Risky Business

[Dandelion]

Risk requires a constant reassessment and if you're going to take them you need to be in the moment and be able to relax under the pressure of that moment and not have panic reactions. It helps being able to back off and "reset" between risks even for seconds or fractions of a second at a time. It gets easier with practice building up slowly pushing the panic reaction zone farther away from you.

Recently I heard about the heart rates of Rossi vs. Biaggi during competition and this made a lot of sense to me. Rossi never got over 125 bpm but Biaggi was riding often at 125 bpm.

Enjoying the flow of a really great ride and smoothly executing a skill is beautiful thing be it at 25 mph or 130 mph. I enjoy hearing "you're lines were so smooth I had no qualms about passing you because I knew exactly where you were going to go," from fellow riders at the track, because I enjoy their camraderie and don't want their blood on my hands.

I've got LEO's, fighterpilots, firemen, and underwater welders in the family who regularly go into dangerous situations they have trained for, as a result I was given much more lattitude to experiment with risk as a child. Yet emotional risk was emphasized to me much more so than physical. Dad would say "don't be there," and "listen to those red warning flags." Wildcard personalities were frowned on but happy-go-lucky personalities were encouraged.

I've taken many financial risks such as being an entrepreneur but I don't gamble in casinos because the house always wins.

 

[SpyderGirl]

• Compared to your non-motorcycling friends, do you consider yourself a risk taker or a risk avoider?
  
• Do you come from a risk-taking family? Were you a risk-taking kid?
  
• What other kinds of recreational activities do you enjoy?
  
• Does your job involve risk (not necessarily physical)? If you trade commodity futures for a living, you may get a bigger hit of that dopamine reward in a typical trading day than you ever get while riding.

Like I have saw many others say, I am more of a risk manager. I like to take risks, but with a cool head and well-thought out plan. I don't do risky things without preparation and thought.

I guess you could say I come from a "risk-taking" family. We always enjoyed camping, swimming, boating, and being in the outdoors. And with all of those sorts of activities comes an elevated amount of risk. My dad used to ride bikes and my mom has been on the back of one or two in her day. They also have a boat and owned a sports car. As a child I never thought about riding a motorcycle but was adventurous. I played full on tackle football with the boys, no pads. I went swimming in lakes, cliff diving, snorkeling, scuba diving, climbing trees, water skiing, etc. As a young adult I got into modifying cars and doing some not so smart stuff behind the wheel of a few, which fortunately for me and others did not result into any injuries or accidents. I also played professional women's tackle football just a few years ago at around the same time I decided to take up motorycling.

My other hobbies/recreational activities include hiking, bicycle riding, working on cars/motorcycles, and artsy stuff. Some of which has some risks involved.

As far as my job goes, I am a financial crimes investigator... not sure if you call that risky. I guess you could if some bad guy found out that I found him out and reported it to the government.

 

[DataDan]

A Strategy for Reducing Risk

<Under construction. The post that used to be here sucked, so I'll be rewriting it. Someday.>

 

[MouthpieceMike]

Managing Risk

This is an interesting topic for me, because I am usually conservative when it comes to risk. The exceptions are in those areas where I feel that I have a great deal of controlling the risk. Many people are surprised that I ride a motorcycle, when my daily work is to represent injured riders. They don't understand how I can ride when I see the results of so many accidents.

I always remember conversations with Luke Lucarelli, a motorcycle safety instructor. He had more than a million miles of motorcycling without an accident, and said that he wouldn't teach motorcycle safety if he didn't think it could be done safely.

Recently, a study claimed that just having ABS brakes on a bike cut the death risk by 37%. I think this is in the neighborhood of a correct number. Taking an MSF course dramatically cuts the probability of an accident for 6 months or so. There are no statistics I know of for riders who have ABS brakes and take an MSF course.

Obviously, you can choose to do this sport in a way that has less risk than choosing to engage in the sport in a more risky way. At the end of the day, I am pretty well addicted to riding, so the only reasonable choice is to do so in a way that lessens the risk to what I am willing to handle.

I think the reason this is a good topic is that it puts us in touch with a very personal set of choices.

 

[outtolunc]

Risk requires a constant reassessment...
I've got LEO's, fighterpilots, firemen, and underwater welders in the family who regularly go into dangerous situations they have trained for, as a result I was given much more lattitude to experiment with risk as a child.

I've taken many financial risks such as being an entrepreneur but I don't gamble in casinos because the house always wins.

Growing up on a farm in Minnesota i was required to know the limits of myself and whatever i happen to be riding/driving and how that adjusts while doing that action. I enjoyed it as i got to do more than most ~city kids~. (you can insert a lifetime of high(er) risk jobs/pursuits here) I honestly would gauge risk differently than someone that grew up in a strict environment.

I do not go to casinos for the same reason as above.

In summary: Someone had to climb to the highest rafter to tie off that rope swing. :rolleyes

 

[R1-Limited]

What do you think about the risk of motorcycling and about your own affinity or avoidance of risk? Here are a few questions to ponder:

Compared to your non-motorcycling friends, do you consider yourself a risk taker or a risk avoider? No, I live my life as they live there life, some jump out of planes I wont I just enjoy my life as it has been given me

Do you come from a risk-taking family? Were you a risk-taking kid? Nope, just nuts

What other kinds of recreational activities do you enjoy? Do I participate in I assume, anything with speed involved I enjoy. Baseball, outdoor aka fishing, hiking, dancing naked in the forest

Does your job involve risk (not necessarily physical)? If you trade commodity futures for a living, you may get a bigger hit of that dopamine reward in a typical trading day than you ever get while riding. Uh No unless of course debugging code is a risk when you have to tell the engineer he fubar'd

In Bold Above

 

[R1-Limited]

PSA

Life is a Risk

 

[jpoppa]

Great topic BTW of course there is acceptable risk, and one must learn to anticipate drivers and sometimes there is nothing you can anticipate.

1. Born Risk taker, started riding at 7 instantly hooked on two wheels, raced bmx, mx then got into road racing.

2. Yep Pops used to run Shine,when I turned 13 he bought me a Winchester 22, and a 1976 KX125 scared the crap outa me (true story).

3. Surfing, skimboarding, fast trail riding on push bikes, played in a band and toured for years.

Never one for jumping out of planes though, I do hear its a rush!

 

[jpoppa]

Also riding fast on public roads is very risky, passing on the outside is very dangerous and can do more harm than to just yourself, a friend of mine almost died from this on Grizzly Peak a couple of years ago, (he was a former AFM racer) and no longer rides but he is doing well otherwise and lucky to be alive.

 

[ThinkFast]

Danger is everywhere when you're on a motorcycle, but awareness of the danger can reduce your risk.

This is true. John Foley is a former flight leader of the Blue Angels, and has some thoughts about the difference between being scared - aware of danger - and being afraid (unable to act in the face of danger). I saw him give a talk recently it was good. Here's his take on this - short, and worth a read:
http://www.johnfoleyinc.com/blog/2011/04/15/are-you-scared-or-afraid/

 

[packnrat]

as for me i avoid risk as much as i can.

as for the human species...were is risk? what is risk? were would we be with no risk?

the world would still be flat..the moon would still be a devil in the sky. and fire would be alive.

with risk
man has flow many time the speed of sound (at one time it was said if you go faster then 30 mph your lungs would collapse due to the air getting sucked out of them).
how about Americans on the moon and safely home.
subs how deep can we go?
mt climbers?
people who explore caves and divers?

how about medicine?

with no risk in a life, there is no life.

not a risk taker but my body is all beat-up and torn-up and almost used-up..

but done for...yet.

maybe sky diving...but i believe in teraferma. the more ferma...the less tera. :teeth


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[DataDan]

In Keith Code's latest Motorcyclist column, Embrace Risk, he discusses the relationship among safety, confidence, and speed. He writes:

Here's the interesting thing: It's within this desire to be safer and more confident that this faster urge often finds its true home. Being safer and more confident on the bike is often the most logical route to going faster. "If I felt safer then maybe I'd be more confident leaning over that far and going that fast!"

My take is that riders who pursue all three attributes—more safety, more confidence, and more speed—are frankly more open to adventure and challenge.​

I would add that the desire to meet challenge and overcome difficulty--and acceptance of physical risk--is required to become a safer, faster, or more confident rider--whatever combination of those objectives you choose. Because in motorcycling, risk accompanies learning experiences.

Learning to use Photoshop you won't end up with stitches if you make a mistake. No broken bones as you master your 5-iron shot on the golf course. But like some other sports, motorcycling comes with unavoidable physical risk. That's not to say that crashing and injuries are inevitable, but sometimes a rider doing the right things will crash while learning a new skill, and those who try must accept the possibility.

However, by taking that risk while learning, you reduce risk later. You will also become more confident and, if you like, faster.

One day, long, long ago, I headed out on my Hawk GT from Walnut Creek to Livermore and Mines Road. To my surprise and annoyance, I found that Mines was freshly chip-sealed. Surmising that it would be just the Alameda County side, I continued on anyway. And I learned more about riding that day than any other single day I can recall, track excepted. The motorcycle countersteers just fine, though a little less responsively. The front brake is still more effective than the rear, but it's better to use both brakes all the time. And with gentle throttle hand, bringing the back end around exiting a turn can be loads of fun. To this day, I'm not afraid of chip-sealed or gravelly roads.

We all need to stretch a little beyond the comfort zone occasionally. For noobs, that happens on most rides. But vets, too, need to challenge themselves. I'm not suggesting anything illegal or potentially deadly, of course, just something more than the normal routine. The reward is a perpetually fresh outlook, and, as Keith says, you'll be "faster, safer, and more confident."

 

[packnrat]

risk is what you make of it.
it is risky to just stay in bed.

i would rather be able to have fun and enjoy my life, on a motorcycle, bicycle, in my jeep, or just hiking/wandering around in the woods.
just getting out, with no time to be anyplace...except dinner. :cool


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