Motorbikes

[Orangesauce1]

I had the worst call of my life yesterday afternoon....

Was just in the cimema with 3 friends watching You Me and Dupree when my dad called mid film. If it was anyone else I would have ignored it but my dad never phones me unless something was wrong.

My cousin had just died at the scene of an accidient, he was thrown from his motorbike and hit an oncoming car! He was 23!!!!

I am deeply devistated but I too have a love of bikes and even though I know ultimately it killed him, he lived for it... he loved it and he died doing it.

Even though he was my cousin,as my siblings are more then a decade younger then me he was my sarogate Brother and we grew up very close, we looked like twins (obviously not identical)

I have my DAC course booked in October! obviously has to be cancelled but I still love bikes. I ride pillion on my boyfriends bike but know that my family are going to be so upset and worried! Is it wrong to still want to do it?

Secondly my boyfriend rides like a nutter (a requirment for a biker i feel) and now I know that i will worry when I am not on the bike with him in case he never comes home. I suppose it has brought the dangers of death home to me.

posponing the test is a definate, but should it be indefinitely for the sake of the family or should I ride in his memory in my heart?

[Orangesauce1]

Hellion, thank you.

That was one of the most thought provoking, heart renching things I have ever heard. That means more to me then you realise right now, thank you for sharing it with me. Honest yet not judgemental. I am so sorry for all your losses and for the tragic loss of life.

[Carakeel]

I must say one more thing Orangesauce1. I know that many are saying you should just go ahead and get back on a motorcycle regardless. But as a mother, who lost her son three days before his 21st birthday (through cancer, not a bike accident I must add) I can only emphasise that your family needs time to come to terms with the loss of your cousin. If you find that hard to understand .. try this: imagine it was your father or mother who had gotten the phone call and it was you, or your brother or sister (if you have one) who had had this accident. I can understand you might want to ride again, but please be careful not to make things a lot worse for your family. I am guessing that the people who are recommending you get straight back on a bike have never lost a child and it is understandable that they can't appreciate the full consequences. Hellion put his (or her) words well.

[electricblue]

'motorcyclists kill other people'
NO, the careless riders can kill other people as car drivers can and do,do not assume that all bikers are tw@ts,total bull$h1t,common sense goes a long way,,,
sorry about your loss orangesauce,i've been a biker for 22 years,lost several mates over the years and my boyfriend was killed on his bike 2 days after my 18th,
Do what YOU want orange,give it time and if you still want to do it,ride sensibly,a shame we have to look out for others on the road but it seems normal now,,its tragic whats happened ,i've been through it,i know, but in the end do whats right for YOU!!xxx