Three Cheers for the Human Mind
I had to dive off of my motorcycle today.
I had just started moving through an intersection on the green light. An idiot kid on his crotch rocket tried to wheelie through the intersection and lost control. He went flying, the bike flipped up in the air and headed toward me. I had no time to react. Just put down my foot and bailed. His bike missed me and mine by about a foot and I watched as it crashed into the Jeep Cherokee that was behind me. The whole scenario took maybe 4 seconds, start-to-finish. And it was incredible to be that close to it.
It is amazing how I saw all of this unfold in slow-motion. Like I said, the whole thing took 4 seconds. Yet I had enough time to see his bike go airborne, realize what the fuck was going on, and weigh my options of trying to accelerate past the projectile or hitting the deck. I did not panic. I was accutely aware of everything that was happening, and everything that I was thinking. When I realized that I was out of harm's way (after the bike hit the Jeep), I also realized at the same instant that I was standing in the middle of a busy street, and that I should probably do something about that. So I wasn't out of harm's way yet. It took me what had to be only milliseconds to get a look at the traffic that was moving around me and realize that everyone else had seen this happen, and it didn't look like I was going to get run over. VERY lucky for me! Anyway, when I saw that I was now completely safe, that's when I remembered that I was on a motorcycle just a couple seconds ago. Saw it laying on the ground and I got mad. Picked the thing up by myself and snapped back to the real world. What a fucking rush.
You hear about the survival instinct. It just blows my mind that I "knew" exactly what to do, how to do it, and what NOT to think about (meaning the bike, which I had literally forgotten about for 2 seconds) during the episode. My mind clicked into position at precise moments -- holy shit he's gonna go over, you need to pay attention (CLICK) bike coming toward you (CLICK) move or dive (CLICK) bike gone (CLICK) you're standing in traffic (CLICK) you're safe, go get your bike (WAKE UP).
It really is a mindfuck how much a person can take in all at once. It's even more of a mindfuck when you're aware of all of it at the same time.
I had just started moving through an intersection on the green light. An idiot kid on his crotch rocket tried to wheelie through the intersection and lost control. He went flying, the bike flipped up in the air and headed toward me. I had no time to react. Just put down my foot and bailed. His bike missed me and mine by about a foot and I watched as it crashed into the Jeep Cherokee that was behind me. The whole scenario took maybe 4 seconds, start-to-finish. And it was incredible to be that close to it.
It is amazing how I saw all of this unfold in slow-motion. Like I said, the whole thing took 4 seconds. Yet I had enough time to see his bike go airborne, realize what the fuck was going on, and weigh my options of trying to accelerate past the projectile or hitting the deck. I did not panic. I was accutely aware of everything that was happening, and everything that I was thinking. When I realized that I was out of harm's way (after the bike hit the Jeep), I also realized at the same instant that I was standing in the middle of a busy street, and that I should probably do something about that. So I wasn't out of harm's way yet. It took me what had to be only milliseconds to get a look at the traffic that was moving around me and realize that everyone else had seen this happen, and it didn't look like I was going to get run over. VERY lucky for me! Anyway, when I saw that I was now completely safe, that's when I remembered that I was on a motorcycle just a couple seconds ago. Saw it laying on the ground and I got mad. Picked the thing up by myself and snapped back to the real world. What a fucking rush.
You hear about the survival instinct. It just blows my mind that I "knew" exactly what to do, how to do it, and what NOT to think about (meaning the bike, which I had literally forgotten about for 2 seconds) during the episode. My mind clicked into position at precise moments -- holy shit he's gonna go over, you need to pay attention (CLICK) bike coming toward you (CLICK) move or dive (CLICK) bike gone (CLICK) you're standing in traffic (CLICK) you're safe, go get your bike (WAKE UP).
It really is a mindfuck how much a person can take in all at once. It's even more of a mindfuck when you're aware of all of it at the same time.
posted by The Author at 16:55
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