RIP Gary Jaehne

I did not know Gary Jaehne but he was apparently a a living legend among Bay Area sport riders.  Jaehne was an accomplished rider, riding skills author, racing instructor, and a champion of the Ninja 250 as a racing platform.  He hosted a free suspension workshop and was considered to be not only highly skilled, but knowledgeable and a really nice guy.  And he was old enough to have his skills metered by common sense. Saturday he low-sided in a turn and went off a cliff. I read about this over the weekend on BARF and it was also reported in the Mercury News and elsewhere.

Gary's death was a wake-up call for me and should be for any sport rider.  From everything I've read he was the last person one would have expected to have gone out this way.  The take-home message for me was that if this could happen to such a highly regarded rider it could happen to anyone.  So I'm paying extra attention to riding safely and not pushing my limits.  Going out doing something you love is maybe not the worst way to go, but it's much better not to.  RIP Gary Jaehne.