UV Protection

While we are out and about we have to always remember to maintain sun protection. Now while driving or riding this can mainly takes the form of sun glasses.
And especially while moving quickly the value of good sun glasses is not to be underestimated. Good sunglasses have anti-glare coatings that let you see past the reflection of light on water or other surfaces.
This of course has two benefits while on the road instead of being blinded you are also able to read or see past the surface that would normally blind you.
Also higher end sun glasses are more reliable as to the UV protection rating which can easily be skewed and has often be cast in doubt by consumer protection groups.
Remember sunglasses are not protecting your eyes with shade but with a specific coating that is made to reduce the harmful UV rays that damage our eyes. In eyes the UV rays cause cataracts which can in their most severe form cause blindness. So wearing sunglasses when in high brightness settings such as skiing, sailing, or any outdoor summer activity should prompt you to wear sunglasses.
Now the cheap sunglasses will reduce UV rays as well but they wont do so as reliably as the more expensive ones. As always in those cases you do get what you pay for. So if you are unwilling to buy the better sunglasses you will get less protection but it is still better then no protection at all.
Beware of scratches though, there is very little in terms of wear and tear information on sunglasses however they are made UV shielding by a anti-UV coating so if they get scratched I would suspect that the UV protection has to eventually suffer from that.

We use Ray Bands and Maui Jims both make excellent sunglasses and there are many other good companies out there. But if there is one thing not cheap out on its health. After all you only got one body.

 

Don't forget to wear your SPF 30 or higher when the UV rating is above 6 as well as your sunglasses.

Please follow the UVI advisement which was established by the WHO.

All weather services do report your local UV rating which you should use as guide. 

Outdoor Backing

Now since it is raining right now I have some time to look at cooking again and am doing some BBQ baking. Which of course is a great way of baking.
Now since BBQs tend to heat well over ideal baking temps you need to bake in one of two ways:

1. You only turn on zone on and put the bake good on the other end of the BBQ. Now this works        great when baking bread or something else that large and needs time to cook to the centre without burning the exterior.

2. You do not let the heat of the BBQ exceed 400F after that most baked goods tend to burn pretty quickly. While you do that you will need to monitor your items closely to insure that nothing burns.

Emergency Manoeuvering and why it matters

Emergency manoeuvring is often underestimated as a matter of why you should know how to do it. Why it is safer to know what to do when you need to do it.

For example I was riding along on a country road and was expecting nothing until suddenly a deer shot out of the Slegg Lumber Parking Lot. Luckily there was no one behind me and I already knew that and I was able to just break really hard and let the deer run.

In those situations it is important to remember to check quickly where you can go with your bike, either slow down hard, swerve or accelerate. Now Swerving is really the only option if you can not slow down and have plenty of space ahead on either side of the obstacle.

Slowing down rapidly is really only possible if no one happens to be tailgating you which we all know is not all that uncommon as we like it to be. However when you need to brake hard the bike behaves very differently from a regular slowing down you have to clutch of course and shift down as you slow down so that you can get the hell out of the way if someone didn't see you brake behind you. Now it is paramount that you hold your bike straight when breaking in this way its not like slowing down slightly in a turn you will most certainly fall if you try to manoeuvre with that level of breaking. If you have ABS trust your system when you feel the vibration of ABS kicking in and hold on to your brakes if you don't have ABS you have to make sure that you don't lock your wheels during braking.
Don't stare down look ahead adjust your position as needed and make sure you see whats going on and how what you are braking for is moving. This will allow you to insure that you wont be surprised and also you will know where you will end up. This will allow you to start thinking about how can move after the object is moved around.

The last one Accelerating is rarely a good choice but there are occasions when it works best and can get you out of trouble. BE VERY CAREFUL with this one don't do this unless you are certain of it being best. You sacrifice space and also often can't see what is going on ahead of you. Past turns, vehicles or even the item you are trying to evade.

If you are not comfortable with low-speed manoeuvring, emergency braking or swerving. I would recommend to find an empty parking lot for practice and insuring that you know how you and your bike will behave in the emergency without some nasty surprise needing to happen.
This will also provide you with more confidence when riding knowing that you know what to do.

Ear Plugs

Don't forget to wear ear plugs once you lose your hearing you will not be able to replace it and it is a nice thing to be able to hear. A set of decent ear plugs can reduce the noise by as much as 25DB which as I mentioned before means an exponential decrease in the rate of damage to your ears.
You don't have to go over board just get a simple set from Rona/Walmart or similar big box store and plug them in before you ride.
It takes five extra seconds causes no discomfort during the ride, it will actually make you more relaxed because most people when they are exposed to noise bunch up and get tense. This means its more fatiguing to ride and harder to focus on the individual dangers of riding or the idiot that just merged in and didn't see you.

Remember its not just your ears we are talking about but also your comfort and safety...wear your earplugs...or get a set for your riding its worth.

How much does a hearing aid go for nowadays? That's how much minus 2-5$ is what you save.

Noisy mufflers on your bike

Some riders say that a noisy muffler keeps them safer, and most riders will do anything to be a bit safer. However many riders still don't invest in proper training which would dramatically increase their safety. Instead some riders choose to invest in a muffler which makes their bikes deafening.
Now the problem with this is many fold.
1. You will make yourself unpopular in any residential area as well as any other bike riders since people tend to paint riders with the same brush. Which means when they see one noisy bike all bikes are noisy, when a rider does something douche all riders are douche-bags. You see how this works?
2. Now there is also the little matter of your own hearing you are riding right on top of those pipes and they are noisy as hell. Now you think a couple decibels more makes me visible but doesn't hurt my ears much not so much. Because ear damage develops exponentially and increases with every decibels many fold so instead of adding you should be multiplying.
3. The noise is behind you, the people that will hear your bike better are behind or besides you but not ahead. This means not only are you suffering more damage but also you are achieving nothing but annoyance towards bikes in traffic as well.
While high visibility gear and a well lit bike may actually be worth more and improve you bikes safety much more. Not only do you see better when it gets darker but you are much more easily seen.
Overall the loud muffler achieves little to nothing and is nothing but an ear shattering nuisance be reasonable and ride something less noisy the design doesn't have to change just the mufflers interior.

Getting Ready for the real Summer

Now we on the island are getting our summer and this summer is kicking off without any delay with the end of April and everyone who didn't have their bike on the road yet will have it on the road by the next weekend after all 17-25C are a good reason to ride again. Not worry Winnipeg you will get sun again as well. In the mean time it is time to check out the farcles for the bike as well maybe even consider new bikes.

For farcles I prefer using Twisted Throttle, however you don't always have to order through them to get the same gear they advertise there are some dealers in Canada sell the gear in question on the island Miles Zero Motorsports. Those Dealers have the upside of having a local shop that you can go to and look at the gear in, someone to talk to about the gear you want and what you need. And of course its good to support the local economy. They usually sell at the same price especially when you add to cost of shipping from the states also of course means you get the farcles faster....and you have an excuse to ride somewhere you may not always ride to.

BC insurers and courses

BC or more to the point Vancouver Island has some interesting Insurers many of which like Coast Capital don't insure junior riders (under 3 years) or insure at extremely high premiums new riders not counting clean driving records with other vehicles. Those same insurers often do not count accredited riding courses in the equation either.
So on the island I found the Megson Fitzpatrick will give riders very good deals. 
They count accredited courses as part of the equation and offer very good insurance packages.
Of course you still need to get ICBC for the Basic but all optional features can be done through the private companies.
This of course is another reason to go with an accredited course and school beyond you now dropping a bike that you paid for and have to repair.
Now if you want to find a good deal on insurance for yourself I would recommend going on all of the insurers websites of the insurers that you would like to consider, most of the will probably have a online quote system, those quotes still have to be approved by a human but they are generally very reliable. Now if you life in BC those quotes will only include the optional features and not the ICBC Base rate which you should know for your own bike.

Of course there are three categories that can make your bike cheaper:
Scooter (Cheapest)
Bike under 500cc (Middle)
Bike over 500cc (Highest)

And of course a training course which will increase your odds of remaining accident free and healthy not to mention may bump you up on the insurance paperwork to a higher percentage.

I would recommend not cutting on the wrong optional features since those would be deductible and third party liability etc. You don't want to end up with the need for the insurance and not have it.