Wow!
290 Kph on a bike is fast!
I used to own a Kawasaki Bandit 400 before our son was born.
I've always loved speed. Driving, cycling, skiing, and when I was on that bike I remember getting into 200 kph sometimes on the highway. Crazy, just crazy.
At that speed, the dashed lines painted on the paved road looked just like a straight line!
One day, while cycling on the mountain bike, got hit by a fly or a bug in my face and almost crashed, I was using a helmet when driving the motorcycle but still, that fly hit my face and my reaction made me think just any little thing can make you crash going at that speed.
A few months later, on that same highway, I suddenly broke into a traffic jam and slid down the paved road scratching my helmet into the asphalt for a few hundred meters. I can still picture that moment in my mind, listening to the sound of the helmet (which saved my life) scratching on the road. That was the end of my motorcycling life. My son was a few months old and I realized I did not want him to leave with no dad.
I now see some crazy guys driving and racing with their bikes on the highway and know, sooner or later they will hit the ground driving that way. It is just a matter of time before you do, and when that happens, only luck saves you from a serious fatality.
You become more and more responsible as you grow old, you see the dangers as you gain experience from your living and the ones around you. It is ok to risk a little bit when you are young, but risking on a bicycle or skiing is way much safer than doing it on a motorcycle on the highway.
Yeah man, way to fast for a public road but that's what I did, stupid though it was.
On the bug thing, I had my visor up one time, riding on my motorcycle and a bug got into it to the side of my head and was still alive...it was buzzing around and moving and all...unpleasant. I pulled up pretty quickly as I was worried it was a European wasp which are pretty dangerous. It was just a dragon fly but still felt kind of shitty.
I agree that people (usually) become a little more sensible when they get older, a mix of experience, understanding and plain old common sense I guess. Still, some never learn and accidents happen too, try as we might to avoid them - I mean in vehicles and other things as you mention.
Fuck European wasps!
That's the variety that bit me awaikening my allergy and almost killing me two summers ago!
You were lucky it was a dragon fly but I can imagine it was quite a dangerous experience.
I know right? We have them all over the place, fucken dangerous things. They sting repeatedly, multiple times, and many people don't react well. With that dragon fly...well, he met his end that day, I'm just glad it wasn't a European wasp.