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First Squid of Spring!

Saw my first today. An older gent on an ADV, half helmet, shorts, sneakers, wind breaker, no gloves. He wasn't breaking any laws, except the law of probability.
 
Me. I rode ~8 blocks to the cafe the other day in jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. Had a full helmet and gloves. Ionno, I was lazy.
 
I know right? It's such a short trip but so fraught with danger.
 
Already seen about 5 or 6 squids on the road in the past few days within my area. Just last night as I was walking up to my apartment, a guy walked past me wearing shorts, sandals, hoodie, and carried a helmet with him. Told him to ride safe.

Seen some sport bikes with nothing but wife beaters, t shirts, jeans, shorts, sneakers, sandals, helmet, no gloves, and the like. :laughing

I guess I fall under squid with little experience. All the gear all the time though. :twofinger
 
I saw a couple riding down Valencia street wearing matching shorts, a guy in a t shirt on his FJR on 280 today and a couple of other folks who were dressed for the weather.

Hell, I rode around Mulege with a dress on. I have no room to talk.
 
My 8 year old took this pic yesterday. Then proceeded to tell me what gear was missing on this rider.

I don't know if this was a Squid. But the bikes really nice.:thumbup
 

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Chill said:
Bruh, easy. I don't see any agenda pushing here. Just posting the kickoff "Squid Sighting" question.

And yes, there are other "hey did you see..." or "why don't people..." or "why do people..." threads. Every year. All year. Not just one member.
Click to expand...

Allow me to point out your myopia.

All these threads are thinly-veiled shaming "agendas." However, they don't serve the greater purpose of keeping riders safe.

This is just Schadenfreude distilled, e.g. "look at the idiot," "I'm such much better because I've got gear," and "what a noob!"

I'll let you in on a little secret for all you who feel better about yourselves after reading squid threads: you either terribly suck or are incredibly insecure.

These threads incur as much influence over the object as the image of a fat person tweet. They do nothing but bolster your false sense of superiority.

We live in a free world where we assume risks. You want to shame folk? FFS, start with the smokers. Now that's a killer.

Stop giving us the false premise that "if they'd ever been down...." and "oh my scars" :rolleyes

That's bullshit. You want to encourage younger riders? Gear shaming under any translucent context is not the way.

Carrot, not stick.
 
El Feo said:
Sweet Jesus this. These threads are just full of self important assholes.......
Click to expand...
El Feo said:
I'll let you in on a little secret for all you who feel better about yourselves after reading squid threads: you either terribly suck or are incredibly insecure.

These threads incur as much influence over the object as the image of a fat person tweet. They do nothing but bolster your false sense of superiority.

We live in a free world where we assume risks. You want to shame folk? FFS, start with the smokers. Now that's a killer........
Carrot, not stick.
Click to expand...
Geebuz, dude, you sound like you should be talking to yourself. Certainly there are better things to get angry about, and CERTAINLY there are better ways to express your disagreement, like using a verbal carrot and not a verbal beating stick.
Hooli said:
^^^White knight? :confused
Click to expand...
"Blue Knight" Or "Pink Knight". We don't want to offend anyone, do we? :angel
 
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El Feo said:
Allow me to point out your myopia.

All these threads are thinly-veiled shaming "agendas." However, they don't serve the greater purpose of keeping riders safe.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you.

These threads pop up on every forum, every year and have the same content - for and against. I hope everyone protects themselves, but if you choose not to, that's your personal decision. I don't agree with it but I don't agree with a lot of things.

My old riding group back on the east coast used to meet new riders out on the road all the time. Sometime in October - we met 3 guys who were brand new to the sport - wearing sweat pants, no gloves and sneakers on sport bikes. They asked if they could ride with us and i was hesitant given their attire but we told them some ground rules - stuck them in the back and told them not to pass and I had my good riding buddy sweep to make sure they weren't riding above their limit and wouldn't get lost.

After some riding - we stopped and were shooting the typical shit we all talk about - they noticed we all had gear on - and we approached the subject of why we wear it vs. they're idiots for not. That led to a great discussion about different brands, what to look for in all types of gear, what's best for what type of riding.

It was a feel-good moment for myself and my riding buddies, I don't share this to self-gloat - I just think it's a good example of how to reach people who many not understand the importance of good gear without completely shaming them. Doesn't always work that way - but even if you can reach 1 person in a productive way - i'd say that's a win
 
Moto Beck said:
I completely agree with you.

These threads pop up on every forum, every year and have the same content - for and against. I hope everyone protects themselves, but if you choose not to, that's your personal decision. I don't agree with it but I don't agree with a lot of things.

My old riding group back on the east coast used to meet new riders out on the road all the time. Sometime in October - we met 3 guys who were brand new to the sport - wearing sweat pants, no gloves and sneakers on sport bikes. They asked if they could ride with us and i was hesitant given their attire but we told them some ground rules - stuck them in the back and told them not to pass and I had my good riding buddy sweep to make sure they weren't riding above their limit and wouldn't get lost.

After some riding - we stopped and were shooting the typical shit we all talk about - they noticed we all had gear on - and we approached the subject of why we wear it vs. they're idiots for not. That led to a great discussion about different brands, what to look for in all types of gear, what's best for what type of riding.

It was a feel-good moment for myself and my riding buddies, I don't share this to self-gloat - I just think it's a good example of how to reach people who many not understand the importance of good gear without completely shaming them. Doesn't always work that way - but even if you can reach 1 person in a productive way - i'd say that's a win
Click to expand...

+1
 
El Feo said:
Allow me to point out your myopia.

All these threads are thinly-veiled shaming "agendas." However, they don't serve the greater purpose of keeping riders safe.

This is just Schadenfreude distilled, e.g. "look at the idiot," "I'm such much better because I've got gear," and "what a noob!"

I'll let you in on a little secret for all you who feel better about yourselves after reading squid threads: you either terribly suck or are incredibly insecure.

These threads incur as much influence over the object as the image of a fat person tweet. They do nothing but bolster your false sense of superiority.

We live in a free world where we assume risks. You want to shame folk? FFS, start with the smokers. Now that's a killer.

Stop giving us the false premise that "if they'd ever been down...." and "oh my scars" :rolleyes

That's bullshit. You want to encourage younger riders? Gear shaming under any translucent context is not the way.

Carrot, not stick.
Click to expand...
You're part right and part wrong.

Yes, some of the new riders don't know any better and haven't had experienced riders educate them on the benefits of good gear.

But, many of those so called squids have ridden long enough to know better and have been given plenty of advice on wearing more gear and have chosen to ignore it for a variety of reasons.

To make matters worse, the latter group tend to be less attentive to the risks of riding, somehow the same attitude that makes them think that gear isn't necessary (for them) also leads to them engaging in riskier behavior.
 
Tell you what, you aint gonna see a pic of me wriding squiddly after reading all this about public shaming.

Meanwhile, on the Prius forum...
 
While Gabe (the OP) and I don't agree very often, we actually do agree on the relatively minor benefits of protective gear. His sig was once "the only ATGATT is a car" or something like that.

Helmets can prevent about 37% of deaths and two-thirds of traumatic brain injuries in unhelmeted riders, a definite advantage, but probably not as great as some would think. The rest of our gear can prevent or reduce the more common but non-life-threatening soft tissue injuries--bruises, lacerations, abrasions--not fractures and not internal injuries.

So I think this thread is basically a troll, maybe collecting ideas for his next Skidmarks column at MO. :x
 
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