throttled back and reduced his speed as well.
From the side-street, presumably the one the truck was turning into, some cager decided that this was his perfect opportunity to run the stop sign and enter onto the main road. As he cut across Box's lane, he panicked and stopped. Box leaned it hard to the right but he didn't make it all the way around him. He hit the car broadside, flew over the bars and smacked his head three times on his way across the top of this car, landing on his back.
His comments verbatim: "A helmet might not save your life at 80 mph, but it just might save your life at 30-40 mph". How insightful.
I was thinking of this as I rode home tonight. Up ahead, I saw a car approaching from a side street on my right and wondered what the driver had in mind. As I approached her, I watched as she breezed past the stop sign and looked to her right. Huh? Shouldn't she have looked left towards me, assuming she was just about ready to pull out? What ever happened to Left-right-left? Look twice, lady, and save a life!
I was past her before she had a chance to gaze left. I relaxed a bit and released the grip I had on the brake lever. Another close call.
Please be careful out there, ride defensively, wear a hat. All that. These people are trying to kill you.
A low, slow wave,
Joe Rocket
PS - Do yourself a favor a click on the blog link above.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Yeah, I know.
Zero. Zip. Nada. That's what you've gotten from me in the past ten days. Zilch.
Yeah, I know. You're busy too. And you expect me to rise above the crap I deal with on a regular basis and tell you something good. Hmmph!
Last Saturday was a great day to ride and a few of us made it over to Naults in Manchestie for their Open House. It was supposed to launch at 10AM with food, prizes and a live band (Mama Kicks). We arrived around 11:30 expecting to see it in full swing, coming to a head, such as it were. Nope. The early morning rains must have put a damper on Mama's scamper cause they were nowhere to be seen. Nor was the food vendor. Ah, what now? We examined all of the new and used product and Bosco tried to get me to upgrade to the VTX 1800 from Honda. Um. Hmm. Nice bike but not this year. Maybe not ever.
Finally the band arrived, the food started to cook, we all grabbed our FREE Naults/Honda t-shirts (Jerry and Jay will use theirs to polish their bikes, no doubt...). When we'd had our fill of laying about on a beautiful day, the band decided to finally play and we made our exit to Blowin' Smoke to enjoy a heater and some good conversation. We parted company soon after and made our way home. A short ride, a free meal and some wind in our hair and sun on our faces. Some more than others.
Sunday I fell out of bed before 5AM and raced to the airport for a dash to Orlando, FL, ostensibly for business but mixed with some pleasure too. Friend Hugh relocated two years ago to sunny Winter Garden for his career and has since enjoyed the sun and fun. Recently he purchased his first boat, a very nice ski boat, to be used on the many lakes in his area. We had a little time on the boat Sun/Mon and then it was time to work.
I donned the suit and tie and crafted my best trade show sincere smile. Unfortunately, the show was lightly attended and my smile fell on deaf eyes. Bleh. At least I got see some cronies from the "good old days" in NY. The guys were in rare form and I laugh when I think of one's comment about how Afghanis "don't respect women like we do". Shortly thereafter, we met the buxom cocktail waitress and the irony of that comment was as apparent as her mighty cleavage.
My last-flight-out on Southwest was delayed in-bound due to heavy weather in the Atlanta region. We boarded for Manchester at 10:30 PM and flew into the teeth of the storm. Folks, it nearly became a Vomit Comet. Urp! People were green. We pitched and rolled and I swear I heard prayin'. Maybe it was me. We made it through, landing at 1:15 AM, checked bags retrieved and in the door at 2:15 AM. More bleh.
Today felt a bit like a hangover. After a healthy start, my energy waned as the day passed slowly. And here we are again.
This weekend is Memorial Day and I will do my best to honor the Veterans and those who have died in their service to this country. The weather is going to be perfect for a ride or three days worth of rides. I'm going to try to squeeze in a couple of short ones, in between my other commitments, familial and otherwise.
Have a safe and happy weekend and get out there and ride. I'll be back soon with more of the misadventures of Joe Rocket. Sturgis is about 9 weeks away and I really need to get a jump on some of the shit I've been putting off. Hope to see you on the road.
A low, slow wave,
Joe Rocket
Yeah, I know. You're busy too. And you expect me to rise above the crap I deal with on a regular basis and tell you something good. Hmmph!
Last Saturday was a great day to ride and a few of us made it over to Naults in Manchestie for their Open House. It was supposed to launch at 10AM with food, prizes and a live band (Mama Kicks). We arrived around 11:30 expecting to see it in full swing, coming to a head, such as it were. Nope. The early morning rains must have put a damper on Mama's scamper cause they were nowhere to be seen. Nor was the food vendor. Ah, what now? We examined all of the new and used product and Bosco tried to get me to upgrade to the VTX 1800 from Honda. Um. Hmm. Nice bike but not this year. Maybe not ever.
Finally the band arrived, the food started to cook, we all grabbed our FREE Naults/Honda t-shirts (Jerry and Jay will use theirs to polish their bikes, no doubt...). When we'd had our fill of laying about on a beautiful day, the band decided to finally play and we made our exit to Blowin' Smoke to enjoy a heater and some good conversation. We parted company soon after and made our way home. A short ride, a free meal and some wind in our hair and sun on our faces. Some more than others.
Sunday I fell out of bed before 5AM and raced to the airport for a dash to Orlando, FL, ostensibly for business but mixed with some pleasure too. Friend Hugh relocated two years ago to sunny Winter Garden for his career and has since enjoyed the sun and fun. Recently he purchased his first boat, a very nice ski boat, to be used on the many lakes in his area. We had a little time on the boat Sun/Mon and then it was time to work.
I donned the suit and tie and crafted my best trade show sincere smile. Unfortunately, the show was lightly attended and my smile fell on deaf eyes. Bleh. At least I got see some cronies from the "good old days" in NY. The guys were in rare form and I laugh when I think of one's comment about how Afghanis "don't respect women like we do". Shortly thereafter, we met the buxom cocktail waitress and the irony of that comment was as apparent as her mighty cleavage.
My last-flight-out on Southwest was delayed in-bound due to heavy weather in the Atlanta region. We boarded for Manchester at 10:30 PM and flew into the teeth of the storm. Folks, it nearly became a Vomit Comet. Urp! People were green. We pitched and rolled and I swear I heard prayin'. Maybe it was me. We made it through, landing at 1:15 AM, checked bags retrieved and in the door at 2:15 AM. More bleh.
Today felt a bit like a hangover. After a healthy start, my energy waned as the day passed slowly. And here we are again.
This weekend is Memorial Day and I will do my best to honor the Veterans and those who have died in their service to this country. The weather is going to be perfect for a ride or three days worth of rides. I'm going to try to squeeze in a couple of short ones, in between my other commitments, familial and otherwise.
Have a safe and happy weekend and get out there and ride. I'll be back soon with more of the misadventures of Joe Rocket. Sturgis is about 9 weeks away and I really need to get a jump on some of the shit I've been putting off. Hope to see you on the road.
A low, slow wave,
Joe Rocket
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