Quote:
Originally Posted by Particle Man
I'm going to be hanging up my helmet for a while. Not permanently (hopefully) but for at least the foreseeable future. Two little ones at home and another due in August have sorta put things in perspective a bit for me.
Don't get me wrong, I still love riding and I'll still ride occasionally if I can but I've had way too many encounters with idiots who are paying less and less attention on the roads around here.
It seems that the smarter cars get, the dumber drivers seem to get... despite riding defensively, I've had way too many close calls over the past year and I want to be there for my wife and kids while they grow up. My wife already wants me to get a bigger bike for touring that she can ride with me once the kids are out of school so that's the goal on the horizon.
No tracks around here to speak of so that isn't an option. Maybe I'll go 100% off-road for a bit just for something different.
Either way, I'll be around  |
Completely understand.
I dealt with it by limiting my riding to early morning on the weekends. Out the door between 4:30AM and 5:30AM on a Saturday or Sunday and I have the roads to myself. No cars. No cops. Nobody. Only thing I have to worry about is deer in some spots.
I'm usually back home from my ride just in time to make everyone breakfast.
Once I start see more than a handful of cars on the roads I frequent I call it a day.
Occasionally (really rare at this point) I'll go riding during normal hours but usually it's shortlived. I'll return home all disgusted and judgemental of everyone else on the road.
Nowadays, if the temperature is right and its a Saturday or Sunday I will automatically wake up around 3:30AM. I LOVE leaving the house on a summer morning when its pitch black out. Not one car on the road. A little bit into the ride, park and enjoy the sunrise then head back out to enjoy some hijinks.
If I didn't have that option, I would have probably hung my helmet as well.