Doesnt that change once you have min-dudes...children who are dependent on you?
May not be relevant to Luc's case...but, I believe you a have a mini-dude and dudeete running around.
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Luc Bourdon Dies in Motorcycle accident.
- Thread starter Polska
- Start date
Doesnt that change once you have min-dudes...children who are dependent on you?
May not be relevant to Luc's case...but, I believe you a have a mini-dude and dudeete running around.
I tell you honestly that the urge- need for speed- does not change. Not for me, anyhow.
You missed this quote, though:
I have found over the years that- even though on an ability level I am as dialed now as I'll ever be- I will walk away from certain drops or lines that I would have committed to before. It is because of the little ones.
But, give up a way of life entirely? Not a chance. Calculated risks, and participating in the sport using your brains is OK. As a parent you have a lot of options. One is a Wii. The other is to forget the Wii & buy the kid a pair of skiis and a seasons pass for the same money. Or, the gift my kid is asking for his birthday in August: his own surfboard. He can save his allowance and buy a Wii if he wants.
Now, not to derail the thread…Luc’s contract obligations aside, I agree that you can’t go through life letting “safety” be the determining factor in all your decisions. Let me give you another example of a young athlete that was taken too early: Greg Moore. Do you think his parents regretted getting him involved in racing, and letting him pursue his dreams?
We only get one shot at this.
trece verde
Well-Known Member
Dude is half-right (like usual).
When parenthood hits you in the face, which it tends to do, no matter how much preparation you do for it, you definitely have to reel in the self-destructive urges, especially when the little people depending upon you start wanting to act upon their own innate craziness.
The instinct for craziness can go away. I've lost my own need for speed entirely due to two near-death experiences (one when in my early 20's and one that I wrote about on here last year); fcuk, even heading a ball is still a large risk for me that I can't afford to take anymore. This side of the coin isn't about calculated risks, it's just about making sure that Papy comes home in one piece.
I don't begrudge the Daemonspawn their own desires to huck bigger or farther; that's part of growing up, expanding your horizons, or however you define the adreline-junkie part of the human brain that's wired to take on those kinds of risks. All I ask of them is to consider the appropriate safety equipment that goes with the activity, what the best line to take is, etc. Don't try to take the biggest air the first time you try a jump. If you can get good training for what you want to do, get it.
If what Reccos has mentioned is indeed the case, Luc's situation was a combination of a new (or not-so-experienced) rider fighting a sudden change in road conditions. That's just awful; it's one of those situations you wish you could go back in time and alter slightly so that nobody has to lose their life.
Deepest condolences to Luc's parents and family.
Trece
When parenthood hits you in the face, which it tends to do, no matter how much preparation you do for it, you definitely have to reel in the self-destructive urges, especially when the little people depending upon you start wanting to act upon their own innate craziness.
The instinct for craziness can go away. I've lost my own need for speed entirely due to two near-death experiences (one when in my early 20's and one that I wrote about on here last year); fcuk, even heading a ball is still a large risk for me that I can't afford to take anymore.
This side of the coin isn't about calculated risks, it's just about making sure that Papy comes home in one piece.I don't begrudge the Daemonspawn their own desires to huck bigger or farther; that's part of growing up, expanding your horizons, or however you define the adreline-junkie part of the human brain that's wired to take on those kinds of risks. All I ask of them is to consider the appropriate safety equipment that goes with the activity, what the best line to take is, etc. Don't try to take the biggest air the first time you try a jump. If you can get good training for what you want to do, get it.
If what Reccos has mentioned is indeed the case, Luc's situation was a combination of a new (or not-so-experienced) rider fighting a sudden change in road conditions. That's just awful; it's one of those situations you wish you could go back in time and alter slightly so that nobody has to lose their life.
Deepest condolences to Luc's parents and family.
Trece
It’s funny you should mention the progression thing Trece; Mini Dude has become a very good little skier. Good enough to follow me down any run at Whistler or Blackcomb. He was lining up a jump in the park on BK on our last day. It was decent size, but I knew he was ready. He’d done tougher already. In the end, he said to me “I’m not up to that level yet”, and we skied on. I’d like to think that somewhere along the line he picked something up from me, that you don’t need to be a hero every time up. I take that approach on the bike every time out, and if I’m lining up a drop or a face, and my legs & hands start shaking, I move on. Live to ride another day, as they say.
Of course, that and “Commit or eat shite”. But part of learning is recognizing the difference between willingness and mental ability to go ahead and commit, and trusting your instincts when they say move on.
Of course, again, in young Luc’s case…what can you say? He was simply too young to die, but it was his time. An unexpected gust of wind, and…
Of course, that and “Commit or eat shite”.
But part of learning is recognizing the difference between willingness and mental ability to go ahead and commit, and trusting your instincts when they say move on. Of course, again, in young Luc’s case…what can you say? He was simply too young to die, but it was his time. An unexpected gust of wind, and…
A lot of the posts on this thread about are about taking risks and which ones are good ones and which ones not. When well known people like Luc Bourdon take them and it doesn't work out that one bad time, this prompts a lot of discussion. However risk affects us all as you will see from this person's blog about a 28 year old ex-pat Eric who arrived in Hong in February 08 and was a member of an ex-pat website I post on and who attended happy hour get togethers like myself. The blogger got his last name wrong but apparently got the details of what happened right.
Being in Hong Kong working, I keep up on local news online and recently saw something about the Vancouver Police oppose drinking above decks on pleasure boats at the Fireworks. I thought how uncivilized that was a stance but sort of thought I could see their rationale. However, there is nothing like that in Hong Kong when I can buy a beer at any corner store or grocery and drink it where ever I want to including on a boat or walking down the street.
I went out to the dragon boat races at Stanley Sunday and didn't hook up (maybe luckily) with my pal from a major US brokerage house who wanted to invite us onto their "junk" between races their company was in. I could see the boats anchored outside the pier and people being ferried to shore and marching over to the beach for their races. There was one group with pipers and the usual wild and crazy costumed people right down to the pink clad people rowing for breast cancer.
While this is what happened to a really super nice guy 28. The blogger got Eric's name wrong but captured apparently what happened.
We saw the Fire Dept small boat come to the dock and pick up an ambulance crew and judging by how slow they moved, it was pretty clear they weren't rushing at that point. However, it wasn't until last night at dinner with my pal from the other major US brokerage (not naming this one) that I found out how bad it was and how it makes you realize how things can bad so quickly. This guy loved his job here in HK and loved what this city had to offer and he lived life to the fullest. Sadly it is a short life as you will see from this person's blog. I don't know the blogger but the person involved I do.
Death on Dragonboat Day
* Jun. 10th, 2008 at 1:43 AM
Aqua, skyscrapers, city skyline, Hong Kong
They say it’s all fun and games till someone gets hurt. Unfortunately, at this year’s dragon boat races in Stanley, I witnessed first-hand the true meaning of this adage. Amidst the racing, the revelry, the drumming, and the drunken antics came a stupid and tragic accident.
After a few days of black rain, landslides and fallen trees, the weather auspiciously (or so we thought) cleared for race day. I wasn’t paddling this year so I had free license to roam the party boats lining the racecourse. Ferries and sampans waited at the shore to shuttle people out to the boats. I started my day at Zone B where I boarded the Time-Warner boat simply because one of my friends works for that company. Adjacent to that was the BNP Paribas luxury junk yacht where a righteous party was going on. On the other side, there were 2 JP Morgan boats lined up next to each other. My friend and I spotted someone we knew at the 2nd JP Morgan boat so we decided we’d hop over there for a visit.
It’s common practice to hop from one boat to another but, the gap between our boat and the JP Morgan boat was wide and the railings of both boats were quite high. It was going to be challenging and somewhat dangerous to cross from boat to boat this way. A guy from the JP boat started to pull the boats closer together so we could get on, but their boat bitch started yelling at us saying they were full and we couldn’t get on. She handed us some conciliatory beer pitchers instead.
Undeterred, we decided to hire a small sampan to take us one boat down so we could board properly and safely. Happily, we were welcomed onboard- much to the chagrin of the boat bitch. We climbed the ladder to get to the upper deck and I remarked how slippery the floors of the junk were due to the spillage of beer and other liquids. I was treading very lightly so I wouldn’t fall and make an ass of myself.
People were migrating at will from one boat to the other and the DJs had the party-goers dancing with some crowd-pleasing hip-hop tunes. Incidentally, I remarked how young and alternative the crowd looked for a banker’s boat. About 50 percent of the people on the boat had had tattoos.
Anyway, we were all having a grand old time chatting, flirting, drinking beer, and laughing when a bunch of people went to the boat next door for a hula-hoop contest. I wasn’t sure what the winner won, but I think the loser was supposed to get his head shaved. At one point, a big crowd gathered around the adjoining boat to watch one guy getting all his hair razored. I noticed a few people crossing over the top deck to get from boat to boat and I thought to myself- gee, that’s dangerous since the decks are so slippery and people have been drinking.
I stopped looking, but suddenly there was a big ‘Thud’ and a splash followed by a huge commotion. People started screaming “Someone’s fallen in the water!! Who is it?? Help! Someone call an ambulance! Call for help!!” I didn’t actually see the guy fall in, but his burgundy and white trucker cap was still floating ominously on the surface. My girlfriend, who saw some of it happen, was freaking out. I asked her who it was but all she knew was the guy was really tall.
Random people started jumping in the water after the fallen man but the water was dark and murky and it was impossible to see anything. “Goggles!! Goggles!! Does anyone have goggles?? Move the boats apart!! Turn the motors off- It’s dangerous!! Someone call an ambulance please!”
A communal panic ensued and people’s shouts became more frantic. 5 minutes passed and the guy still hadn’t surfaced. People were still swimming around in vain looking for him in water with zero visibility. The water looked so dirty. There was loads of garbage floating within and one guy seemed to be surrounded by an oily veil of gas from the boat’s engine.
“Who was it??” People were yelling. “It was Eric Cetera” someone said. Then everyone starting yelling “Eric!!! Eric can you hear us?? ERIC!!!! ERIC!!!!” “Someone please call Eric’s cell phone!” Everyone wanted to do something to help- but in the confusion, not much could really be done.
10 minutes passed and all the boats in the vicinity had moved off to the side exposing a potential area where the body could resurface. A few guys sped off in a powerboat to get the police to come and help, but short of having a team of rescue divers on call, not much could have been done.
Police boats surrounded the area, and a helicopter flew overhead. Some guys that were dressed like the fire brigade in helmets and fireproof jackets came to the scene of the accident on an orange zodiac. People were pointing in the water but what were the firemen going to do? Dive in with their jackets and plastic helmets? A feeling of uselessness and helplessness pervaded the air.
The clock kept ticking and about 20-30 minutes had passed. The crowd had lost hope that poor Eric could be rescued. Most likely he hit his head on the way down and was already unconscious when he hit the water. In that state, he probably sank directly to the bottom.
Meanwhile the event continued- the guns at the starting line continued to blast at the start of each race, people were still cheering the paddlers on and happy unsuspecting spectators zipped by on speedboats until they were warned by police not to cross the area. People on the surrounding boats continued to drink, dance and take in the beauty of the clouds framed by the afternoon sun.
The people on our boat were shell-shocked. One guy who had dived in to try to save Eric was sitting at the foot of the boat with his head in his hands. A blonde girl, who possibly knew Eric personally, could no longer hold back her tears. She burst out crying and her friend took her in his arms to try to comfort her. There were group hugs and a piece of paper was being circulated to get the names and numbers of the people who witnessed the accident. There was nothing more that could be done. I heard a guy on the orange Zodiac say that divers were coming to search the area. But by the time they would get there the only thing they’d find was a dead bloated body.
They wanted everyone who didn’t actually witness the accident to get off the boat so my friend and I guiltily left. Why is it when you witness someone die, that you sometimes feel like it’s your fault? We didn’t even know Eric, nor did we even meet him, but it was so very tragic. It was a really silly accident. Everyone was just drinking and having a laugh. Who knew that we’d be faced with the heaviness of our own mortality on such a festive day?
There was a big colorful rundown of the races in the paper. They even talked about how lucky we were that the weather had cleared. However the accident garnered little more than a one line footnote. ‘An expat man in his 30’s suffered a blow to the head and fell missing in the water. The police are still searching for his body.’
My girlfriend called me crying at 1am saying that she couldn’t sleep and she kept replaying the incident in her head. I tried to calm her down and assured her that there was nothing she could have done. At least he died quickly and painlessly.
If anything can be learned from this incident, it’s two things:
1. Don’t get drunk and take stupid unnecessary risks
2. Live and love everyday like it may be your last because we’re all going to die someday.
Eric- wherever you are- may you Rest in Peace.
Being in Hong Kong working, I keep up on local news online and recently saw something about the Vancouver Police oppose drinking above decks on pleasure boats at the Fireworks. I thought how uncivilized that was a stance but sort of thought I could see their rationale. However, there is nothing like that in Hong Kong when I can buy a beer at any corner store or grocery and drink it where ever I want to including on a boat or walking down the street.
I went out to the dragon boat races at Stanley Sunday and didn't hook up (maybe luckily) with my pal from a major US brokerage house who wanted to invite us onto their "junk" between races their company was in. I could see the boats anchored outside the pier and people being ferried to shore and marching over to the beach for their races. There was one group with pipers and the usual wild and crazy costumed people right down to the pink clad people rowing for breast cancer.
While this is what happened to a really super nice guy 28. The blogger got Eric's name wrong but captured apparently what happened.
We saw the Fire Dept small boat come to the dock and pick up an ambulance crew and judging by how slow they moved, it was pretty clear they weren't rushing at that point. However, it wasn't until last night at dinner with my pal from the other major US brokerage (not naming this one) that I found out how bad it was and how it makes you realize how things can bad so quickly. This guy loved his job here in HK and loved what this city had to offer and he lived life to the fullest. Sadly it is a short life as you will see from this person's blog. I don't know the blogger but the person involved I do.
Death on Dragonboat Day
* Jun. 10th, 2008 at 1:43 AM
Aqua, skyscrapers, city skyline, Hong Kong
They say it’s all fun and games till someone gets hurt. Unfortunately, at this year’s dragon boat races in Stanley, I witnessed first-hand the true meaning of this adage. Amidst the racing, the revelry, the drumming, and the drunken antics came a stupid and tragic accident.
After a few days of black rain, landslides and fallen trees, the weather auspiciously (or so we thought) cleared for race day. I wasn’t paddling this year so I had free license to roam the party boats lining the racecourse. Ferries and sampans waited at the shore to shuttle people out to the boats. I started my day at Zone B where I boarded the Time-Warner boat simply because one of my friends works for that company. Adjacent to that was the BNP Paribas luxury junk yacht where a righteous party was going on. On the other side, there were 2 JP Morgan boats lined up next to each other. My friend and I spotted someone we knew at the 2nd JP Morgan boat so we decided we’d hop over there for a visit.
It’s common practice to hop from one boat to another but, the gap between our boat and the JP Morgan boat was wide and the railings of both boats were quite high. It was going to be challenging and somewhat dangerous to cross from boat to boat this way. A guy from the JP boat started to pull the boats closer together so we could get on, but their boat bitch started yelling at us saying they were full and we couldn’t get on. She handed us some conciliatory beer pitchers instead.
Undeterred, we decided to hire a small sampan to take us one boat down so we could board properly and safely. Happily, we were welcomed onboard- much to the chagrin of the boat bitch. We climbed the ladder to get to the upper deck and I remarked how slippery the floors of the junk were due to the spillage of beer and other liquids. I was treading very lightly so I wouldn’t fall and make an ass of myself.
People were migrating at will from one boat to the other and the DJs had the party-goers dancing with some crowd-pleasing hip-hop tunes. Incidentally, I remarked how young and alternative the crowd looked for a banker’s boat. About 50 percent of the people on the boat had had tattoos.
Anyway, we were all having a grand old time chatting, flirting, drinking beer, and laughing when a bunch of people went to the boat next door for a hula-hoop contest. I wasn’t sure what the winner won, but I think the loser was supposed to get his head shaved. At one point, a big crowd gathered around the adjoining boat to watch one guy getting all his hair razored. I noticed a few people crossing over the top deck to get from boat to boat and I thought to myself- gee, that’s dangerous since the decks are so slippery and people have been drinking.
I stopped looking, but suddenly there was a big ‘Thud’ and a splash followed by a huge commotion. People started screaming “Someone’s fallen in the water!! Who is it?? Help! Someone call an ambulance! Call for help!!” I didn’t actually see the guy fall in, but his burgundy and white trucker cap was still floating ominously on the surface. My girlfriend, who saw some of it happen, was freaking out. I asked her who it was but all she knew was the guy was really tall.
Random people started jumping in the water after the fallen man but the water was dark and murky and it was impossible to see anything. “Goggles!! Goggles!! Does anyone have goggles?? Move the boats apart!! Turn the motors off- It’s dangerous!! Someone call an ambulance please!”
A communal panic ensued and people’s shouts became more frantic. 5 minutes passed and the guy still hadn’t surfaced. People were still swimming around in vain looking for him in water with zero visibility. The water looked so dirty. There was loads of garbage floating within and one guy seemed to be surrounded by an oily veil of gas from the boat’s engine.
“Who was it??” People were yelling. “It was Eric Cetera” someone said. Then everyone starting yelling “Eric!!! Eric can you hear us?? ERIC!!!! ERIC!!!!” “Someone please call Eric’s cell phone!” Everyone wanted to do something to help- but in the confusion, not much could really be done.
10 minutes passed and all the boats in the vicinity had moved off to the side exposing a potential area where the body could resurface. A few guys sped off in a powerboat to get the police to come and help, but short of having a team of rescue divers on call, not much could have been done.
Police boats surrounded the area, and a helicopter flew overhead. Some guys that were dressed like the fire brigade in helmets and fireproof jackets came to the scene of the accident on an orange zodiac. People were pointing in the water but what were the firemen going to do? Dive in with their jackets and plastic helmets? A feeling of uselessness and helplessness pervaded the air.
The clock kept ticking and about 20-30 minutes had passed. The crowd had lost hope that poor Eric could be rescued. Most likely he hit his head on the way down and was already unconscious when he hit the water. In that state, he probably sank directly to the bottom.
Meanwhile the event continued- the guns at the starting line continued to blast at the start of each race, people were still cheering the paddlers on and happy unsuspecting spectators zipped by on speedboats until they were warned by police not to cross the area. People on the surrounding boats continued to drink, dance and take in the beauty of the clouds framed by the afternoon sun.
The people on our boat were shell-shocked. One guy who had dived in to try to save Eric was sitting at the foot of the boat with his head in his hands. A blonde girl, who possibly knew Eric personally, could no longer hold back her tears. She burst out crying and her friend took her in his arms to try to comfort her. There were group hugs and a piece of paper was being circulated to get the names and numbers of the people who witnessed the accident. There was nothing more that could be done. I heard a guy on the orange Zodiac say that divers were coming to search the area. But by the time they would get there the only thing they’d find was a dead bloated body.
They wanted everyone who didn’t actually witness the accident to get off the boat so my friend and I guiltily left. Why is it when you witness someone die, that you sometimes feel like it’s your fault? We didn’t even know Eric, nor did we even meet him, but it was so very tragic. It was a really silly accident. Everyone was just drinking and having a laugh. Who knew that we’d be faced with the heaviness of our own mortality on such a festive day?
There was a big colorful rundown of the races in the paper. They even talked about how lucky we were that the weather had cleared. However the accident garnered little more than a one line footnote. ‘An expat man in his 30’s suffered a blow to the head and fell missing in the water. The police are still searching for his body.’
My girlfriend called me crying at 1am saying that she couldn’t sleep and she kept replaying the incident in her head. I tried to calm her down and assured her that there was nothing she could have done. At least he died quickly and painlessly.
If anything can be learned from this incident, it’s two things:
1. Don’t get drunk and take stupid unnecessary risks
2. Live and love everyday like it may be your last because we’re all going to die someday.
Eric- wherever you are- may you Rest in Peace.
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