Got rid of my bike after only a few years. Too many people driving distracted, tailgating me, pulling out in front of me without even looking, etc. I spent 90% of the time on the bike paranoid and driving so defensively it wasnt even enjoyable. Sold it cheap and never looked back. The old convertible I drive now puts the wind in my face and thats good enough now. If I want to ride a bike, its on a dirt trail away from cars and traffic.
Doesnt help that I just buried my good friend, he and his wife pulled out of a restaurant parking lot and a pickup pulled out right in front of them a couple blocks down. His wife ended up with broken bones in her hands and arm, road rash and cuts and bruises all over, and he took a brutal blow to the side of his head. Never opened his eyes again and they pulled the plug after a few days when he was completely unresponsive, they were having trouble maintaining his blood pressure, and his brain activity was pretty much zero. On his phone was a picture his wife took right before they pulled out. Sad seeing his last few moments captured like that, sun on his face, both of them smiling and just a few seconds later, he's gone.
Seeing him laying there in his casket with a huge welt on the side of his head was the final straw in me deciding that I would never have another bike.
Maybe there are so many more cars on the road now? Just seems like no matter what time of day it is, its like rush hour. Traffic at every stop sign, every light, people whipping in and around each other.. I just dont remember the roads being like this when I was growing up, or even 10-15 years ago. Seems like I can be on the most deserted back road in the middle of nowhere at any time of day and within 2-3 minutes someone will roar up out of nowhere in an SUV or average sedan and be hyperventilating ten feet off my bumper in no time, and I'm not a slow driver. Are there any deserted back roads anymore? Maybe its just the part of the country I'm in, or maybe with todays drive by wire 250hp turbo four cylinders in a plain Jane SUV that handle and accelerate like an 80's Corvette it just got really easy to speed. I dont know. Whatever it is, riding got ruined for me, I dont see any more bikes in my future. People on the roads just drive like nuts to the point where its just not enjoyable anymore. Quite a few of my coworkers who ride saying the same thing and giving up riding.
