Life lessons are a pain Published April 5, 2010 By Maj. David J. McGinn 609th Air Operations Center, Detachment 1 SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- My bike was totaled; I only had it for five days. I had not even made the first payment on it or paid the first insurance premium. I had gravel in my hands, scraped arms, elbows and knees, and my ribs were very sore for a few days. All that was left of my long sleeve t-shirt was the collar around the neck. Everything else except two strips of fabric in the front had disintegrated. Here's my story: I learned to ride motorcycles while I was stationed at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. First, I went into the Department of Motor Vehicles and obtained a motorcycle learner's permit. The only restrictions were no passengers and no riding after dark. The next step was to find a cheap, decent motorcycle. I settled for a 1991 Kawasaki EX500. I drove a friend of mine from work over to pick it up for me, as he had been riding already for years. We dropped it off at home and proceeded back to the office. For the rest of the afternoon, I could not stop thinking about the motorcycle. Sure enough, after work, as soon as I got back home, I got the motorcycle out of the garage and began playing around with it in the parking lot. I had never ridden one before. Once I had everything figured out, I took it out on the road. The more I rode around town, the more confident I grew. I took it on the highway, going over 55 miles per hour my first time out. Over the next couple days, I drove around town, gaining confidence. At work one day, another friend of mine told me he had just bought a new bike, and he wanted to ride with me. We agreed to go out that afternoon. When we first started out, I was wearing a decent-weight jacket, leather gloves, jeans, boots and a full-faced helmet. As we started riding, I became hot and took off my jacket, leaving me with a long sleeve t-shirt on my upper body. In the process, I lost my leather gloves as well. The first accident occurred at an intersection. My friend made his left turn after stopping at the stop sign. I then proceeded to move through the intersection. While turning, I hit a patch of gravel, and the rear wheel started to spin. I didn't have enough riding experience or instruction to know what to do. So, I tried to stop. I hit the brakes; the bike stood up and flopped over on its right side, pinning my leg underneath. My riding buddy never saw me go down, so he kept going. I watched him from the ground as I looked over the top of my bike. Other motorists got out of their vehicles at the intersection as I pulled myself up. I found myself to be OK. At this point, my riding buddy realized I was missing and turned around to come find me. Against all advice from my riding buddy and folks on the scene, I decided to ride the damaged bike home. I had gravel in my hands and a minor scrape on my elbow. Everyone at the scene told me that I needed to just cool it for a while. I didn't listen and got back on my bike, with my friend following me home. Fifteen minutes later, the second accident occurred. Moving through a four-lane road in moderate traffic, I encountered gravel in a slight curve at about 30 to 35 miles per hour. I saw it and realized I was headed for it. I then saw the curb, and headed straight for it. I panicked, locked up my brakes, and then released them as the bike was skidding. As soon as the brakes unlocked, the situation was out of my control. The bike took off in an unexpected direction and the whole world was rotating as I left the bike. I tumbled a good ways as I hit the ground and slid through the gravel. The bike bounced slightly as it hit the ground and skidded into the curb. My back was burning. I picked myself up and found no bones sticking out. I was lucky. So many painful lessons learned in one day! For instance: · Don't ride outside your experience level. If someone is better than you on a bike, don't try to keep up. · If you lock up your brakes in a skid, ride it out. Don't release the brakes. · Look and lean through your turn. If you are in a turn, you will naturally lean and turn toward whatever you are facing. · When your rear wheel spins out on gravel or some other slippery surface, lay off the throttle until the bike settles, and then continue. · Don't brake hard in a turn. · Wear proper riding gear. If I wasn't too lazy to find another pair of gloves, I wouldn't have had to pick gravel out of my hands for the next week. My helmet saved my life. It was all scraped, badly damaged and had to be replaced. I wouldn't have been able to replace my head. Since this experience, I have completed the experienced riders' course. The course covered many of the lessons learned. I reflected: it could have saved me a lot of pain if I had simply listened.