I have been a motorcycle road racer for many years. Picture closed circuits and leather suits with knee sliders. The kind of gear that protects you when you lean over and press your knee into the asphalt at triple-digit speeds. I love road racing, and crashing is part of the game. I have done so more than a few times. Because of this sport, I have been hospitalized for broken ribs, a chipped pelvis and once a bruised kidney that made me urinate blood for a week. Because of this sport, once I was unconscious for four minutes after a last lap entanglement.
When Caution Becomes Paralysis
Key Takeaways:
- The author's extensive background in motorcycle road racing developed crucial reflexive skills that enabled him to safely manage a wind-shear-induced aerodynamic stall and emergency land his plane, saving lives.
- Despite his reflexes saving him, the author questions if his racing-honed, risk-taking mindset might have contributed to the accident in the first place, emphasizing the need for both immediate reactive skills and proactive risk assessment.
- He struggles post-accident with a paralyzing fear of flying, even though he understands what went wrong, likening his mental state to the incapacitating fear caused by unpredictable "high side" racing crashes.
- The experience has profoundly shifted his perspective on risk, moving from a willingness to push limits to an extreme caution that he is still learning to distinguish from irrational fear.
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