Posted on 05/24/2020 6:37:17 AM PDT by libstripper
Allen West, a former Florida congressman, was injured in a motorcycle crash just outside Waco, Texas.
A post from "Team West" to his verified Facebook page provided an update Saturday evening on the 59-year-old's condition.
"According to law enforcement on the scene, a car cut LTC West off, resulting in two motorcycles colliding, one of which was his. He was transported by helicopter to the hospital, where he is currently in stable condition and undergoing assessment," the post said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Last Tuesday (5/19) was the 85th anniversary of the motorcycle crash that ended the life of TE Lawrence.
Ouch!
I must confess however, I lost my nerve after being hit by a car with three or four punks in it. The driver had no license and was driving his mom's vehicle. Pretty violent hit. Threw the bike and me down to the pavement.
No helment...just my shades. Feeling good, feeling fine. Well, popped up off the pavement in a millisecond, lil bit of road rash on my wrist and knee...other than that, just fine. Praise God.
Not so for the bike. Seven grand worth of repairs.
Anyhew...the best vacation I'd ever had...the wife and I rode both the bikes out to North Carolina / Eastern Tennessee Smoky Mountains from Houston. It was AWESOME.
Getting back the hankerin.
I’ve gone to bikes where you are the engine, and increasingly ride on bike trails for safety reasons. No matter how good a rider you are on two wheels of any kind, on the road you have little protection and your safety is in the hands of others. All it takes is a few seconds...
I’ve been riding for over 45 years and don’t plan to quit now. Some changes have been made to the way I ride though. No more “iron butt” 3 day rides to Florida from Michigan. Now it’s mostly riding the back country roads, especially the twisty ones along the rivers or lakeshore.
Here’s a quote that kind of describes why I still ride.
“.....the difference between driving a car and climbing onto a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV & actually living your life. We spend all our time sealed in boxes, & cars are just the rolling boxes that shuffle us from home-box to work-box to store-box and back...the whole time, entombed in stale air, temperature regulated, sound insulated, & smelling of carpets. On a motorcycle I know I’m alive.
When I ride, even the familiar seems strange & glorious. The air has weight and substance as I push through it and its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer.
I feel the cool wells of air that pool under trees and warm spokes sunshine. I can see everything in a sweeping 360 degrees, up, down and around, wider than Pana-vision & IMAX &unrestricted by ceiling or dashboard. Sometimes I even hear music. It’s like hearing phantom telephones in the shower, or false doorbells when vacuuming; the pattern-loving brain, seeking signals in the noise, raises acoustic ghosts out of the wind’s roar. But on a motorcycle I hear whole songs: rock ‘n roll, dark orchestras, women’s voices, all hidden in the air and released by speed...”
It’s time to go for a ride. Stay safe.
I used to ride the roads until I was nearly T-boned by a mexican in a work truck. My wife and I were on the bike together and we had left the kids with a babysitter. Scared the hell out of me.
Now I ride a dual sport on country roads.
But you are right about the feeling of freedom.
I understand. But I still ride. Plus I own and operate a motorcycle shop. One of my customers and best of friends just crashed last Saturday, and I bet you he and his wife will continue to ride their motorcycles. We’re all probably nuts.
Some folks like to jump from bridges and cliffs and flying planes still perfectly capable of safely landing, whereas I think that’s nuts.
Some people like to drink way too much alcohol, or smoke cigarettes. Tell me that ain’t nuts.
Many like to eat wrong and avoid exercise, leading to heart disease, the number one killer in the US. Crazy, huh?
To each his own. I just don’t believe living “safely” is quality living for most of us.
Posting to the wrong person? Says something about your IQ, dumb ass!
Get well sir.
Interesting fella, never had heard of him.
You’ve never heard of Lawrence of Arabia?
A friend of mine once explained the danger thusly: sooner or later you are going to lay the bike down. Ride so that you can walk away from it when it happens.
I think there are plenty of riders who adhere to that philosophy. Unfortunately, there are also enough of them that don't to give the rest a bad reputation.
I have a Harley but I rarely ride it. People aren't watching the road now days. Cell phones are a major cause of motorcycle and car fatalities.
My father bought an enclosed trailer last year to haul his bike to CT for the summer. I want to go riding with him but I would be so worried about one of us getting hit that i wouldn’t enjoy the ride at all. My older brother rides with him so he’s not alone.
What kind(s) of bikes do you sell? If I were still into it, I’d own a BMW R 1200 RT.
Prayers for a speedy recovery.
I like your choice of bike. I’m an independent shop; repair/service American, Japanese and current Triumphs. KTM and Beemers tires and brakes. No Chinese. Consignment sales.
I love when riding back roads you catch whiffs of honey dew, cow pastures, roses, ozone smell before or after a storm.
Nothing like the music from the engine/pipes of my 88/5.
Ok...off the Harley shop. lol
He'll give up motorcycles......Knew 3 close friends who thought they were indestructible on their bikes.........They're dead.
But what the hell it's a free country............
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