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 Riding gear,
new look and life lessons
From the small office in the back corner,
near the water cooler
June 11th, 2007
I know, I know, this is
certainly a lot of road to cover in one trip, but it has
been two months since the last editorial so it’s
understandable having a lot to write about.
 It’s because so much has been going on that two months raced
by without so much as a peep from the corner office near the
water cooler.
As the funniest roommate to make it onto film
once said, “Viscious circle really.” For those movie buffs
scratching their heads, that would be Spike from the funny Notting
Hill.
What has to stand out more than a scooter in a line-up of
mega CC cruisers at a biker night is our new look. Aside from
the brighter colors and vibrant layout, you may’ve noticed
Clutch and Chrome is taking up more real estate on your
computer screen. The redesign was a given--the website has
had it first birthday and everyone knows we bikers like to
change things up, even if its only a new accessory here and
there.
Without meaning to sound too boring, the new look has
helped immensely with getting more information on each page
without the site becoming a cluttered mess that so many
online magazines have struggled with. There really is so
much more to Clutch and Chrome besides the news and
articles, but all the other stuff was too easily lost,
buried away in menu bars and sub-listings. Now everything is
proudly displayed to the left of the screen and can be found
no matter where you are in the world we all love and know as
Clutch and Chrome.
Indeed that web-based world has become a little larger with our very
own line of riding gear and gifts! The clothes are meant to
cross the cruising, sportbike gap with a little bit of
everything for everyone. New designs are being created on
a nearly daily basis so I’d encourage you to check in
throughout the week to see if there’s anything to catch your
eye.
It’s no secret that the staff is all guys
(trust me it
wasn’t by choice) so we were all amazed how much larger the
selection of clothes were for the female riders: Scoop,
v-neck, spaghetti and camisole. Who knew women wanted so
many choices and styles?
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The best part of
developing this line of clothing was the unexpected ability to
create funny and unforeseen products.
When sitting down in that
initial meeting, no one ever thought we’d have anything
worthwhile to put on a
maternity
dress, but sure enough ‘It was about the ride’
fell
perfectly in place.
Same can be said about the
‘Ride me’
thong, perfect for that sexy woman in your life.
There are traditional designs on everything from t-shirts to
sweatshirts, giving you or the bikers in your life the
chance to wear something besides the major brands everyone
seems to have in their wardrobe. |
Thong anyone? |
Life lesson
Breaking with tradition, I’ll end this editorial on a
serious note. With all our northern brothers and sisters
breaking their bikes out of winter hibernation, nothing can
ruin a ride more than being cut off in traffic or a close
call from an oblivious driver.
As much as it’s said by fellow riders and preached in safety
classes, it doesn’t take a genius to realize a motorcycle is
much smaller than the tiniest car and pound for pound will
lose any freeway fight.
Being the independent, confident types bikers are, we’ve
never let common-sense get in the way of anger. Riding close
to the offending car, screaming over the roar of our engines
and even falling back on our one-fingered salute to show our
anger, it’s all in the repertoire.
But the days of us doing any of these are going the way of
the kick-start engine with road rage clearly getting out of
hand.
Just recently in South Florida a twenty-four year old
driving a minivan bumped the rear of a car at a traffic
light. Not wanting to stop at the scene of the accident the
car chased the van, catching up with it at a red light. The
driver of the car, Sandra Hall and her sister jumped in
front of the van, insisting the young van driver, Abdelaziz
Hamze wait for police to arrive and file an accident report.
Up to this point, although the story makes it to the more sensational
end of the scale of auto-accidents, it's still something that
happens across the country on a daily basis.
The scene of an upset Sandra Hall screaming at Hamze turned
tragic when inching the van forward in hopes of getting away
yet again turned into the van reaching speeds of seventy
miles per hour with her hanging on the hood. At some point
in the ordeal she fell off and got caught in the
undercarriage of the van. A foot wide trail of Halls’ blood
was visible along about two miles of the roadway. The trail
shifted around three of the lanes painting a macabre scene.
I realize there were no motorcycles involved with this
incident, but that confrontation could have easily been
between a van driver and biker for one cutting the other
off.
The incident highlighted the escalating road rage in
southern Florida which seems to have grown over the last few
years to include guns being fired from cars and pedestrians
mowed down by out of control cars. Sad but true, we’ve
reported bikers being beaten on the side of the road by
angry driver in some cases of road rage.
Our rides don’t come with air-bags and last time I looked,
didn’t have a safety cage. They’re not necessarily built for
safety, but more for the ride.
So next time someone does something stupid on the road, and
I’m sure you won’t have to wait long, follow a few steps
that’ll make sure you enjoy riding another day.
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Back off. Give the offending driver the space. They
obviously need it.
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Slow down. Give yourself some time to think, realize what
just happened and where the whole left you on the road in
relationship to the other traffic.
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Calm down. Take a few breaths and let the anger simmer down
so you can start seeing things without that red in your
eyes.
Obviously what that driver did was stupid and may or may not
have been intentional. Either way they’re not worth your
effort or time to get angry, and you certainly shouldn’t let
them ruin a ride you’ve been thinking about through all
those cold months.
Besides, we’d really like to see you come back for the next
editorial.
The Editor
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