Of course you should learn to bunny hop; it's a fundamental bike handling skill that could indeed save your life. That said, I can tell a funny story on myself related to bunny hopping.

On the last Seattle to Portland (STP) ride, I had stopped for an espresso just before crossing a huge arched bridge over the Columbia river. Over coffee, another rider asked me how I liked my BMC. One of my comments to him was that it rides as if it's on rails - nothing unexpected - no wobbles at any speed ever.

We finished our coffee and before we started over the the bridge my new friend warned me that there was a 'huge' expansion joint toward the bottom of the Oregon side.

After cresting the top, I was cruising down at 40ish mph when I saw water bottles scattered all over the road in front of me and suddenly remembered the expansion joint. Rather than give up all that delicious momentum, I thought I'd just hop it. Just before landing, I kind of thought, "Hmmm... I wonder how fast I've ever bunny hopped before." Wondering that is probably what caused me to land a little crooked, provoking a vicious, but thankfully short-lived wobble.

I'm pretty sure the stranger was right behind me. Between the embarrassment about bragging about my rock solid bike moments before nearly wiping out in an obvious death wobble, and the massive adrenalin jolt from the same, I put my head down and powered through the next ten miles just so I wouldn't have to see him again.

Lessons learned: If your are going to take your bike airborne at 40 mph, you'd better land it exactly straight. Better yet, slow down, (duh).

Oh, and never brag to a stranger about how great your bike is. It only invites trouble.