|
By ALLAN Ogden
I wear my back patch with pride and respect and for my love and devotion to our Lord and Savior . On Saturday , April 3 , 2021 , I had an issue that came out of nowhere without warning or time to react . As I was riding back to work in Frankfort from my lunch break on my 1996 Harley Electra Glide , a moment of just how fragile life can be fell upon me and opened my eyes .
Over time , we all become relaxed and overconfident in our abilities on these motorcycles . It all becomes like you ' re driving a car and are safe because you do it almost daily or a little every day β a routine stop-andgo .
The problem here is we are not in a car . We are on a motorcycle , and they are less forgiving when something happens . In a vehicle , most of the time , if something goes wrong , you have a warning or some time to react . But , most times , there is no sign of the problem on a motorcycle or any time to respond , as I found out that day .
When heading back to work from lunch , I rode like any other time . It was nice out , reasonably light traffic , and I felt comfortable in my abilities and , maybe , a little too
|
relaxed .
This was the issue when coming up to a stop at the light near my work . There was a local police car in the left turn lane ahead of me . He was stopped and waiting for the light to turn green to turn . I turned on my signal and switched lanes behind him to turn .
I was off the throttle and slowing . I pulled in my clutch and dropped a gear while slowing . When I let off the clutch lever , my bike spun out from under me one way and sent me off in the other direction . I was doing 45 when I entered the turn lane and near 30 when I dropped a gear down . I did have a helmet on , and thank the Lord , I did . I heard my helmet smack the pavement at least three times as I slid several feet .
I only got some road rash and swelling around my right knee because of this incident . The back of my leg hurt as well . The bike had some cosmetic damage , but all of that was repairable .
With all this said , I stress the importance of keeping focused and alert when riding our motorcycles . When something goes wrong , you lose the ability to keep your bike up on two wheels . Trust me ; as I
|
learned , the motorcycle is unforgiving . The Lord will always forgive us , but that machine will not .
After hitting the pavement and getting to my feet , I looked around , and before any police , EMT , or anyone else arrived , what did I see ? A gentleman was coming across the road wearing a CMA vest . He asked me if I was okay before realizing I was a CMA member .
The first thing is I thank our Lord for watching over me . Things could have been much worse as this happened on the main road just as the lunch hour rush ended . The second thing that made me happy was seeing a CMA member on the scene . We are doing exactly what we are out there to do β taking care of our brothers and sisters on motorcycles . And we are being there when they are in need and hurting for aid or salvation . Thank you , dear Lord , and thank you , CMA .
To my fellow Brother , a follower in our Lord , and fellow CMA member , God bless you . And thank you for being there for me . I am speaking of Mike Walden , Kentucky State Coordinator . CMA
Allan is a member of Capital City Riders CMA chapter # 1258 in Frankfort , Kentucky .
|