I had a great weekend on the bike. I got out alone, had some fun out at Koumala Range, then took a ride with a good mate of mine.
The run at Koumala rattled out a few honest thoughts, and I felt I needed to share. I do some of my best thinking when I’m out on the bike, especially when I’m out by myself. I’ve been hooked up in the state of motorcycling in Queensland, and the way things are locally in my town. Riders out my way, some riders out my way, are stressing the locals out with the way they’ve been riding. And, I’m still a bit raw over the number of motorcycle fatalities Easter this year. If you stand back and look, 2026 has seen plenty of us riders wipe ourselves out, and I wonder how many more were left with permanent disability, or in financial ruin due to loss of employment, or simply loss of license. I can see why many more experienced riders, or those with their finger on the pulse of motorcycle safety, appear a little apathetic. We don’t seem to be getting the message. At the same time, we keep sending a message to the wider community that we don’t care, or at worst, we’re sending a message that we, as riders, need more policing/intervention and controls.
The ride I took out at Koumala Range this weekend nearly ended badly for me four separate times. And it rattled out some thoughts I wanted to share. Not a new thought, just a habit I’ve gotten into when I ride to realign my perspective when my riding starts steering toward the boundaries of safety or my own personal limits. Like I said, not a new thought, more a thought I have been trying to run as a personal habit to get myself back in the right mindset - the mindset that will see me riding longer and well into my old age.
Bush turkeys can't fly real well. The one that hovered/bounced/half flew across the road while I was mid-corner, mid-stupid riding, was my first subtle warning. I can't lie, it startled me, sure, I held my line and kept riding. However, it was a large enough jolt to my system to start eating away at my focus. Then this series of questions entered my mind, jumbled with the other thoughts shaken loose by a near bird strike.
I pushed those thoughts to the corner, clawing back some focus. This was my weekend ride, dammit, I was going to keep having fun. Free time is a precious commodity. And thoughts be damned, I kept riding.
My next warning was the hillbilly Tokyo drifting his Yaris into my lane a few runs later. Bird strike, then a near miss with a guy who was probably thinking something similar to me - just having fun, “not hurting anyone” by giving his car the belt through some curves. Those thoughts came back pretty quickly, heavier, and harder to push away. A Yaris being heavier than a bush turkey. It’s MY weekend, though, so I kept riding, gathering up my scattered focus and finding my groove again.
Two more warnings - prompts - came after, and I decided to call it quits before I got turned into bits. Two almost identical mid-sized buses (both towing trailers) crossed over into my lane mid-corner. Mid blind corner from my direction. Both times, I’m kicked over scrubbing off the edges of my tyres, just starting to open the throttle for an early hard exit, and I’m greeted with Bus McBusface.
I’m not angry about it, like most riders would be. Yeah, everyone was in the wrong (except the bush turkey)- me, Yaris guy and the two bus drivers. I could have chased them down, gotten mad, kicked some mirrors off, or anything else most other riders might do.
By then, though, I’d taken the hint; I needed to pack it in and take a gentle ride home and let those thoughts come back so I could take a better look at them.
I keep calling them “thoughts”, but they’re a bunch of questions. These are questions I’ve gotten into the habit of asking myself, usually immediately after I’ve ridden in a way that could see me lose my other arm or my license. I’m not a perfect rider, and I’m in no position to lecture or criticise any other rider, other than myself. I am trying to be a better rider, though. I genuinely want to ride bikes right up until they pry the bike from under me and put me in a nursing home. So, the amount of “stupid” that leaks out when I ride needs to be controlled so it just doesn't happen anymore.
And that's what these questions I ask myself are supposed to do.
WHY - Why did I just do that [insert stupid riding behaviour here]?
What was I trying to achieve?
What was I trying to communicate?
Who was I trying to impress?
Who was I trying to send a message to?
Which feeling was I chasing by riding like that?
I take the effort not to bulshit myself when I answer these questions either. I’ll keep my answers to myself, and I think most riders would do the same. Once my ego's done struggling to justify the answers to those questions, I’ll ask myself if that riding behaviour was effective.
Did I get what I wanted?
Did the reward land like I’d hoped it would?
How long did the feeling last?
Did that burst of stupid riding get the validation I was chasing? Validation from who? Is the validation of [insert person/group/road user] worth it to me? Was the way I rode some form of message to someone else, and was it an effective message - did the message even land?
I’m trying to get my brain to do the maths here - the economics of risk versus reward. The risks of riding a bike on public roads are already pretty high; add a dash of stupidity, and the risks increase exponentially. And if I’m riding to send a message to other road users, I need only watch a few videos of Dashcams Australia to realise most of the other road users can't read simple words like “stop” and “no entry”. So, me taking risks to communicate something is bad economics.
Was I riding to impress someone? Who are they? Am I riding to impress faceless people for fake internet points? Will they be there when I crash, and beside me while I rebuild myself? More than likely, no, no, they won't be. So, again, that's bad economics.
The big question here is - was it worth it? Three seconds of adrenaline is a fair trade for the physical ability to ride bikes? Losing your license (and the fallout from that) is worth it for a few internet points? Did those ten seconds of attention from a faceless crowd really fill the void you’re trying to fill?
I dont want to hear your answers, I’m not sharing mine, and I dont think any rider has to share. The questions should be asked in the space inside your helmet where you are most honest with yourself. You might not like the answers you give yourself, especially as the answers become more and more honest over time. Small adjustments start to appear as the answers evolve.
Pro-tip: Want to get good, clear, honest answers from yourself? Go for a ride by yourself. Group rides, even a ride with a mate, will give biased answers. Assuming you can get a clear enough moment in your helmet to question yourself properly.
I am honestly making small adjustments to my riding. Again, because I want to ride bikes right up until I can't anymore. The adjustments I have made are driven by the risk versus reward economics of my current life - I have a lot of people relying on me. Without me, or without me in operating condition, they’d struggle. It's changed who I ride with as much as how I ride; it's changed the purpose of my riding from seeking validation or approval to riding to find clarity and explore the world through the perspective from inside my helmet.
I’m not trying to change anyone’s riding. I’m trying to change the way we think before and after we ride.
