25 November 2012

When I got up this morning, one of the first things I did was check the temperature outside, determined that by lunchtime it would be in the low 60s, and decided that when I ventured out today, it would be on the bike. I had one thing I needed to pick up at Walmart (bleach kit for my hair, since the one I bought the other day turned out to be missing things. Like, the bleach part) and then I wanted to go to Starbucks for a couple of hours to hog a table while I sipped at my Venti Black Icea Tea and worked on Max's book.

The best part of the day, I was sure, would be the short motorcycle ride.

But then I got online, and poked through parts of reddit, looking at pictures on the motorcycle subreddit. I like looking at other peoples' bikes and some of the short videos they post. I clicked on one link, not noticing that it was clearly marked NSFW; even if I had noted that, I probably would have clicked anyway, assuming that I'd be subject to a little flesh as someone rode their bike down the road.

It happens. I'm not easily offended.

Instead, what I watched was a short clip of footage from a security camera. It captured a rider on a 3 lane highway with a semi right behind him. As he started to move into the next lane, the semi clipped him, and he went down.

It wasn't until it looped through a second time that I realized that while the bike went one way, the rider went right under the truck's wheels.

Before I could click off, I watched that poor son of a bitch get pulled under two more times. He was ripped apart, and by the time the truck stopped, parts of his body were smeared behind the semi, while his arm jutted out from under one of the wheels.

That wasn't something I was prepared for.

I still can't get it out of my head.

And I couldn't force myself onto that bike today. I doubt I'll be able to tomorrow. I don't know when I'll be able to.

I've loved riding, but...damn.