I am really fucking angry with myself.
I had another accident last night. Like my last 17 incidents, it was a stupid freak mishap that resulted in a bloody knee, many more bruises, and worst of all – Oscar’s first dings. I haven’t even had him for a week and he’s already quite obviously MY scooter because he’s banged up in several places. It’s just some scrapes – nothing serious or really all that noticeable unless you’re close up – but I am mad at myself, at the hill I fell on, at Ed, at Oscar, at my bloody bruised knees, and anything else within my sight.
I know it was just a stupid accident and it could have happened to anyone, but it happened to me, again. Halfway up a steep hill I decided to turn around, forgetting that Oscar is at least twice as heavy as Sally, and also taller – and because the hill was really that steep, I misjudged my footing and toppled onto my left, sliding down the hill a little. I scraped up Oscar’s left side, putting gouges into the knee panel, the front fender, and the Vino badge. It’s nothing a little touch-up paint and a new badge won’t fix, and my bruises will eventually go away and my knee will scab up and I’ll look extremely sexy in short skirts – but I am so fucking mad at myself I could scream.
I’m always careful. I don’t ride like a maniac, I don’t take risks, I don’t do outlandish things or try to show off. So why do I keep falling over? Is every freak accident I have just that – a weird mishap that results in down? Why does it keep happening to me? Ed argued that every single one of my accidents were avoidable, to which I scoffed – technically, every accident is avoidable. However, I wasn’t DOING ANYTHING to cause accidents; they just happened – which I suppose is the very definition of “accident”. So, what gives? Am I really that much of a klutz? Is the universe conspiring against me? Are my 84 small accidents saving me from one big accident? Is there any way I can completely avoid wet leaves, slippery concrete, curbs, and hills? Should I just buy a suit made of bubble wrap and call it a day? Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. I am just so mad at me. I fucking suck.
Poor Oscar. Welcome to life with Kimli!
Fuck.
delicious juice dot com 
“top heavy” ( Y ) = unpredictable center of gravity = down lots.
I read some article the other week of a study that determined through statistical analysis that some people are just unlucky, especially so. I guess the study determined there were a whole bunch of outliers from the bell curve, so to speak. Except they didn’t come up with any reason why this would be so.
You just seem damned unlucky when it comes to riding. I hope you’re not an outlier.
And I’m glad it was the bike that got scratched up and not so much you. We’d all much rather see you looking sexy in shorts than look at your bike.
Heya K…
Trust me, it could be worse. Have you seen the serious, yet most superficial scar I have on my left knee from going down after hitting gravel with my Black Beast? It’s all good, so long as it’s fixable, and the scar heals.
Hell, mine doesn’t, and I still think it’s all good. I’m here, alive, and despite the very scary fall, I got my class six. Everyone goes down eventually – I’m so glad yours are not too serious, overall.
Ok, this is going to come off as bitchy, but I’m really, really anal about bike safety, and it pisses me right off when people flaunt those particular rules.
Kimli… please, take training. Seriously. You’re riding something a lot more powerful than a 49cc scooter, and without some form of training, your chances of killing yourself are pretty damn high. Not to mention, if you only have a learners permit, what are you doing out riding? Your learners permit doesn’t allow you to ride without someone with a full class six supervising.
THIS is why you keep having accidents. “Being careful” doesn’t mean shit if you don’t know what careful is.
Case in point: I’ve been riding something a lot bigger and more powerful than a 149cc scooter for almost 6 years. I’ve yet to find down. I’ve also spent over $1500 on training — not to mention $2000 on gear for when I do fuck up (because Tanya’s right — everyone does find down eventually.)
If I’m mistaken, and you did have someone watching you, I apologize. But seriously, TAKE TRAINING. Get properly licensed. I *promise* that the number of accidents you have will decrease once you have some solid riding skills. This really isn’t something that you can learn on your own.
I’m not flaunting anything, really.
And to be fair, I find down on a regular bicycle, when I’m walking on the sidewalk, when I’m in the shower – I am highly accident prone. Shit happens to me all the time, whether I’m doing a high risk activity or not. All the stuff that has happened to me has been when I’m at a dead stop.
When I can find training for scooter riding that does not require me to actually own a motorcycle in order to take the class, and will teach me scooter essentials, I will.
None of the motorcycle training companies in this city require a motorcycle. You’ll be TAUGHT on a motorcycle, but the skills will transfer over. If you tell them that you’re a scooter rider, they’ll take it into consideration. They’re pretty flexible.
http://www.safetycouncil.bc.ca/course_desc.php?cid=102
http://www.proride.net/ (this one’s even in north van, for the road portion of the class.)
The courses are expensive, but hell, you’ll make up for it just in repairs by not falling down as much.
Other benefits to the course: If you take your road test on a bigger bike, you don’t have scooter restrictions or passenger restrictions. The scooter restriction might not bother you, but eventually if you move up to a bigger scooter that can handle a passenger, that might come in handy.
The comment about “flaunting” was in reference to you riding outside your restrictions. (Upon research, it appears I actually meant “flout”, rather than “flaunt”, as in “to show contempt for.” I excuse this error with the fact that hey, it’s common enough to make it into the dictionary as a common error. heh.) If you are riding a 149cc scooter on a learners permit without your MST, and without a supervisor, you’re evidently flouting the rules. It’s people like you who are responsible for me being pulled over almost WEEKLY during riding season to have my license checked, to make sure I have a valid class 6 (one cop told me that something like 60% of riders aren’t properly licensed, hence the constant license checking.)
Ed’s right. Your accidents ARE avoidable. There are three causes to an accident: Rider error, mechanical malfunction, and other drivers. These can merge, of course, but those are the basics. Your accidents, from the description you’ve given, are caused by rider error. They don’t “just happen”, the universe is not out to get you, no fates are pulling on strings… you’ve fucked up. Don’t get me wrong — that’s not a huge deal, we ALL fuck up, and so far yours have been minor enough. I’ve sure as hell had my fair share of close calls that were my own damn fault… and some that weren’t. But I *promise* you that you’ll fuck up a LOT less with actual training. Even better, when you DO fuck up, you have the skills to get out of a lot of it WITHOUT finding down. :)
The offer still stands: If you need supervisor to practice with, I’m happy to do it. I have a full class six and I’m over 25. I suspect after this tirade, I’m probably not your favorite person, but let me put this bluntly: You’re going to kill yourself if you don’t learn how to ride properly. Period.