See 99. Clearly we had different riding styles.
Not so at all. I agree with your post 100%. Almost.
My ‘71 Triumph Trophy 500 T100C and ‘72 Bonnie T120V (in my garage, along with a mint ‘74 Trident that is showroom new) are the most nimble bikes I’ve ever ridden, and the Bonnie is my fav.......friend had a new Bonnie in ‘64 he let me ride whenever I wanted and the old Bonnies are my first love.
No matter how offensively you ride, as with your example, you will have moments that you can only be defensive. As I said, a car will more quickly swerve to avoid a sudden “in your path” object than a bike - all the more so at speed.
Have I had close calls in 53 years of riding? I cannot count them. But I still ride. One of my two BF’s that I rode over 10k miles/year with for 11 years and the safest biker I’ve ever known was killed in front of me on February 17th...he was 67 and had just retired as a prof. truck driver. A dangerous stop sign intersection we’ve been through a 1000 times - he had his mind on something else and blew through it and was hit by a big truck. Was I devastated? Of course, I’m human.
We prayed for God’s protection before we rode. Did God fail us? No. Dennis had run the race and his time was up - scripture says God numbers our days as He knows the number of hairs on our head. His passing had an incredible positive effect on not just hundreds, but thousands of people.
I thought I’d never ride again. But the next day I got back in the saddle with a daughter on her Sportster behind me. Neither of us wanted to ride. I felt like we had to. She too knew Dennis well, and loved him. 6 of my 8 kids have their MC license....we ride as a family. Twice they have had major accidents on the same mountain road - but continue to ride. Could any of us be killed tomorrow? Sure. That’s part of the risk we knowingly and willingly take. You can get killed in your car too by a drunk coming into your lane from the oncoming lane....life is not guaranteed.
We all continue to ride accepting the risk - and putting our lives in God’s hands.
Here is Dennis - a quiet & shy guy, not a speaker, in probably the only time he’s been video-taped in his life - 5 days before he “went to be with the Lord.” He’d been riding 51 years....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqCovP2bSEE