A Jourey of 1,000 Miles

[G.Irish]

Well if the concern is family members having to support you in the event of significant injury that requires prolonged recovery why not just get supplemental insurance? You can get insurance that will cover your salary, pay for physical therapy, and pay for extended hospital stays.

As far as the risk:reward ratio, I have to think that the chances of actually ending up on life support for a prolonged period are not that high. Something like 1 in 100,000 motorcyclists [2003] will get killed in an accident, I seriously doubt that significantly more end up vegetables.

If supplemental insurance is cost prohibitive or doesn't allay the fear that someone else would have to take care of you then I guess one shouldn't ride.

You apparently are just thinking of money? Thats a small part of the burden you place on your family members by doing high-risk activities. Theres a balance where you have to decide wether the activity is worth that chance of a burden on your family, MOST OF ALL EMOTIONALLY. Just because you have insurance you think you can take care of yourself? You think they wont drop everything to see you in the hospital and all the emotions they have to go through that you could have possibly died? Money is definitely NOT the biggest factor here, and if you think that you can possibly ever free yourself from burdening your family when you get hurt, your dead wrong. When my father died, everything financially was taken care of, but that was not even close to my mind the burden he placed on my family. And we dont view it as a burden but it was, to this day it still hurts and is a lasting memory.

So before you can be selfish about yourself and think that you can somehow not burden your family in a large way by taking care of finances or telling them not to come or make decisions, think about how they feel towards you. They are family, wether or not you made all the preparation in the world, something happens to you wether fatal or not, the emotional impact it will have on them is more than you could ever imagine.

I don't buy that at all. Everyone is going to die one day. Death is just as much a part of life as birth. Some people get all tripped up and bent out of shape over it but it is inevitable. Everyone has to deal with it at some point and everyone will succumb to it at some point. If someone's number comes up earlier than normal, shit happens. People deal. Life goes on. I refuse to live in fear because people will be sad if I'm gone. People will always be sad, people will always die. What is important is that people have lived and that I've made the most of my time on Earth. That philosophy may not work for everybody, and that's fine too. Those people can sit on the couch and be safe.

I'm not saying people should be reckless with no concern for the consequences. So if someone chooses to do something that is dangerous they should do what they can to mitigate the risk.

Sorry but a 1 in 100,000 chance of death is not going to stop me. That's only 3 times more likely than getting struck by lightning, and you don't see me calling in sick every time its cloudy outside. In fact, I have a much better chance of getting murdered than I do of getting killed in a motorcycle accident. Hey, everyone who is not wearing a bullet proof vest every day is unnecessarily risking leaving their loved ones in mourning. Come to think of it, everybody should wear combat helmets every day too.

So unless you advocate that I should move to the country, never cross the street, wear a bulletproof vest, and never ride in cars, I don't see how anyone can truthfully say that somehow someone I or anyone else shouldn't be riding a motorcycle because of the 1 in 100,000 chance of death.

If I had kids it might be different, because I have a responsibility to raise them. But I'll evaluate the risk when the time comes.

Edit: If Ginger decides that it isnt worth the risks wether financially, emotionally or any other reasons, who are you to give him shit about it? Ginger, at least you can put it past yourself that your not the only one impacted wether or not you prepare everything in the world.

Nobody is giving him shit about it, people are simply discussing things. If he didn't want to discuss it he either would not have posted anything about it or would not respond. The whole point of us discussing accidents and our thoughts on riding is so people can reason things out and make decisions about what they want to do.