Gear Up!

I took this photo last evening, 8 motorcycles and there were 10 people including me. We were on our regular Monday evening All Canadian Riders Club ride. Shane, one of our riders, said that with it being so hot he didn't understand how I could fully gear up... chaps, jacket, gloves as well as my helmet. Most of the other riders wore only short sleeve shirts and jeans, only one other than me wore his leather jacket, but no chaps.

If you read my blog often, you know that 11 months ago, September 10, 2010, I was riding my trike (3 wheeled motorcycle) when I was hit by a car. All summer long I had ridden in muscle shirts, spaghetti strap sun tops, or bathing suits with my jeans. I loved the freedom of riding like that and the resulting sun tan, the best sun tan I'd ever had. Yes, I knew it was not a good idea to ride without protective gear, but hey, I ride a trike!! Far safer than 2 wheel motorcycles!! I still believe that 3 wheels are safer than 2... and I know that when a car hits you, you are 'going down' either way. The day I was hit I was wearing my leathers, thank God!! In fact, I had been given a pair of chaps about 1 1/2 hours before I was hit, so I was fully geared up proudly wearing my new chaps as well as my jacket and gloves... all leather. Yes, I was still fairly severely injured, yet I know that had I been wearing my usual summer attire, I would have been injured far worse!! The scrapes on my helmet show where my head would have been damaged if I wasn't wearing the helmet, and I know that my skin would have been off my body and all over the road if I had not been wearing leathers. So often I see people wearing shorts, tank tops/t-shirts/hip hop clothing/flip flop shoes/and other things that are not appropriate gear for riding motorcycles. I wish I could make people understand that you never know when someone will hit you or when you might hit loose gravel and go down, so you must always wear protective gear!!