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OVERCOOKED CORNER
MOUSE-CLEVELAND
   
  <your background>
1.Q Tell me about the first time you can remember being thrilled.
1.A Airplane ride from Uncle. This is where you get swung around in circles by your hand and foot.
 
2.Q What's been your most frightening thrill ever?
2.A Diving off a cliff and having my foot slip on a wet rock when I pushed off. I came inches away from splitting my front side open on jagged rocks on the way down.
 
3.Q What's the smallest or slightest thing to have thrilled you?
3.A A waitress touching my hand unexpectedly.
 
4.Q Tell me why you're not a sensible person.
4.A Other than owning a 190mph motorcycle? Not having a job?
 
5.Q What were you doing the last time you were really bored?
5.A Waiting for repairmen. I’m a landlord. I do this a lot. Repairman think it’s really clever to just blow you off and claim they were really busy.
 
6.Q What's the most uninhibited thing you've ever done?
6.A Stealing candy from a store in grade school.
 
7.Q What things have you considered doing for thrill, but were too concerned about the risks?
7.A Road Rage.
 
8.Q I always dreamt about being a paramedic, driving an ambulance and saving lives; what about you?
8.A Who wants to be around sick people? Strange blood can kill you.

 

 
  <your thrill>
  To answer these next 14 questions, you should think about a particular time you were thrilled.
 
9.Q Describe this thrill in a nutshell, in one sentence. (there's time to expand later)
9.A Overcooked a corner entry on a motorcycle.
 
  THE SETTING...
10.Q Where and when did it take place?
10.A Sunny afternoon about 3:00pm, southern California mountains. Downhill, decreasing radius right hand turn, slightly positive camber, some choppy pavement.
 
11.Q Tell me a bit about yourself around this time.
11.A I was still employed. Looking back, being an employee is so secure (guaranteed income, healthcare, 401K retirement plans etc.) that taking risks on a motorcycle is compensation. I still notice at moments of financial risk, I am less interested in going out for a ride. Between selling big chunks of stock and buying rental property I handled very large checks frequently for a bout a year. Stocks can and do go up or down 25%, a week after you sell. You only need so much risk and tension in your life.

 

 
  PREPARATION...
12.Q How did the moment arise? Was it planned?
12.A I thought I had one more constant radius curve before I got to the decreasing radius curve. Just a misidentification.

 

 
  YOUR FEELINGS...
13.Q List the sequence of events leading up to your thrill, and how you felt at each stage. The smallest detail could be important (this is your chance to expand).
13.A Moved over to the outside of the curve. Counter steered at the corner entry perfectly. Then realized the road was turning too sharply for my speed. There was a moment of disorientation before I figured out what had happened. Time to silently say Oh ****! Down hills are a pip. If you hit the brakes too hard, you slide it down and off the road. If you don’t hit the brakes there is a good chance you’ll go off the road on the outside of the turn or get whacked by a car in the oncoming lane. Standard procedure: Look de ep into the turn , counter steer harder and really lean it over. I did and lived. Every cell in your body is screaming “the tires are going to slide”. They didn’t’. Modern tire technology is quite good. Two relevant quotes: “It’s like traveling on a fast train, it’s easy to see far away, but right up close it’s all just a blurry haze.” and “You go where you look”. Stare three feet in front of the front tire and die.
 
14.Q At the exact moment of thrill, how did your mind and body feel?
14.A I think there are bio-chemical reactions in the brain at the moment of intense fear, not dissimilar from a drug rush. If you are 2 seconds away from being dead your body wants all systems on full input and output. It’s not a co-incidence that people talk about being hooked on speed or hooked on drugs. Give up high speeds and you go through real physical withdrawal. No more of those real chemicals being produced in your brain. That time slows down thing is also true.
 
15.Q What thoughts were going through your head?
15.A Intense fear that I was going to smash my body to pieces. Throw a rock straight up in the air as hard as you can and wait for it to come down. Something like that.
 
16.Q What did you do immediately afterwards?
16.A Slowed down and got my breathing back. Set up for the next corner. No rest for the wicked. I was terrified and elated at the same time.

 

 
  THE RISKS...
17.Q What were the most likely things that could have put you off going through with it?
17.A Correctly identifying the corner.

 

 
  OTHER PEOPLE...
18.Q How were other people important to your thrill?
18.A Not at all. It was nice that nobody was in the oncoming lane. The last thing I needed was distractions.
 
19.Q What do you imagine other people were thinking throughout your thrilling episode?
19.A Nothing.
 
20.Q Some people probably don't understand how such a thing can thrill you; explain it to them.
20.A Unlike an amusement park ride, riding a motorcycle can maim you, kill you, cause you to lose your job, house , (wife,) life savings and just about anything else you can think of. The risks are real. Ever bet $1,000?

 

 
  EQUIPMENT...
21.Q Why were certain objects or equipment important to your thrill?
21.A 1995 Kawasaki GPZ1100 (since sold)

 

 
  REPEAT PERFORMANCE...
22.Q If you've done something like this before, how does the last time compare to the first time you did it?
22.A As you develop more skill you go even faster. The amount of damage you will do to your body goes up. Kind of like an alcoholic that has to drink more and more even though it is making him sicker and sicker.
 
23.Q If you did it again, what things could be added or changed to make it even better?
23.A All you need is a bike and an empty road. Track day is the ideal situation.

 

 
  FINALLY...
  Is there anything you want to add?
 

You hardly needed to spend this much money to find out about a thrill . I’m sure the editors of Fast Bikes or Superbike would have put you on the back and woven in an out of traffic at 250kph for a six pack of beer. The adrenaline rush of doing this is it’s own reward. Cheers.

 
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what do you find thrilling?