Ruthie has been down at her local generic vehicle maintenance superstore (don’t see why I should mention their name unless they want to pay us for advertising. Hey, since the conference we’re valuable property..baby) buying spanners. Ruthie loves buying tools in macho vehicle parts stores since it so clearly disconcerts all the men in the queue behind her. The effect can easily magnified by loud conversations with the shop assistants something as follows..
“Nooo, the 10 inch one! I’ve got lots of big nuts to wrench..” etc etc
In a world where it’s so much easier to drive a car (unless you’re stuck on the M25 or trying to avoid the congestion charge) biking is not merely a mode of transport, it is a lifestyle choice, nay a quasi religious experience. Therefore Ruthie has a relationship with her bike that simply could not exist with her car. Her car: a random stranger that one bumps up to on the tube, her bike: a new lover that she is eager to please…
So the spanners are just one way that Ruthie develop her relationship with her bike. This week, just a bit ot tweaking to install her sat nav, next week who knows? Ruthie dreams of a full service…
To get her bike in the mood Ruthie decided to take it on holiday for the weekend. This was Ruthie’s first foray to a proper biker rally. Ruthie in her flowery wellies and her bike with its sat nav looked a bit gay amongst lots of hard core bikers with tatoos and bodily piercings. Still the food was good, and the music excellent, and both of us left undamaged.
The event was organised by the Motorcycle Action Group, which is a riders rights group. Ruthie was impressed by the event and that the marshalls were volunteers, but also paid for their tickets. Personally Ruthie wouldn’t join MAG since they support the abolition of the law requiring the compulsary wearing of helmets. Whilst Ruthie is all in favour of people being as reckless as want, there’s also the rights of the emergency services who have to scrape your brains off the tarmac, and the hospital bed space that you take up that could be used for someone with a non self-inflicted injury
That phrase...
Would this not-so-superstore be “Halfloads” by any chance
I agree: all sanely priced cars are functional and unexciting. Even the cool ones (Bentley GT’s etc) aren’t exactly a lifestyle choice even if fun.
Ride a bike without a helmet? Not for me… having only had one crash in my time - which I reported on in my blog, after a driver hit me from behind while I was waiting to turn right - I would probably have been dead had I not been wearing a helmet or, at the least, would have had bad head injuries. the helmet was badly damaged.
Hi Ruthie,
Just a quick thing to correct your comment in the post. MAG were formed in response to the Helmet Law, and every year the members debate whether to continue campaigning for it’s abolition at the AGM.
The reason it has stayed as an active lobby point is that it is now symbolic of choice. MAG are pro-choice , and if you choose to wear a helmet that is your choice.
If you do not agree , then join MAG , and take part in the democratic process, and put forward another symbol of the right to choose. Do not justify your lack of support without due consideration of the historical facts.
Thanks or the clarification scouse.
My view is that some choices are just not worth having or fighting for: helmet wearing is one of them. The consequences are so serious I’d never ride without mine even if I had the power to do so.
I respect the counter-argument but I just don’t buy it.
Thanks for your comment. If you consider the freedom not to wear a helmet is a “right” then any intereference with that right by the state must be proportionate taking into account the extent of the intereference, set against the reasons for it.
Whilst wearing a helmet is a pain, the requirement is hardly a breach of my fundmental human rights. Statistics show that helmet wearing does make s significant reduction to injury. I am never in favour of the state legislating simply to protect people from themselves; grown adults ought to be allowed to make their own choices. However if I expect the state to scrape me off the tarmac and provide medical care in the event of injury, then the state can set down laws to limit the extent of its obligation.
I appreciate MAG is about much more than the wearing of helmets, but frankly given the number of other more pressing issues facing bikers today, I think they would do well to forget the helmet issue and concentrate on something more important. Sadly also sticking to this view makes it harder to take MAG seriously as an organisation. However I take the point that if I want to change it then I should join and exercise my democratic right to vote. However, instead of joining and trying to change the policy of MAG surely so much easier to join a riders rights organisation that already supports my viewpoint.
What I do resent however, is the recent proposal for automatic speed limiting bikes. Whatever view one takes of speeding, there are times when exceeding the speed limit may help to prevent rather than cause an accident. Riders need to be treated like adults and allowed to exercise their judgment. The law as it exists is adequate to deal with lunatics. So I propose this as a much better pro-choice lobbying point.