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While sifting through the articles covering the David Hough hall of fame story I noticed most of them quoted David as saying “Take it seriously.” when asked for his best advice. In today’s world of short attention spans it is compact enough to get attention while at the same time encompassing an attitude we all should bring to riding.

I remember being in St. Croix in 1993 while playing at a weeklong jazz festival. A few of us got the idea to try scuba diving and so off we went to the diving store to try a short beginner’s adventure. The next day we had the chance to go out in the owner’s boat to go visit the site of a sunken tug boat. The emphasis on safety was intense particularly since some of us in the group were only beginners.

Now in my 8th season of riding, my thoughts of what I can do to survive motorcycling have led me back to that week with air tanks strapped to my back and 50 feet of water over my head. Within reason, our diving equipment was checked and checked again before submerging into another world, but how many of us do anything similar before venturing out on public roadways on two wheels? According to the Dunlop tire company, they’ll attend motorcycle rallies and randomly check tire inflation only to find a high percentage of rear tires under-inflated. How many of us would descend into deep waters without first checking the air in our tanks? Certainly, not being able to breathe can get a lot more of our attention than our tires but low tire pressure can and has severely injured or killed some of us.

When we dove, we asked ourselves what our escape routes would be in the event of an emergency. When we ride, do we ask what shape we’d be in if we fell off? Will what we have on protect us or will we need skin grafts? Do we check that all systems are in spec or do we just assume all is ok until next time? Riding is supposed to be fun, but leaving room for some seriousness can go a long way in allowing us to rack up those miles on the odometer.