For once, leave your camera at home

Perhaps Sarah Conner was onto something when she claimed robots are going to take over the world. It is now 2017 and although it’s not killer robots taking over the world, technology is definitely taking over our lives. Cell phones, tablets, GoPro’s, we are addicted to these electronics and at times it seems like we’re more interested in capturing the moment than living it. Don’t get me wrong, I too love seeing cool photos and videos of myself riding but I find it extremely liberating to just get on my bike and go and not have to worry about GoPro set up and batteries and SD cards and all that jazz. But here is my main gripe with modern day video and photo devices – they make you do crazy shit.

If you’re a part of the motorcycle community, you probably heard about Olga Pronina or as she’s better known on Social Media, Monika9422 who died in a horrific crash on August 1^st. Olga was an “Instafamous” biker chick who posted numerous videos performing dangerously reckless stunts on her BMW S1000rr. Photographs surfacing online from the scene of the accident paint a gruesome image of how fragile we really are. Olga was evidently traveling at a very high speed when she lost control of her motorcycle. No, she wasn’t wearing gear although judging by the photos of the crash, no amount of gear could’ve saved her life in that incident. It is unknown whether Olga was running her GoPro at the time of the incident but considering the frequency of her posts on Instagram with new videos, it’s probably safe to assume the camera was running. Moral of the story – GoPro’s make you do crazy shit.

Olga is neither the first nor the last person to put it on for the camera. There are plenty of other YouTube and Instagram superstars who ride all kinds of crazy for the sake of “likes”. It makes me laugh to see riders with 10 GoPro's on their bike trying to capture every angle like they are filming a Blockbuster movie. I know from personal experience, I push myself way harder and sometimes beyond my abilities when there is a GoPro running. Yes it would be unreasonable to tell you that you should never run your GoPro but once in a while make the ride about the ride and leave the camera at home. It’s ok to just enjoy your bike to yourself sometime and not share it with the world. You might even find you are riding better, smoother and more consistent when you are not worried about what the ride looks like on camera. So turn off your phone, leave the camera at home and enjoy the ride just for you because GoPro’s make you do crazy shit.   

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