Ride to Tallahassee

As many of you know, I ride to Tallahassee to attend school. Last week I was exceptionally tired before I began my ride. I had been awake since 3:30 AM since I was on morning shift that week. The sun was shining, it was hot, and I was sleepy. The second time I fell asleep I decided it was time to pull over and take a break. It shouldn't have taken two times to make me pull over.

On the way home that night, a car pulled out right in front of me with about 50 feet to spare. It is the first time I have ever attempted to lock my brakes. The lady saw me at the last second and hit her brakes stopping directly in front of me. I'm sure it was just a gut reaction for her but I was just wondering how much the impact was going to hurt. I managed to stop with only about 5-10 feet to spare. I was thanking God for anti-lock brakes all the way home.

When I reached the outskirts of Brunswick, GA I was greeted by a site that none of us likes to see - a motorcycle wreck. Most of us are diligently looking for people pulling out in front of us or changing lanes cutting us off. What I've honestly never looked for is someone running over me from behind. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened to that rider. An SUV had run over them.

So what is the point to my ride? Those of us who have ridden most of our lives often take our riding experience for granted. We push ourselves further than we should sometimes because we have ridden through far worse. As I finished my ride home that night, I reflected on how many messages I had been sent that day that I had ignored. Hindsignt 20/20, I realized that the body on the side of the road might well have been mine. As fatigue sets in our decision making ability decreases dramatically and our risk factor increases proportionally. We don't like admitting instances of poor decision making but sometimes it is a good wake-up call.