BACKROADS • JANUARY 2022
Page 4
W H AT C H AT HI NK I N ’ SHIRA KAMIL
RESPECT THE RIDE Brian was recently at Hermy’s BMW having some service done on his GS. While there, he spoke with Tim O’Toole, one of our subscribers and a retired military pilot. Their discussion was about learning to fly. Tim spoke about the transition from career piloting to recreational. Rather than paraphrase, these are Tim’s word from a follow-up email: “I believe pilots who have spent careers in the air and did some of the most challenging flying fail to give small planes the respect they deserve. General Aviation has the highest mishap rates of any category in aviation. Multiple reasons, low time amateur pilots (the Bonanza is known as the doctor killer), older aircraft, poor maintenance but probably the biggest killer is weather. Most small aircraft have no weather radar and you can’t climb above the weather. You would think professional aviators would be ultra-careful knowing these risk factors, and most are but I think many fail to appreciate the risks and look at it like jumping in a car vs applying the same risk management principles we learned in the military and airlines.” After reading these words, it made me think how it related to riding motorcycles, driving cars and “other ‘professional vs recreational’ activities. For those who began their riding lives a bit later in life (compared to those who learned to ride before they learned to walk), we were very aware of the risks and, for the most part, followed the safety protocols of proper gear, speed and focus on the task at hand. As we progressed to bigger motorcycles and acquired more years of riding, we may have lost some of the ‘fear’ of the ride and become a bit lax in our ATGATT and focus. With the introduction of mass amounts of electronic paraphernalia, all of which easily steal the mandatory attention from the road, one’s proficiency may also wane. I know that when we happen to have some smaller bikes or scooters in the Backroads’ garage for testing, I have a different mindset regarding
taking them out for a ride. True, they can pack just as big a punch should something go amiss, but I will think nothing of hopping on them with minimal riding gear to head to the gym, store or post office. There is just as much potential for damage on these as with a larger cc motorcycle, and should be treated with the same respect. Further in the comments from Tim were these words: “When we learned to ride most of us were extremely conservative in our approach. We rode in ATGATT, kept the speed down and didn’t ride at night or the rain. A rider who rides every day, maybe commuting to work, over time procedural drift kicks in and now the same rider wears some gear, speeds and rides in any conditions because it worked so far without incident. ORM (Operational Risk Management) is the answer. Respect the dangers involved in both flying and riding, and then manage those risks with gear, training and most importantly mindset. It doesn’t matter that you flew off of carriers for an entire career. Taking a Cessna into a thunderstorm will still kill you. Nicky Hayden died on a bicycle!” For these very reasons, Brian and I try, every year, to head to some sort of motorcycle class, almost always including Reg Pridmore’s CLASS at VIR. Taking such courses at the beginning of the riding season (at least here in the northeast) refreshes and reinforces the good habits and riding techniques that should be part of your everyday riding. Just last week Brian printed out a copy of Nick Ienatsch’s ‘The Pace’, originally printed in Motorcyclist in 1991. If you have not read this piece, you can find it here: www.motorcyclistonline.com/pace. I’m sure that I must have read this before, but having this column’s idea in my head, it became very pertinent. Nick refers to the differences in racing on a track and riding on the street and why the development of The Pace came about. While racing is done in a somewhat controlled environment, spirited street riding is not, with circumstances mostly out of the rider’s control thus making mistakes take on much more dire consequences. Many riders who have spent much time on the track may decide to forego street riding all together because of this. This I find very sad, as there is so much more to be enjoyed on the open road. You must be aware of your surroundings, the law of physics and how you and your bike interact with each other. You can certainly enjoy a face-paced ride on your favorite road while still respecting the ride. ,
