08-10-2006, 11:56 AM
Chris, I'm sure that you've followed too close in traffic without realizing it... you just dont know it because no one slammed on their brakes in front of you. I'm sure I do it, probably too often, and the brakes on my bike arent the best. It sucks, and it happens, and yes the rider is ultimately responsible for what happens between the handlebars, but Mike wasnt doing anything stupid or irresponsible and bashing him on the interweb doesnt help anyone. What if you had dumped it on Sunday after you hit that patch of gravel? No one gave you any shit for what was nearly a pretty bad situation, its just one of those things that happens at one point or another.
You can look at the factors that caused it - maybe the old tires... maybe Mike wasnt as attentive as he should be, or practiced enough panic stops in a controlled environment. Either way, all he can do is put Humpty Dumpty back together and learn from it. I've dumped it twice doing stupid things, but I like to think that I've learned and I've been making a pretty serious effort at improving my riding over the past 2-3 months. None of us are perfect, and we're all going to have an accident on the street at some point.
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You can look at the factors that caused it - maybe the old tires... maybe Mike wasnt as attentive as he should be, or practiced enough panic stops in a controlled environment. Either way, all he can do is put Humpty Dumpty back together and learn from it. I've dumped it twice doing stupid things, but I like to think that I've learned and I've been making a pretty serious effort at improving my riding over the past 2-3 months. None of us are perfect, and we're all going to have an accident on the street at some point.
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