TIME IN THE SADDLE

I didn’t get a lot of time on the bike this past summer.   Though this is not by design, but rather necessity, the amount of time I spend with my butt in the saddle of my motorcycle is taken from what I call my “discretionary time”.   It is the extra time.  It is the time that remains after all the “have-to-get-done” things are done.  I wish it were not so, but that is how it is.  Other things come first… second, and third.  And then somewhere down the list is my “motorcycle” time. 

Oh, I suppose that I could move it up the list a bit, and to be honest, there are times when some pretty important things have been put off to a later time because I could stand it no longer; I had to go for a ride.  Being out on the bike is one of those activities that clears the mind.  This is a contradiction, I know, but it remains a fact. 

One has a lot to consider when riding a motorcycle, if it is to be done safely.  I don’t want to take time here to catalogue everything that has to happen mentally and physically to successfully glide down a stretch of highway at 70 mph without getting killed, but trust me the list is very long indeed.  As odd as it may seem, it is this very fact that makes doing so such a relaxing activity.

However, this fact of motorcycling comes with a very clear danger.  Your see, riding a motorcycle is not a walk in the park.  It is a constant series of alerts and adjustments.  It is hundreds of minute calculations happening with the passing of mere seconds of time.  It is like playing a game of chess in the middle of a freeway.  Anticipating, reading the situation and preparing several moves ahead at all times.  It is living in a constant state of readiness… ready to respond to sudden and unexpected dangers.  All of which is happening at 40… 50… 70mph, or more.  I recall once riding out in the Nevada desert, when I thought I would die from the heat… I decided it was time to get back to civilization.  I watched the needle on the Harley pass 90mph, and I didn’t look at the speedometer again until we rolled into the outskirts of Vegas. 

What then is the very clear danger?  Complacency.  Worse yet, it is complacency coupled with a lack of proficiency which can only come with very regular and repetitive practice.  In simpler terms: with lots of time in the saddle.

What does all of this have to do with Ham Radio?  The fact is that there are a lot of similarities between these two activities.

For the last several months I have found it necessary to severely curtail my time in the Shack.  In a nutshell, life happens.  Regrettably,  stuff happens that demand a shift in priorities.  Sometimes, our discretionary activities take the biggest hit.  I’m not here to suggest that the “stuff” that happens is good or bad.  It is just life.  We adjust the “sails”, catch the prevailing winds, and continue the journey.  It’s just wind.

But here is what I learned about Ham Radio this last week.  If you are not “riding” that chair in your shack on a very frequent and consistent basis, you are going to get “rusty”.  Your skills are going to very quickly be diminished.  Your “HF ears” aren’t going to hear as well.  Your command of q-signs and the phonetic alphabet will begin to waver.  Stuff that you didn’t even have to think about a few months ago, will now require a slight hesitation.  Other stations will “stumble” over your callsign.

Anyone that thinks that they can absent themselves from their radio activities for weeks, months, or even years at a time, and then just sit down and pick up where they left off… that person is sadly mistaken.  It isn’t going to happen.  And herein lies what I believe to be the biggest argument in favor of Traffic Handling.  Traffic Nets happen around the clock, 365 days per year.   I can think of no other Ham Radio activity that can provide the Operator with a predicable, scheduled, disciplined opportunity to practice and maintain their radio proficiency.  And for a VERY busy guy like me, it is this scheduled predictability that may very will be the biggest advantage of all.