I made the call about 8 years ago to not ride on the road any longer. Too many bike riders end up as statistics, unfortunately. It's on average 220 per year (
http://www.crash.org.au/motorcyclist-fatalities.html). Which is FARKING HEAPS!!! Just think about that for a minute..... Nearly every day, a fellow motorcycle rider dies on Australian roads. Giving up road riding is one of the best things you can do for your wife and kids. I did, and I've never looked back. The racetrack is where it's at: ride days, and racing.
On the other hand, there were only a small handful of deaths on the racetrack over the past decade. I can't find an exact number, but being in the sport for so long, I can only think of 2 in the last decade (Paul and Reece at the Creek). I think there was one at the Island. Anyone?
Worldwide, it's still a tiny number.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rider_d...orcycle_racing And some of those racetracks are very dangerous!
On the other hand, injuries are an unfortunate part of the sport. There's no avoiding the occasional injury, and denying that is just not being honest. Plan for injuries (insurance, a Plan B to get your stuff home, etc) and you'll be right. It's still way better than being injured or killed in a road accident where the driver takes you out with a SMIDSY moment.
However, the chance of actually dying (or even being permanently injured) on the racetrack are vanishingly small! It just never happens. More people are killed by being struck by lightning per year (20 in Australia every year,
http://www.strikealert.com.au/lightningfacts.html) and by shark attacks (
http://www.australiangeographic.com....lia-a-timeline) than on the racetrack.
As Owen said, besides giving up road riding (a major safety concession), track riding keeps me living. Without that, I would find life very unfulfilling. It's worth the small risk of injury. And if the price I have to pay to do the one thing in life I truly love is to put up with an injury every few years, then that's a price I'm willing to pay.
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