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I've told this story to a number of riders, some believed me, but sadly many have not. The even sadder part is that it's true.
When I was 19, newly married, in the Army and stationed in Fort Hood Texas, I had an apartment on the far side of Killeen. Every morning I rode my "new" '85 GS 450 into the post (you do the math). At the time I had very good vision ~ 20/12. I know that because of the numerious tests that I had to take in the service up to that point. So I could spot things that many people need binoculars to see.
Now, because the GS was my only real transportation (besides a smokey old '74 Pontiac Catalina), I used it every day, even when it got very cold. Matter of fact, there was a bank with a flashing time/temp sign that I could spot on the way in. And on more than one occasion I saw single digits...
Which was almost my down fall. As a result of the cold temps, I got into a bad habit of drafting anything that happen to be in front of me.
One late spring day on the way in, around the time when it got very light early in the morning. I was just starting to draft up on an old gravel truck. I was just starting to pull into the dead zone ~ about 6 car lengths back, when I spotted a rock drop out the back of the box. I saw it hit the road and disappear. So without even touching the brakes or swerving (I was doing about 60mph), I felt that the coast was clear.
Just as that thought registered, the rock hit me right in the facesheild, just to the right of my right eye. Not only did it rattle me, but the noise from the impact almost caused a crash all by itself.
Then as soon as I came to my senses, I passed the truck, and a few minutes later I was on post and getting on with my "job". But before I got busy, I had a moment to glance at my helmet. Basically, the shield was ruined, but it had done it's job, which was to save me. Which it did in many ways.
You see, at the time that the rock hit, I was also passing over the main north south road. So if for some reason I had decided to not wear a helmet that day (it was legal in Texas at the time to not wear one), it's likely that not only would I have caught a rock in the eye, but skidded off the freeway onto 5 lanes of traffic 2 stories below.
Talk about a Wylie Coyote moment!
To this day I think about that everytime I see someone riding with just sun glasses. There's no way that they would have survived.
And that's why I always wear my helmet.
How about you??
When I was 19, newly married, in the Army and stationed in Fort Hood Texas, I had an apartment on the far side of Killeen. Every morning I rode my "new" '85 GS 450 into the post (you do the math). At the time I had very good vision ~ 20/12. I know that because of the numerious tests that I had to take in the service up to that point. So I could spot things that many people need binoculars to see.
Now, because the GS was my only real transportation (besides a smokey old '74 Pontiac Catalina), I used it every day, even when it got very cold. Matter of fact, there was a bank with a flashing time/temp sign that I could spot on the way in. And on more than one occasion I saw single digits...
Which was almost my down fall. As a result of the cold temps, I got into a bad habit of drafting anything that happen to be in front of me. One late spring day on the way in, around the time when it got very light early in the morning. I was just starting to draft up on an old gravel truck. I was just starting to pull into the dead zone ~ about 6 car lengths back, when I spotted a rock drop out the back of the box. I saw it hit the road and disappear. So without even touching the brakes or swerving (I was doing about 60mph), I felt that the coast was clear.
Just as that thought registered, the rock hit me right in the facesheild, just to the right of my right eye. Not only did it rattle me, but the noise from the impact almost caused a crash all by itself.
Then as soon as I came to my senses, I passed the truck, and a few minutes later I was on post and getting on with my "job". But before I got busy, I had a moment to glance at my helmet. Basically, the shield was ruined, but it had done it's job, which was to save me. Which it did in many ways.
You see, at the time that the rock hit, I was also passing over the main north south road. So if for some reason I had decided to not wear a helmet that day (it was legal in Texas at the time to not wear one), it's likely that not only would I have caught a rock in the eye, but skidded off the freeway onto 5 lanes of traffic 2 stories below.
Talk about a Wylie Coyote moment!
To this day I think about that everytime I see someone riding with just sun glasses. There's no way that they would have survived.
And that's why I always wear my helmet.
How about you??
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