Divided attention

There are some days that I think I shouldn't be on bike. Days where it seems like I'm not paying attention enough and that my mind seems to be wandering too much. But they have all been minor things and it really didn't bother me too much.

That changed on my last ride home from work on April 16th.

The whole ride home my mind is constantly wandering from one thought to another. Cars passing me on our multi lane main street are actually taking me by surprise because I'm not paying attention to my mirrors. My mask and goggles weren't seated correctly and wind kept making my eyes water.

I could handle that stuff. It was only a short ride and I knew it wouldn't be long before I would be home. There was one last thing though and it really bothered me. Actually, it's still bothering me now.

I was approaching an intersection and I was preparing to turn right. The light was green and I didn't have to worry about oncoming traffic. I took the turn and did so many things wrong that I'm surprised I made it home that night.

First, I looked down, saw dirt in the turn and proceeding to drive through it.

Second, I powered through the turn which caused my rear wheel to slip on the dirt that I had been watching.

Third (and this is the one that really gets me), I put my foot down. I PUT MY FOOT DOWN! The bike wasn't going down and my foot hitting the road actually made the bike even more unstable. All I could hear after that was my foot loudly slapping the road. Aside from falling asleep and blowing through an intersection years ago on my Kawasaki, it's probably one of the dumbest things I've done.

You'll have to forgive me, I tend to dwell a lot and I still haven't forgiven myself for slapping that road. It all boils down to inattention and not having a clear enough head to be riding.

So how about you? Got anything motorcycle related that you beat yourself up for? Or are you a little more forgiving of yourself then I am?

3 comments:

Kathleen Jennette said...

YES! I have those days to and I just don't go out. I know myself well enough... however, I was excited to get out and under from all the housework just last week.... soooo...
I didn't do a bike check. Stupid me. I got out of the driveway. Throttled on and wasn't going anywhere, throttled more, ended up going into someone elses driveway and onto the sidewalk. Didn't drop the bike, I was alright. I looked at the bike to see what had happened and it was my highway peg. Evidently, some of the workers had hit the highway peg and it moved on the rear brake. I fixed it. Felt good about the recovery, but it ruined my whole day. All I did was go to the gas station, fill her up and rode home. I still can't get it out of my head either. What a "stupid thing to do". Leave without a check and leaving when I just am not up to par.
You are not alone. Glad we are safe and learned our little/big lesson.
KT Did

Biker Betty said...

Yea, me too. There are two incidents that get me the most.

First, the time I fell with my bike in the gutter. The bike pinned my ankle against the curb and I could hear some guys off in the distance laughing at me. The cowards never did come and help. I parked in the gutter with no problem. I was out showing off my bike to friends. I went to leave and discovered that I had parked in a sloped gutter. It was sloped enough that when I went to shift, the bike tipped faster then I could think about it. My friend's husband thought it was awful I had bought it and I had to get him to help me lift it back up. It was drizzling and I couldn't get a proper grip. Utter humilation, sigh.

Then there was the time I almost ran over my own foot. I was making a left turn into a side street and swung my left foot back and caught it under the rear tire. That smarted for weeks.

Vinod said...

If I caught myself mentally drifting while riding,I usually cuss myself out or yell into the helmet, telling myself to pay attention. If it gets really bad, I just stop.