08-10-2006, 01:01 PM
I agree that the "Maybe Mike shouldn't have his M" comment was out of line, but nothing else that Chris has said is entirely untrue. Maybe his tone could have been better, or his approach a bit nicer, but since when was anyone on this board accused of having a soft touch.
Mike hasn't told me the details about his accident yesterday, and honestly I hadn't heard about him going down before, so I won't even think of passing any judgements or coming to any conclusions about his skill level.
As we all know accidents happen, and eventually we'll all get caught in an unfortunate circumstance. Nearly all of these will be unavoidable, but the simple fact is that we all get comfy and lazy in our day to day routine, we don't scan as far ahead as we possibly should, we don't treat everything out there on the road as a potential hazard, and we all speed. Eventually our number will be up and bad luck is gonna bite us in the ass. For some of us we're gonna get bitten multiple times. Does this mean that we should stop doing what we do, nope, it just means that next time we're out there maybe we should drive/ride a bit more paranoid.
Mikey passed his MSF class therefore he should have his M, but remember the last thing they tell you after you've passed the class (or at least what they're supposed to tell you) "Congratulations, now you're certified to ride around in a parking lot, now go out there and practice, practice, practice".
The only way Mike's gonna get better is to practice, and this means he's going to be exposed to situations he may or may not be prepared for, but until he experiences them there's no way he's gonna learn.
Mike hasn't told me the details about his accident yesterday, and honestly I hadn't heard about him going down before, so I won't even think of passing any judgements or coming to any conclusions about his skill level.
As we all know accidents happen, and eventually we'll all get caught in an unfortunate circumstance. Nearly all of these will be unavoidable, but the simple fact is that we all get comfy and lazy in our day to day routine, we don't scan as far ahead as we possibly should, we don't treat everything out there on the road as a potential hazard, and we all speed. Eventually our number will be up and bad luck is gonna bite us in the ass. For some of us we're gonna get bitten multiple times. Does this mean that we should stop doing what we do, nope, it just means that next time we're out there maybe we should drive/ride a bit more paranoid.
Mikey passed his MSF class therefore he should have his M, but remember the last thing they tell you after you've passed the class (or at least what they're supposed to tell you) "Congratulations, now you're certified to ride around in a parking lot, now go out there and practice, practice, practice".
The only way Mike's gonna get better is to practice, and this means he's going to be exposed to situations he may or may not be prepared for, but until he experiences them there's no way he's gonna learn.