Mr. editor:

Spring is about to spring, let’s hope so anyway. In the spring a biker’s mind turns to love for the sport.

Riding a motorcycle is inherently dangerous; two wheels with no cage around you, operating a smaller vehicle that folks have not been used to looking for, for five to six months, and we have a dangerous setting.

Please take an extra two seconds and look for a bike that may be in a shadow in the morning or at dusk.

And please, if you are contemplating joining those of us who love the sport, please understand that according to the National Motorcycle Safety Institute, most serious accidents happen with most new riders in the first 12 months. That is riding time, not having the bike siting in the garage for a year and calling it a year’s experience.

A new rider’s course should be a must; a motorcycle safety course will arm you with skills and knowledge that may just save you life. After the rider’s course, spend time riding in very low traffic areas and keep your speed down. Remembering back to our younger days as new automobile drivers, we all made mistakes during the learning process. Muscle memory, the acts we do without thinking about them while driving, took years to be implanted in our minds; learning to ride a motorcycle is no different.

Please understand in a “fender bender” with a car, the motorcycle rider will lose; you may get a traffic ticket, but the rider will go to the hospital or morgue. Most riders are safe and prudent people; those who are immature and reckless do not end up well, so give us a break and keep an eye out.

To my fellow riders, remember that it has been five to six months since we rode, so we should spend a few hours in a low traffic area and at lower speeds until our minds catches up with our enthusiasm for the sport.

Robert M. Traxler, Dorr