Fear of death or injury

[eladoppel_imp]

I have been riding for 42 years and just recently had my first "major" get-off. I was lucky to be within 25 miles of the only Level One Trauma Center in Nevada. I spent a day and a half there getting taped to a board, then tested, probed and braced. (My friend and I had just spent most of a week in some of the most remote areas of the Southwest so it could have been a whole lot worse.)
Here's what I have concluded:
1) I am an ATGATT guy. I slid through the desert at 60 mph and had zero road rash. ATGATT kept me from getting hurt worse. The cop and EMTs were impressed with the lack of road rash.
2) Crashing is no fun...trust me. The older we get the more it hurts and the longer it takes to recover.
3) I recently read a set of statistics about fatalities by vehicle type. Motorcycles fatalities were 30 times more likely per mile traveled than automobiles. They were the highest category in deaths/mile.
4) I am going to continue to ride. I probably won't do cross-country or international bike trips any more, but I can't quit all together despite the facts in numbers 2 and 3 above.
I have told people for decades "If the risks of motorcycling scare you then maybe you shouldn't ride." It is up to each individual to determine the risk/reward ratio for them. I hope this helps.
Keep the rubber side down.