I don’t know how much of a guarantee there is that if you ride you will go down.
People that believe in odds will tell you that if you never ride, the odds are zero that you will go down... And those same people will tell you that the odds go up every time you go for a ride.
I learned to ride in the 70s with a lot of riding in the farm fields.
I got my permit the day I bought a almost new 1971 Honda cb100 bike.
I had my dad take me to go get it.
I jumped on like I knew all about it and left, thrilled that I had my own motorcycle.
I had ridden a mini bikes since I was 12.
I never even had any issues with it during all the times riding it.
I did take a corner on the Honda CB100 with gravel and downed it one day.
The only injury was a skinned elbow and the bike had a broken turn signal...
Fast forward fifty some years to this bike.
There were a few other areas of gravel and a downed bikes, broken foot peg and a bruise or two in the past. ⏬
It’s been 10 year now and at least 100k miles without an actual moving mishaps injury until March of 2022 when I let the bike go down on my foot.
Not my smartest move.
Yes... It was my fault!
I healed and forgot about it.
You can’t idiot proof everything but learning to look for an accident before it happens will greatly improve your odds in staying upright. I now look at everything as a potential accident and how do I avoid the problem if there is one.
One instance I had was on a country road that I had never been on. I saw movement through some weeds ahead. I instantly knew it was a car and that there was no way I could be seen.
I rolled off the throttle and got ready for the car to pop out in front of me.
I was right and I would have been able to stop had the car pulled out in front of me.
The driver only inched out as far as needed to see if the road was clear.
I practice relentlessly for all kinds of different scenarios. Every time I ride I’ll practice some sort of stopping and/or maneuvering to stay sharp.
I practice on all kinds of different surfaces as well. From new pavement to tar and chip to dirt roads to the road down a steep hill, to this abandoned bridge, that is riddled with washes, holes and missing pavement.
Yet there are days I must have a Guardian Angel.
I find myself making a few stupid mistakes but I still make it home ok with grace of God.
I am truly blessed.
All we can do is try to be safe and ride on!!
Nana