The spring bike spike Published March 19, 2010 By Lt. Col. Jeff Zemke 75th Air Base Wing Chief of Safety HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- The snow has almost melted and spring is right around the corner, a time when many will roll out their two-wheeled "Deployment Specials" and look for a sunny day to check out the top end of their freedom machines. Those first few rides of the year are when too many of our Wingmen crash and burn by either being hit by an automobile, or pushing the top speed and riding faster than they are capable of handling. These mishaps produce what is referred to as the "Spring Bike Spike" -- a significant four times the average increase in motorcycle mishaps in the springtime, and especially in the month of April. There is a reason every fighter pilot flies with a Wingman -- each person is directly responsible for watching out for the other. Being responsible for another person's safety is not only smart, but it reduces the chance that someone will make a poor choice. For these reasons, the U.S. Air Force has not only embraced the concept, but extended it to watching out for family, friends and co-workers by getting involved in their lives and acting as accountability partners to ensure their well being. For those motorcycle riders getting ready for the season, please don't take those first rides alone. You should get your bikes ready together with your riding Wingman, Your ride has probably been in storage for many months and needs a thorough pre-flight. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation recommends the T-CLOCS (Tires, Controls, Lights, Oil, Chassis, Side stand) inspection checklist. Accomplish this well before your first ride, so you have plenty of time to fix any "redballs" from the cold weather. Nothing could be worse than a mechanical problem at a high rate of speed, and the subsequent mishap that tends to follow. The majority of "skiing" accidents are directly attributable to skiing out of control. Please don't push the top limits of your bike, especially with roads full of leftover salt and sand from the snow plows. Start your first rides slow, ride together, and keep an eye on your Wingman. Many young fighter pilots learn early on that one of the greatest assets of the F-16 Fighting Falcon in a dog fight is its small size, and pointing right at you the F-16 is hard to see. For automobile drivers the motorcycle is also small and also hard to see. Motorists spend the entire driving day looking out for other four-wheeled vehicles, and will often see right through a motorcycle and don't realize it, until it is too late. The motorcycle campaign "See Me, Save Me" has proven that just being aware of the number of motorcycles on a military base helps prevent accidents. Please keep a look out for motorcycles, and riders -- wear brightly colored attire to help the automobile driver see you. If you are unsure of the definition of brightly colored, ask a child for a brightly colored crayon; they surely won't hand you a black one. Remember, your life depends on the automobile driver seeing you, and "too cool for that," just might end up taking your life. We're all Wingmen when it comes to motorcycle riders. Every year we continually see mishaps where there was an opportunity for a Wingman to step in and interject a bit of advice that could have prevented the mishap. Don't let yourself be the one who allowed a mishap to occur because you didn't want to say, "No, let's not do that," "Slow down," "Put your vest on" or "Watch out for that motorcycle!" One team, one fight, watch out for your Wingman.