Lost a fellow rider yesterday.

[scra99tch]

Glenn Annis of Hudson, NH 65. 

For the past 10 years since I've first bought my Jackal I attended Laconia, and later Americade with him.  Even though I saw him once a year (maybe a couple of other times for his grandkids birthdays) He always had a grin and not a care when he was on his Harley, doubt to say here in the Live Free or Die State that a helmet would of saved him, we will never know.  Not to say he was cocky just the opposite quite and sarcastic.

Drove by the accident site on my bike which I am travel by quite often and to see the truck tires tires marked on the pavement, driven by an 18 year old and the pools of blood made it very real.

Picking up my helmet this morning and having my wife give me that stare made me feel real selfish, all the while thinking how my 2.5 year old son would get along without me around. 

Its spring time here and being the selfish one that I am hope to have a great riding season.

Stay Safe

   

[oldbike54]

 RIP Glenn .

 Yes , blood makes things very real .

  Dusty

[fotoguzzi]

  thinking how my 2.5 year old son would get along without me around. 
 

you still get that feeling when your son is 25..   

sorry for your loss..

[Chet Rugg]

you still get that feeling when your son is 40.
damn photo either I started early or maybe I'm gettinn old.
yes sorry for your lose.
My buddy went down bad. He lived though. Still brought out that look from my wife next  trip I took.
heals a little with time.

[DaSwami]

What a horrible deal.....very sorry to hear that.   

[papatom]

Sorry for your loss.  The first time my 13 year old son brake slid around the outside of me on our dirtbikes, and powered off, my first thought was if I had opened Pandora's Box.  What had I unleashed?  Then I sucked it up and throttled up and went after him.  We hope no harm comes to our loved ones or ourselves but there are no guarantees.

[Spuddy]

Blessings.

Spud

[Arizona Wayne]

Do I have this right? A part time biker bud of yours who doesn't believe in wearing a MC helmet got killed recently w/o wearing a mc helmet in a MC accident?

[oldbike54]

 Wayne , most of us have friends we only see a few times a year , and probably at least one that doesn't wear a helmet . Doesn't mean we don't feel the loss if they die .

 Dusty

[Arizona Wayne]

Wayne , most of us have friends we only see a few times a year , and probably at least one that doesn't wear a helmet . Doesn't mean we don't feel the loss if they die .

 Dusty

So in that case what does "feel the loss" mean to you?  Is anyone found responsible for the loss?  Or is that too judgemental?

[oldbike54]

So in that case what does "feel the loss" mean to you?  Is anyone found responsible for the loss?  Or is that too judgemental?

 Not even sure what that means Wayne ?

 Dusty

[Arizona Wayne]

Not even sure what that means Wayne ?

 Dusty

Without more facts as to why this biker died, I can't come to any conclusions who I should feel sorry for, if anybody. 

[scra99tch]

Wayne,

Father-in-law of a really good friend.  He's been riding a lot longer than most of us.  Got crushed by a car helmet or no helmet was his time to go.  I saw him only a few times a year i.e. At our friends get togethers.

Feel sorry for the bike if anything else.

[Nic in Western NYS]

Sorry for your loss. This sort of thing hits home.
News reports say the truck turned left and took out the late Mr. Annis, another rider, and a parked car.  http://www.wmur.com/news/state-police-are-investigating-deadly-crash-in-brookline-sunday/39078886

[kidsmoke]

That's a super dangerous intersection. Effectively the kid in the truck went straight at a right hand bend in the road, but that required crossing the oncoming lane. A lot of accidents at that spot. I've got family that works as an EMT in the area.

as to the issue to empathy...I don't see why it's so hard to show a bit when someone loses a friend or family member, regardless of context, be they culpable for their demise or not. Loss hurts. In your face illustrations of mortality and the tenuous state we all exist in is unsettling.

I'm sorry for the loss of your buddy, scratch. Hope that if there are lessons to be learned from the event, it happens. Small consolation, to be sure.
 

[lucian]

Sorry for the loss of your friend. Really sucks hearing about this time and time again. That cager turning left thing isn't going away, so let's all be reminded of this incident when we encounter it and remain on the defensive always. As for that look from the wife, I just tell mine It isn't dying I'm afraid of, it's not living, end of subject.    dave

[Arizona Wayne]

18 year old in a truck kills a biker while driving recklessly.  Whether the dead biker had a helmet on isn't stated, but if he didn't he didn't help his chances to live thru this accident.  Sadness all around.

[pmillar]

Sorry for your loss and the unpleasant reminder of the risks associated with riding.  Also, it's that time of year... car drivers aren't looking for bikes, riders are rusty and roads still have winter crap/sand on them in many areas.

[Chuck in Indiana]

It's *always* that time of year. Ride in Peace, Glenn.

[Zoom Zoom]

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. My condolences.

ZZ

[HardAspie]

so i've given up motorcycling. a one and a half spit me off at walking speed. i am nursing a broken arm and glad that when mt head hit the tarmac it was encased in a good brain bucket, i am missing motorcycling already, but think that i have made, based less on the dangers of riding than on my old and brittle bones. but still....

...i rode on and off, as life dictated, for decades; probably not all that unusual. i am one of those people of a specific and voluntary minority who like two wheelers and all that comes with them. along the way i have met other bikers and have been fortunate to call some of them friends. they have been so varied. i've known gold wing riders and sport bike riders and trike riders and dirt. . .

. . . all bikers. and although i never met the gentleman about which this sad thread revolves; i have known griseled old harley riders who would rather eat grubs than wear a helmet. i have known riders who have died; of heart attacks and while on their steel horses. and they have been, each of them, more like me than like anyone not infected with the biker bug.

when one of us dies on a bike that is our brother or sister. one of our small tribe of misfits is gone. personally i do see the sadness here and i feel it though i never met the man. i don't care that plastic did not cover his head, nor how few times the op saw him. another biker down. that is all that matters to me.

may he rest in peace and never be quite forgotten.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I almost lost my riding buddy recently, I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

[steelby]

It's not selfish, man.  Nobody gets out of this one alive.  People die for all sorts of reasons, but it's better to die doing what you love than otherwise.  Our families love us for what we are, and part of what we are is our love for adventure, exploration, freedom and nicely crafted machines. 

Whatever happens in your life, your son will love you more for being exactly what you are.

[radguzzi]

Sorry Man,
Take care, remember Glenn.

Best,
Rob

[LowRyter]

blessings are good

But wear a helmet.

[azguzzirep]

much too young. My sympathies to all who are affected.

Tom

[SmithSwede]

I'm very sorry for your loss.  Sad.  Sounds like the car driver's fault, which ultimately means nothing.

As to Arizona's comments about lack of helmet.  All I can say is that the exact same logic underlies the typical "cager"'sentiment about us motorcyclists.  After all, isn't it the rider's "fault" for riding a da*m motorcycle?  He likely would have survived if he'd been driving a giant Hummer with 12 airbag systems.

Don't get me wrong.   I'm a big believer in helmets and proper gear.  I was that way even as a crazy squid teenager on my RD-350.  But there is a vanishingly small line between "he died because no helmet" versus "he died because riding a cursed donor-sickle."

[oldbike54]

 :1: Prescott . A few years back a famous NFL quarterback was injured in a MC accident . The press vilified him for riding a MC , why would he risk his football career like that . Finally one brave writer pointed out that the wreck wasn't his fault , a car had collided with him , so maybe the car driver should be fading the heat . Of course with what we now know about the risks of playing football , the whole "motorcycles are dangerous" thing seems to not hold up very well .

 Dusty

[rodekyll]

It's always a sad thing.  Yet I'll continue to agree that helmet use should be a choice.  Hopefully someone will choose better because of this.

Locally, they've suspended the search for the California Cheechako (chicochako) who went for a midnight kayak ride through the barrier rocks, sans float plan, survival suit, floatation device, or lights/locator.  The kayak, having the better survival sense, was recovered.  In the area it was found, once in the water there's really no way out again.  If the shock of going into the water didn't paralyze him outright, the meat grinder effect of the current and surf on barnacled rocks would have gotten him as he tried to swim.  His wife, a friend of a friend of mine, defends his memory saying he did that sort of sortie all the time in CA, and had absolute confidence in his abilities.  I feel genuinely bad for his wife, and for my friend who gets to sit up with her, but I hope folks look at what happened here and make better choices than he did.

[lucydad]

Death be not proud--Donne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Be_Not_Proud_(poem)

"Holy Sonnet X"
Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and souls deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better than thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, Death, thou shalt die.

Blessings to all involved, there are no words.

Found out this morning an old Durango, CO family friend, a true Viejo passed at 94.  He taught shooting safety to young boys and also police officers.  Survived 34 missions as tail gunner B 17, raised a big Italian family on the mesa, and repaired clocks.  Went to high school with his nephew. 

Life is short.  Live it well.

Peace, blessings, Namaste...