I always think of how bad I used to rash up my hands falling off my skateboard.
I have a half dollar sized circle of road rash on each knee right now thanks to my skateboard. I was getting coffee while the car was getting tires...didn't spill the coffee though!!
I could not have been going more than 5 mph at the time, not even fast by skateboard standards.
As I inspected my knees through the new holes in my pants I thought about the times I'd ridden the bike without my overpants...and one of these days I'm going to wear all my gear at the skatepark, just to offset the guys rolling around in casts.
Stav: Attitude makes a big difference. There are a some people who seem to think that once you get better at riding, or once you learn the basics, that it becomes easier. It becomes harder the more you learn, because you are aware of more things you should be doing, watching for, and capable of.
Also, anything you learn to do takes effort, the more you learn, the more there is for you to do. Some people don't think so...I think they just don't remember well what it was like when they were first riding, or how they imagined riding before that. They don't realize how much effort they put in without thinking about it. The thing that separates those riders from the ones who don't last, is that they accept the additional work, with open arms. They don't even think about it, they just strive, all the time.
The way I see it, you either work hard at riding all the time, or you are lucky until your luck runs out. If your bro is not desperate to know exactly why he crashed, and how to avoid it...what will keep him from repeating?
I know when some people look at a nice bike, they see a fun time, they see themselves accelerating as they twist the throttle, and feeling the wind tug at them...they visualize themselves pulling a badass wheelie, or twisting effortlessly through an S curve...I see the small contact patches, the nuance of rev matching, the effort of scanning the road surface for critical info, and the information overload of sensing all the data coming from my contact points with the bike, and the road coming at me.
It's not what I visualized when I was a kid looking at magazines, it's more work...but it's better. It's real, and it helps keep me alive. It's what allows me to process the roadway from in front of me, to behind me, hopefully someday with grace, for now just with intent. I have the strong sense that the more work I put into it today, the more likely I will be doing it tomorrow.
Crap...I don't know if I made a point, or just rambled like a drunk...
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