Originally Posted by Iride01 (Post 21042432)

Hmmm, Don't know if the initial post reads quite as the author intended. It does seem to have a little Khan Noonien Singh sentiment in it.

Originally Posted by big john (Post 21042507)

The Wrath of Ray9?

Originally Posted by Ray9 (Post 21042298)

Don’t confuse bitterness with outright anger. I worked with a woman for years who was told to stop smoking or she would lose her leg. She told them to take the leg. She was a Boomer who benefited from medical research and never had to face Polio or a host of other bacterial infections eradicated by modern medicine. She thumbed her nose at the research and paid the fiddler with a leg. She’s long gone just like the husbands of three of my sisters-in-law who are alone in their golden years. I am here for my wife because I hit the road every day and log miles on the safest roads I can find. At 72 I still get butterflies in my stomach as I prepare for the adventure ahead.

If sanctimony is your observation then acquainting yourself with reality may be a policy you should follow. I’m not the judge for these people, they are blissfully suicidal. They learned nothing from those who went before them. I follow Darwin.

Originally Posted by jon c. (Post 21042036)

I ride because it makes me smile.

Originally Posted by caloso (Post 21042058)

I ride my bike to ride my bike.

Originally Posted by pdlamb (Post 21042668)

Ditto.



Nah, that's too advanced for me. :)

Originally Posted by Ray9 (Post 21042598)

I'm sick of going to the intensive care unit to visit friends.

Originally Posted by Ray9 (Post 21042357)

... No one, rich or poor, has a right to poison themselves. They do however have a responsibility to pay their own way if they choose to use the poison.

Originally Posted by Ray9 (Post 21041260)

…If I should meet my end on the highway don’t feel sorry for me because any sympathy I have for those who threw away their health by eating like pigs, smoking like chimneys and drinking like fish can be measured in microns.

Originally Posted by Ray9 (Post 21041260)

A lot of people wonder why I do something every day that would kill most people if they tried it once. Because I read the warnings on cigarette packages I abstained from the habit in 1976 when the price of the lung destroyers was 35 cents a pack. Observations of friends and relatives that abused alcohol convinced me to avoid the poison and seeing the damage done to those who smoked weed and progressed to the stronger stuff alerted me to the reality that I and I alone have responsibility for my personal health.

In 1972 when I watched Frank Shorter win the Olympic Marathon I started running to stay in shape when no one else I knew was doing it. I ran for many years until my joints and ligaments began to protest and because I had saved thousands from not buying tobacco weed, or alcohol, I had the resources to purchase an expensive racing bicycle in 1983. It was the best investment of my life as nearly all of the people who were putting powder up their noses at the time are either already dead or swallowing their faces in a nursing home today.

As a libertarian I support the choices of all the corpses and institutionalized vegetables warehoused in beds across the nation enjoying the fruits of those choices. Every day at 72 I get on my bike and ride fifty miles, chasing the wind with clear lungs by choice. I know there is a risk due to traffic, driver inattention and impaired vehicle operation but it’s a risk worth taking just like the risk many others took when they voluntarily sabotaged their vital organs with chemicals.

If I should meet my end on the highway don’t feel sorry for me because any sympathy I have for those who threw away their health by eating like pigs, smoking like chimneys and drinking like fish can be measured in microns.

As a Baby boomer I got great deal. Jonas Salk and Alexander Fleming cleared the minefield of many diseases that took out depression-era citizens and my path was easier. I have a huge appreciation for those who worked so hard to make things better for me. That’s why I ride my bike; It’s good for my heart, my lungs and my mind.

You do what you want; you’re free for now. See you on the road.

Originally Posted by Ray9 (Post 21042357)

I‘ve proposed this before but here it is again: Double the price of a six-pack of beer,

Originally Posted by terrymorse (Post 21045944)

One of the reasons why I ride...

Father: massive stroke, age 80
Grandfather: massive heart attack, age 45
Great-Grandfather: massive stroke, age 55
Great-Great-Grandfather, collapsed on hunting trip, probable heart attack or stroke, age 55

Me: age 60, not dead yet, and trying to stay that way for a while longer.

Originally Posted by caloso (Post 21046179)

I think we all understand that none of us is going to out-run our genes. But we're certainly not going to contribute to the risk with life-style choices.