Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Space by JAMES JONES In the last few weeks, I have had two friends who have been involved in motorcycle and car crashes. Nat was T-boned and Marty had someone pull in front of him and then stop short. Nat broke the ball of his left knee and his right arm in several places. He looks like a bad Pokey Man. I haven't seen Marty but heard that he broke both of his arms and he won't be able to pick his nose for a long time. To put this in some perspective, we used to joke that when doing military free-fall operations if something goes wrong in the air, we had the rest of our lives to figure it out. TRUE! Depending on your altitude, you may have 20 to 60 seconds — if you are lucky — to figure it out. No matter how careful riders In motorcycling you don't have time to think, just are, there are still risks involved react. Just guessing, if you are an experienced rider in motorcycling. and you have more than five seconds, I'll bet that most riders would be able to figure a way out of most situations but usually things are moving so fast that you don't. On a motorcycle, all you have between you and pain and/or death is "space." Many bikers disagree with me on this, but if you let a vehicle get close enough to you to hit you then you let them get too close, because you are the one who will pay the consequences for letting them violate your space. With that said, there is no consolation with that line of thinking because people get hit all of the time but the story goes like this. Biker, "He hit me." Driver, "I never saw him." After that, it will be up to the police, lawyers and the doctors to figure out what happened. So what can you do to prepare for this unexpected event? First, be prepared and know that no matter how many safety classes you go to or how much safety equipment you have on, that there is nothing that will keep you from being run over like a rabbit under a wheel. So be prepared and make sure all of your legal, medical and family affairs are in order. There is never time to do it later — after you are in a coma or in a casket. Note: If you are a husband, wife, single parent or a caregiver to a child, please make sure all of your legal paperwork is up to date and a friend or family member knows exactly what to do if you or both you and your spouse become incapacitated. The last thing you want to do is to go for a Sunday ride with your wife on the back and get killed and have the state figure out custody and your affairs. So please, be responsible and take care of the little ones first. Second, when you get on that bike, ask yourself, "Who is going to try to kill me today?" This will put you in defensive mode of thinking and it will put in you an offensive mode. Third, avoid dangerous and busy roads and situations if possible. For me, anywhere five miles around the mall area is a danger zone. I try to avoid that area at all costs if I can. Don't forget about parking lots. They are very dangerous as well. Finally, be seen and assume no one sees you. My friend Nat had high visibility lights and wore all of his protective gear. Considering his circumstances, he was lucky because of his protective gear and quick thinking. But no matter how well you think someone will see you, there are no guarantees that the vehicle driver will see you. Even if they do see you, some drivers see through you. Studies are beginning to show that our minds do not properly calculate the distance of a motorcycle, causing people to misjudge the rate of travel and the mind looks through you. I have several jackets that are the brightest jackets on the market. I have some of the brightest lights made, and yet I constantly have people pull out in front of me. I do not have scientific proof of this, but when I was in Sturgis, S.D., a few months ago, I saw a girl wearing lingerie on her motorcycle. Out of the thousands of motorcyclists there, I believe that everyone there saw her. Maybe, just maybe, we should all ride naked and then everyone would see everyone else and we would get a little more space. If there is a topic that you would like to discuss, please send your comments JAMES JONES, Contributing and suggestions to motorcycle4fun@ Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. aol.com. RIDE SAFE! OCTOBER 19 • BENEFIT FOR FLEA at Legends Pub. First bike out at noon. Registration at 11 a.m. Raffle for a 50" TV. Call 8672364 for more information. OCTOBER 26 •T&B CANCER RESEARCH RIDE at Hooters. Band, food, 50/50, door prizes, best and worst hands. Presented by AFMC Benefits cancer research. Call 988-7946 for more information. OCTOBER 27 • BIKE RUN/ PRAYER RUN at Luther Britt Park in Lumberton. Registration 12:30-2 p.m. $10 per single rider. $15 for double. Call 521-8003 for more information. OCTOBER 26 • HALLOWEEN BASH at Legends Pub. Call 8672364 for more information. NOVEMBER 9 • 3RD ANNUAL APPRECIATION DAY & MEMBERSHIP DRIVE at Lost Memories in Spring Lake. The fun starts at 3 p.m. Food, door prizes, games, live music, Bikers For Bikers Foundation Membership Drive. Call 583-3067 for more information. PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse group of patriots from every state that come together to honor fallen soldiers at funeral services across the country. Visit www.patriotguard.org for more information about the group. BENEFIT FOR FLEA OCT. 19, 2013 REGISTRATION BEGINS AT 11 a.m. FIRST BIKE OUT AT NOON Raffle for 50" TV • Auction 4624 BRAGG BLVD. BIKE NIGHTS EvEry thursday 482 n. mcpherson church rd. 910-354-2590 LIVE MUSIC DRINK SPECIALS for daily food & drink speicals, Band schedules & more connect online ... 26 UCW OCTOBER. 16-22, 2013 MacSpeedShop.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM