Posted by Jon D. on December 19, 2002 at 19:20:26:
In Reply to: After a few more drops..... posted by Hoggryder on December 19, 2002 at 06:44:14:
I hear ya Hoggryder.
It's funny when you say that you don't want to ruin your new jacket. When I dumped my Savage last June, I had my jacket bungeed on my seat! I was also wearing my half helmet, which I never really liked much. My more expensive full-face Nolan was at home, unscathed.
I remember thinking that I was happy that I was wearing my least favorite helmet and that my jacket was not ruined. But that thinking was asinine looking back. My insurance claim paid me for my gloves and helmet. They would have bought me a new jacket too! Now I have to look at a scarred arm for who knows how long.
It is true that riders look at the material damage after a drop. I remember limping off the road as I pushed my broken bike, thinking, "awe no, my bike!"
But from my current perspective, you dress for the crash, not the ride. Scars hurt and are ugly. Skin isn't free, at least good-lookin' skin isn't. I friend of mine has a brother that can't take his shirt off in public because of a cycle spill he took on a highway with a t-shirt. I guess his back skin got all f*cked up--skin grafts and such. In retrospect, I think that guy would *happily* shell out the bucks for a new jacket, had he been wearing one. That's the purpose of this stuff!
Humans are so stupid when it comes to their body and their material possessions (me included!).
-Jon D. (scars and all)
'95 Savage (responsible for ruining my damn helmet!)