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| Yamhill County Courthouse in McMinnville (online photo) |
We are fine, there wasn't an accident or anything, in fact we gave it the old college try but something was off this morning. We prepped last night, woke early this morning, packed a lunch and headed down the road just before sunrise to meet them. For some reason though, I just wasn't feeling it and that feeling wasn't get any better. We met up at our rendezvous point, said our hellos and started riding north. It was a chilly 38ยบ and I was cold, which is uncommon for me, but it caused me to be tense which made me that much more cold. I could see Trobairitz in my mirror and I knew she was cold, the feeling in my stomach wasn't going away and it was affecting my riding.
In what felt like forever, we passed a sign stating the 5 mile distance to Amity and the 12 miles to our first photo stop of McMinnville. I called Brandy on the radio asking her how she was doing? "Oh I'm fine, it's only 12 miles, I can make it". That's great, but I'm not going to make it and I'm going to call it a day. We arrived in Amity and I tried to signal Josh that I was pulling over but couldn't get his attention. I eventually pulled over and I couldn't go any further. We stopped and waited for them to turn around and come back. I sat on the sidewalk trying to warm up in the early morning sun but I sill couldn't get over the queezy feeling in my stomach and rather than tossing my cookies 100+ miles into the ride I called it. Sorry guys.
Josh and Meg trudged on while Brandy and I limped home like a school kid sent to the nurse's office. My ability to operate a motorcycle safely was suffering and I was impaired. I was drowsy and I couldn't focus one hundred percent on my riding so I slowed down, increased my following distance and pulled over a couple of times to warm up while checking on Brandy and that she was doing okay. When I knew that we were both safe to ride we would carry on and we made it home safe and sound. It's amazing how far 40 miles can be.
It takes a lot to drop a guy like me, I'm usually up for anything so when I call it quits, it's quits. The important thing is knowing when to say when. If you don't feel well enough to ride just admit it, the group will carry on, not have to worry about you and there will be other days to ride.
Thanks for the text Bobskoot and your concern, you are quite the detective. I warmed up, rested and am feeling a bit better. We just got a text from Meg saying they made it Astoria and are having quite the adventure. I'm glad they continued on and are having fun. We'll get these photo tags soon.
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| Tillamook County Courthouse (online photo) |
In the meantime, ride safe.
Addendum for Toad Mama:
Glad you are feeling better. And very glad that you turned around. No shame in figuring out, and admitting, that today is not the day. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lori, the nice weather is just beginning and there's no point in pushing it so soon.
DeleteGood call mate.
ReplyDeleteThanks Roger.
DeleteSmart move Brad! The sign of someone who is mature about his riding and confident enough to make the tough decisions. Really impressive and I can see why you're at ease with becoming an instructor. You'll be a good one too.
ReplyDeleteAs Rog says - good call.
Thank you Geoff, I hope all riders know when to say when, it was the safety first mindset that made the decision. Both you and Roger are an inspiration as IAM professionals and I'm glad to see you back visiting the blogs.
DeleteGood for you for pulling the plug. I give a big +1 to what Geoff said.
ReplyDeleteOn the project, funnily one of my goals is to photograph all of the circuit courthouses in Missouri. I've had the idea for sometime, but have put it on hold until I get a little bigger ride. My Symba isn't the right tool for most of the courthouses. I may attempt to get some of the closer ones this summer. I don't see a bigger ride until autumn at the earliest.
Again, riding smart is always the sane and sensible thing to do. Glad you were smart, sane, and sensible.
~Keith
Thanks Keith, I'm happy to see all our blogging friends would do the same.
DeleteA photo challenge is always fun and this one gives us an excuse to ride to new areas of our state we wouldn't normally visit.
Brad:
ReplyDeleteintuition, I knew something was wrong. I often use my gut feel, premonition, if I don't feel like riding I take the car. If you don't feel 100% committed then it is safer not to ride.
hope you are feeling better soon
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
I had to look out my front window to make sure you weren't standing outside my door.
DeleteAnd thank you, I am feeling better.
I am a firm believer in listening to your inner voice and what your body is telling you. I am getting to be a little superstitious too it would seem. I think part of being a good safe rider is knowing 'when' and saying uncle. It doesn't make you weak or less of a motorcyclist in the contrary it makes you SAFE and SMART. That was one of the biggest things they drilled home to us in our MSF course. If you aren't feeling it, don't do it, there are reasons for it. I was out riding with Kiwi Deb one night and called it a day because I was tired from work, feeling inattentive and just not finding the joy.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Dar, it's better to be safe and ride another day.
DeleteYeah, good call. I've had it happen to me a couple of times when things just don't seem right and have cut the ride short.
ReplyDeleteAs I ride a lot of endurance events I figure that knowing when to stop is one of the most important skills I take with me. Generally I really have my head in the game when it comes to these rides (I flip some switch which wires me up and gets me in the endurance mode) but have pulled out of one such event when I lost my mojo.
Good to know you have the 'when' factor too and you know your limit. I was surprised to learn how much it really affected my riding. I now understand and have no problem telling other riders how important it is.
DeleteThanks for sharing.
There's nothin worse than riding when you are sick or very cold or even both. Hope your feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I am feeling a bit better for a Monday. The weather is supposed to be much warmer today.
DeleteBrad, sorry to hear you weren't well. Good call to turn around. I find myself often trying too hard to pull through when I am not feeling well, and that is plain wrong. Thanks for sharing your story, it became a valuable lesson for me. Hope you are back to good!
ReplyDeleteI am doing great and back at it. I think it was a little bit of dehydration. I'm glad I was able to help you, there is no shame in calling it quits. Better safe than sorry.
DeleteWell, thank goodness you were close to home. As a wearer of a full-face helmet, I've often wondered just how horrible it would be to get sick while riding...
ReplyDeleteI saw a milkshake photo once, let's see if we can find it again.... Found it and posted it up top.
DeleteSorry to hear that you are under the weather. I hope it wasn't the cough that I had when we visited...
ReplyDeleteYour post has given me food for thought as I am getting things ready to ride south in July. I wonder what I would do if I really didn't feel like riding while in the middle of a long trip? When in the truck, it's easy to just have someone else drive for a while....
It was nothing you gave me. Best to allow a day or two extra in your trip plans for a sick day or exhaustion. If you are not up to ride it is best to take a day off and recover rather than making it worse or crashing.
DeleteBTW, nice new header picture. Is that you with the Camelback?
ReplyDeleteThank you, that is me. Brandy came out to the range to meet me for lunch and snapped a few pics.
Delete