[aerohead]

I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts.
For years I considered the risks 2-wheelers take when in traffic.I swore off street riding after having to lay my bike down too many times on Ventura Blvd.,trying to get to High School and back.
My brother Ross had been introduced to motorcycles when he was about 10-yrs-old,riding neighbors' Triumphs and BSAs down in the LA River basin,feet barely able to reach the pegs.
He was commuting to work on I-17,near the Buckeye-Curve when a chain-reaction pileup was developing ahead.He must not have had adequate following distance,or perhaps had been cut off,losing his distance margin.Don't know,wasn't there.
Anyway,he could not stop in time. Eye-witnesses say he laid the bike down and attempted to crab-walk out of harm's way,eventually striking the car ahead,and pitching into the slow lane.
A twenty-five-yr-old in a Dodge Durango drove into the barrier in an attempt to miss him,but could not avoid striking him.
Fire-rescue EMTs were in traffic commuting to work,right there on I-17,when the collision occurred and responded immediately.
Ross suffered blunt force trauma to the upper body,lived momentarily,incoherent,unable to breath.Nothing could be done.
Perhaps the only good I can offer from the loss is to emphasize how fragile we are,how much we're loved and will be missed if lost,and to stress extreme vigilance when riding.
Ross was a very experienced veteran rider.Be really careful out there.