[OT] Am I being unreasonable?

On 2005-03-15, Hopitus penned:
Thank you for your restraint re my former-employment-opinion of this as a
form of transportation!

Anyone who claims that motorcycles are risk-free is fooling themselves. It's
all a matter of risk vs. reward, and no one can make that call for anyone
else. (This point of view is why I wasn't willing to put my foot down to DH.)

I did notice, too late, that he will be a *spectator* and not a
participant there, so the bike would not be needed once there.

I thought that, but apparently I was wrong. I don't quite understand why the
bike needs to be there, but apparently that's a key point.

You'll be surprised to learn that I frequently took in the bike
races @ Moroso Speedway where I recently moved from; our family has several
friends who race there on bikes. The difference is that at Moroso, there
were no autos sharing the lanes with them, with the potential to do them in.

I'm not that surprised. I would be surprised if your family friends never
rode motorcycles off the track as well as on it, though.

You are correct in assuming that Hopitus, with all its stogy opinions, is
not a male.

I can't recall implying either way, but good to know =)


--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote

Update -- I spoke with DH and he says,

"Primarilly, the interest in riding the bike is purely to have it at the
event that week, and maybe do some riding in California. I am not
interested in riding 3600 miles on a crotchrocket."

Phew. He is working a few potential leads in getting his bike trailered
and
out to the race. Apparently, he does have at least one friend who is very
excited to go (and she's an experienced rider), as well as maybe her
husband,
and they do have a vehicle and trailer to tow all three bikes.

I guess I was all stressed out for nothing. This wasn't how I understood
the
situation last night, but I guess I misunderstood. Yay!


Excellent outcome. We all worry about the ones we love, so
don't feel like you're alone!

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote

I think fundamentally, what you're saying is that it's not unreasonable
for me
to be nervous, but that it's his life and it would suck to make him miss
out
on something he really wants to do.

Exactly. I am a big proponent of everybody getting to do what they
really want to do--at least for adults. Granted we don't want anyone
to get killed, but we also don't want those we love to feel we have
somehow robbed them of their dreams. Love can be delicate.

I agree with all of that and if he really
wants to ride his motorcycle, that's what he should do. Risk is something
we
accept every day to varying degrees. Besides, he has oodles of spare
vacation
time, and I don't, so maybe this way he can burn his vacation in a way
that
won't make me jealous!


Hee!

On 2005-03-15, Mary penned:

Exactly. I am a big proponent of everybody getting to do what they really
want to do--at least for adults. Granted we don't want anyone to get killed,
but we also don't want those we love to feel we have somehow robbed them of
their dreams. Love can be delicate.

Me too. It's just easier when everyone involved agrees about reasonable and
unreasonable things to do =P

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

LOL: the reason we don't understand *why* the bike has to be there is that we don't have enough testosterone in our bodies to be able to fathom this fact.

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message ...
On 2005-03-15, Julie Cook penned:

Yeah, but at Moroso there's a corner where you can drive off into a swamp
and drown. Not as likely to happen with motorcycles as race cars. When our
club races at Moroso the safety workers, on those corners where a race car
could go off, flip upside down and the driver drown, are certified divers.

Ack! There's nothing they can do to block that off???

I guess not, without slamming the car into a sturdy wall of concrete, huh?

I can only imagine what you must go through when/if your husband drives there.

Even on some of my fairly tame mountain bike rides, there are moments when I
think, "You know, if I *really* screwed this up and ran off the trail, I could
die" ... places where there's a steep dropoff into rocks or running water (or
both!) just to the side of the trail.

DH has talked about possibly racing a motorcycle, but so far he seems to have
decided not to, though he'd like to do a track day. Man, does it scare me
that he might decide to do it.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

I share everyone's relief at prospect of truck/trailer/tow
solutions. That way, at very least, will be relaxed, non-stressed or
sunburned and fully able to enjoy excitement of the event.
"Mary" wrote in message
news:1110924110.9353c0b8846225883f2921c9ec2d6d92@t eranews...

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote

Update -- I spoke with DH and he says,

"Primarilly, the interest in riding the bike is purely to have it at the
event that week, and maybe do some riding in California. I am not
interested in riding 3600 miles on a crotchrocket."

Phew. He is working a few potential leads in getting his bike trailered
and
out to the race. Apparently, he does have at least one friend who is
very
excited to go (and she's an experienced rider), as well as maybe her
husband,
and they do have a vehicle and trailer to tow all three bikes.

I guess I was all stressed out for nothing. This wasn't how I understood
the
situation last night, but I guess I misunderstood. Yay!


Excellent outcome. We all worry about the ones we love, so
don't feel like you're alone!

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:07:18 -0700, Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

DH would like to attend (as a spectator) a several-day motorcycle racing event
in California this summer, about 1800 miles and a mountain range away.

He would like to get there on his sportbike, which is his first bike and
which he has owned since last summer.

The longest ride he's ever done is perhaps one or two hours, and he complains
that his butt gets sore. His motorcycle is also the "twitchy" sort that
responds aggressively to even a small change in the throttle.

My response to all of this:

I'm fine with him attending the show, but I would rather he not ride so far
for the first time, alone. If he could find a friend to also ride (on their
own bike) with him, I would be fine, but it seems to me that it's a very long
ride and that many things could go wrong. Even if I wanted to do the trip
with him, I would have to stop after 2 hours of riding, max, because of my
knee problems, so unfortunately I can't be the person to ride with him. I
recognize that, as he doesn't know anyone who fits the bill, it would be hard
to find a stranger willing to tie themselves to an inexperienced distance
rider like this.

I told him that it's his life and I can't stop him from doing what he wants,
but that this makes me very nervous and I'd rather he not do it.

On the other hand, I recognize that this would be an amazing experience for
him, and I'm a big believer that we're only on this world one time around and
that we should try to experience as much as we can while we're here. If he
doesn't do it, I'll feel that I've kept him from an important experience.

Am I being unreasonable? Can anyone think of any compromise positions? I
just don't feel that he has the experience and knowledge (both rider and
mechanical) to do this safely. But as he says, you have to start somewhere.
The guy from whom I bought my bike actually rode to Alaska and back last
summer. Actually, maybe I can ask him for some ideas ...


Unreasonable? No. Tell him to read the statistics. Good luck. MLB

On 2005-03-15, Hopitus penned:

LOL: the reason we don't understand *why* the bike has to be there is = that
we don't have enough testosterone in our bodies to be able to = fathom this
fact.


Maybe so.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

DH would like to attend (as a spectator) a several-day motorcycle racing
event
in California this summer, about 1800 miles and a mountain range away.

snip for space

Get him a cell phone with coverage that will allow him to call for
help if he needs to. Make sure he has maps, drinks, etc.. Make sure
there is money in the bank account to cover it if he needs to stop in
a hotel or some such to rest, or if he finds that it is just too far
for him to go. Ask him to phone in, say, twice a day to make sure he
is ok. Do you know anyone in the area, even if they are not at the
bike event, that he could go to if he's in trouble? Are there any
local bike clubs, who have other people going who might let him join
their group?

--Fil

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
DH would like to attend (as a spectator) a several-day motorcycle
racing event
in California this summer, about 1800 miles and a mountain range
away.

1800 miles is a long way on a bike for someone who hasn't done
cross-country. Have him rent a bike trailer, and an SUV if he has to,
to pull it, tow the bike and then he can ride at the show/location.

-L.