By: by Jackie Vaughan
Many people use a checklist to prepare for a trip. It might include gas, tire pressure, first aid kit, et cetera. One item often missing is the condition of the rider himself. Yet the rider’s condition is at least as important as the condition of the bike.
There is a checklist which allows the rider to check out himself before every trip. Easy to remember, the list is called I’m Safe. It stands for illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue and emotion. Let’s take a look at how each of these factors affects us.
Illness:
Many illnesses such as diarrhea, headache or fever can blunt our senses and affect our ability to scan aggressively for hazards or our ability to react to these hazards quickly. Recovering from an illness can do the same.
Medication:
Medication such as sleeping pills, even taken the night before, or antihistamines can make us drowsy. Antibiotics do a good job of fighting infections but also leave us fatigued for several days.
Stress:
Just before a trip is not the best time to air our problems. We will be in a much better mood after a good trip. Take time to relax before starting. Another thing to remember: don’t bring the kids.
Alcohol:
Alcohol can be summed up in a single phrase-one drink per hour. Make sure there is no alcohol in your system before you ride.
Fatigue:
Working long hours at physical labor before a trip is a sure way to start the trip with fatigue.
Emotion:
We are all aware that being angry or sad at can keep our mind off our riding, but we should know that being very happy can do the same. We need to take time to think things out before we start
