Working on digging the bike out.

[dagibbs]

Well, I'm working on digging the bike out of the garage this weekend. My driveway accumulates a lot of snow and ice in the winter, and doesn't melt quickly. It is an east-west oriented driveway, with fairly tall houses on both sides of it, that shade it a lot, have roofs that dump snow & ice into it, and that interfere with wind patterns enough that more snow drops into it as well. My garage is at the back of my lot -- so it's a fairly long narrow driveway. So, I don't clear it in the winter -- just keeping enough at the bottom clear to park my car, and usually, space for one guest car. So, now that we've had some warm weather, and are having a warm weekend, I'm working on getting enough shovelling/chipping to get the bike out. Also, the battery is low, so I think I'm going to have to go out and pick up a trickle charger, charge it over night, then start it tomorrow. So, hopefully, tomorrow will be my first ride of the year. Hopefully.

This isn't my bike, but my bike looks just like this bike. Well, except that mine doesn't look quite so sparkling clean, and I've got a Givi case on the back. But, the colour and model and stuff are right.

Comments

[leolac.livejournal.com]

AAACK!!!

I thought you meant a bike without gas at first. Wow...my Dad was very successful at instilling a strong fear of motorcycles...

...but, being the playful person that I am, they also intrigue me, =).

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Bike without gas wouldn't take nearly as much work -- I could carry it over the snow easily enough. :)

And, yes, having a healthy fear of motorcycles and how dangerous they are is a good way to stay alive. I still consider mine a dangerous way to travel, and I'm still alive after more than 15 years and 200,000 kms on a motorcycle.

Then again, cars are bloody dangerous things, too. One of the most dangerous things most people do regularly is get into a car and go somewhere.

[leolac.livejournal.com]

but is it the car as a machine or the number of drivers, especially unpredictable ones, that are dangerous?

=)

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I was talking about the act of being on our roads & highways in a car being, statistically, one of, if not the, activity with highest risk of injury or death of all activities engaged in by a majority of people, usually with minimal to no concern for how risky it is.

I wasn't particularly talking about why it is risky -- almost any machine is not particularly dangerous without an operator, in particular a car without a driver is of almost zero risk, because it doesn't go anywhere. So, really, you can't seperate the two.

The danger comes primarily from travelling at high speeds, in heavy objects, in close proximity to ridgid objects, and other heavy objects also travelling at high speeds, none of them with rigidly fixed courses. There is mechanical risk -- brake failure, wheel falls off, etc; there is environmental risk -- sudden dense fog, oil spill on road, tree has fallen accross road; there is self-driver risk -- driving too fast, falling asleep, distraction by pretty girl; and there is other driver risk -- any or all of the self-risks and more that I might choose to avoid such as drunkenness. Then there's the long-term environmental and pollution risks from burning huge quantities of hydro-carbons, and inhaling those in more concentration on the highways as well as the off-gassing of whatever components and plastics have been used to make the car, especially in new cars.

Lots and lots of risks there -- but people casually take them, generally unaware or uncaring. They'll aggravate them, by not wearing seatbelts. And still, they'll be scared of, or protest and insist on more safety measures, for other things that are far less risky.

[rant off]

[leolac.livejournal.com]

LOL

sensitive issue for you, eh?

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Well, mostly the last paragraph.