Todays post is brought to you by guilt. Guilt of two types. First, I have a confession to make. This pollen season, I have found myself driving the car a couple of days a week. Sneezing fits in the helmet are kind of miserable. Now that the pollen has slowed down to a dusting instead of the full yellow onslaught of the last couple of weeks I can get back to the ride.
The second guilt is the real reason for todays post though. That is the guilt by association that I always struggle with during the spring. The season of the 'part-timers' has begun. The part-timers are the riders that ride in the spring and fall, but park the bikes during the hottest part of the summer and don't even consider riding in the winter. These folks in many ways help the motorcycle retain the negative stigma that is attached to it among drivers. It is a lack of respect and a lack of seat time.
Some of these riders are far better riders than I will ever be in terms of skills. Others among them are far worse than I am. However, the have one thing in common. When the weather gets nice, they are out in large numbers and often, on their worst behavior. I am absolutely fine with the first part of that, it is the second part that creates the problems.
Respecting the road, and riding safely has to be a priority, and part of that is wearing the gear. The other part is not doing all of the things that contribute to the bad image, excessive speed, weaving, excessive noise, wheelies and most of all doing it all in shorts and flip-flops. Every time a rider goes out on the roads and behaves like this, they increase the risk factors for those of us that don't. They create an environment where everyone on a motorcycle is guilty by association.
I know there are people reading this that will disagree with me. But as someone that does ride throughout the year, I know the stories I hear from non-riders. I know how many times I hear about the bad. I know how many drivers I see pointedly ignoring the motorcycles on the road out of sheer spite and occasional malice.
There are times when the temptation to get ahead because I can and to zip down the road at speeds that are well within reason for the motorcycle is there, but learning to temper those temptation with reason and awareness of the ramifications of those actions is part of the process in living to a ripe old age and telling the stories of the great rides we have to our children and grand children.
Ride smart everyone, and stay out of trouble. I've seen more accidents involving motorcycles in the last 3 weeks than I have in the last 5 months.