Serenity

In my experience, the most dangerous time seems to be between about eighteen months, and three years. They're just experienced enough to have started dropping their guard, but not experienced enough to actually get away with it. Of of the riding clubs had a Road Captain who was obsessed with safety protocols to the point where he'd drag everyone through these lengthy pre-ride seminars and lead slowly enough to sandwich everyone between himself and packs of road-ragers. A rookie rider who had retired from a career as a safety officer, he was so preoccupied with enforcing the use of (needless and distracting) hand signals and other rote protocols, he didn't see the pickup truck swerving into his lane. Thankfully, he's expected to recover fully. Chalk this up to the "Ain't it cool?" phenomenon.

Agreed. I've been riding for 34 years without putting down (except for a few embarassing incidents at less than walking speed), and put in enough miles to have circled the earth a few times. It's not a matter of if, but when. It was my stepbrother - the closest thing you'll ever meet to Hank Hill - who taught me to ride, so confidence + a healthy dose of paranoia is what's gotten me this far. Being in a university town, I can't tell you how many 'winners (short for "Darwin Award Candidate") I've seen riding around in flip-flops and and beachwear. I tell them if they're not going to wear a helmet and some abrasion protection, at the very least lose the flip-flops. They're chainbait, for one, and novice riders will put their feet down reflexively and at the most inopportune moments. I handed the girlfriend of one of these 'winners a ziplock bag, and told her that it was so that she'd have something in which to admire that pretty new pedicure of hers after she collected what was left of her toes from the pavement. Again, not if, but when.