Down

It was a drizzly, dull morning, with a rain that seemed to have had second thoughts about coming down in drops and settled instead on just hanging around as vapour in the air. As I rode to work on my scooter I knew that there wasn't enough water around to make me wet, but even so I had a feeling of slight trepidation. Ever since I came off my scooter and broke my arm a year ago I've been nervous about riding in the rain, and even dampness makes me cautious.


Perhaps too cautious, I wondered to myself as I gently buzzed along Riverside Drive. I do have a tendency to be excessively risk averse. Perhaps I should stop being a wuss and just relax.


Then again, I countered, perhaps the reason why I haven't come off this thing more than once is because I'm so cautious on it. I don't know - am I overesimating the risk or just being realistic?


And literally two seconds later, as I drew abreast of another motorbike rider on a Kawasaki, coming off the Mounts Bay Road roundabout, I heard an odd scrabbling sound. I glanced over just in time to see the Kawasaki sliding along the road on its side, with its rider close behind.


He'd been traveling fairly slowly to negotiate the roundabout, and he was wearing full leathers, so I doubt he was hurt. Even so I wanted to stop and make sure he was okay, but there was nowhere to do so on that stretch of road.


I had to continue on to work, more nervous than ever, but thankful that God's Irony Ray is apparently miscalibrated and shooting wide.