Thank You Mr. Winslow

As a motorcycle rider, I have taken a more than casual interest in the events surrounding Mr. Kellen Winslow Jr's recent motorcycle accident. Kellen Winslow is a professional football player. He wrecked his sportbike during the offseason and was villified by the press for participating in 'dangerous activities'. The message relayed by the general and sports media was very clear; Motorcycles are dangerous machines that are not ridden by responsible adults. This is, or course, bullshit.

As Paul Harvey would say, here's the rest of the story:

It seems that young Mr. Winslow had recently become infatuated with a sportbike stunt group in the Ohio area called the Starboyz. This group of riders became famous for filming some of their exploits and selling the videos. He was known to attend stunt shows in the Cleveland area, and was in fact returning from such a show the day he crashed his bike.

We all know that professional football players are badasses and this particular badass thought that riding like the Starboyz was something that anyone could do. Please note that the bike he was riding was purchased in April of this year and he was riding on a learner's permit.

So, after riding for one month, Winslow decided that it was time for some stunts. You may have heard that he crashed at 35Mph, but the injuries he sustained, i.e. puntured spleen, torn ACL, etc, were disproportionate to the indicated speed. The reason for this is that he was trying to do a 'stoppie'. This is done by locking the front brake and balancing the bike on the front wheel. This is not a beginner's trick, and he found out the hard way.

He crashed because he was attempting to do something stupid on a motorcycle, not just because he was riding a motorcycle. There is a difference here. If you don't respect the bike, it will bite back. This is sometimes a hard lesson to learn.

I prefer to think of the entire incident in this way. Unlike driving a car, riding a motorcycle is not something everyone can do. It takes skill, and above all, a healthy respect for the things that can happen to you if you don't pay attention or do something boneheaded.