Lynne A. Snyder     February, 2006

Rider Education As Education

While flipping through the different articles on GWRRA'S National Website I noticed an article by a lady named Sharon Stanley who is taking over as the head "guy" at Motorcycle Sounds, the official newsletter for GWRRA officers.  At one point in the article she mentioned that she finally understood something about GWRRA riders that she had missed in the past, and that something was, "being safe is increasingly possible as you gain and apply knowledge".

If I may paraphrase her, I think she hit it right on the head when she said that she recently realized that what mattered wasn't whether or not you made a fashion statement riding, or that you had the latest bike, or that you could go faster or further than the next guy.   What was the most important was that you have fun, ride safely and enjoy the time with others that have like interests.

We can never really know what little bit of information will be the thing that helps us to avoid an accident, maybe with a vehicle that turns in front of us.  Or maybe it's noticing that the pavement is a different color in the middle of the turn where you later find out someone's radiator overflowed.  Or maybe it's just something as small as watching for leaves in the fall when riding on your annual color tour.  All of these things are possibilities and all of them are something that we could face each time we ride. 

The great thing about trouble is that if you're smart you can learn to avoid it.  We are getting pretty close to the 2006 riding season and before you know it we'll be out there on the road trying to watch in five directions at once so that we arrive at our destination in one piece.   Toward that end, I thought I'd put this application blank in the newsletter for anyone that's interested in joining Jan and I at an ERC class at some point this spring.

So put down your name and all the other stuff and we'll see you in Ionia, or wherever they decide to hold a class this year, to learn just a couple more little things.