Valar morghulis.

A hawk? This is how I die? An effing bird of prey?!

I didn't, of course. Heading west out of town on County Road 9 - a delicious 15km stretch of twisty, fresh pavement - I rounded a curve to see the raptor dive bombing something by the roadside. He, being better at his job than I am at mine, pulled up as I was 20 feet away and closing. Disaster averted, I swallowed hard and rode on.

This kind of thing happens a lot. There are times when riding a motorcycle is like living in Australia: everything wants to kill you. Deer, off-leash dogs, wind-blown trash, texting drivers, gusty crosswinds, mid-curve sand on the road, on and on. But they warned me about this. They - the people who teach the motorcycle safety course - warned me about a lot of things, in fact. And every single one of those warnings was true. Every. Single. One.

That thing about motorists turning left in front of you, said to cause more than 40% of multi-vehicle motorcycle accidents? True. That thing about not sitting in a car's blind spot? True. Always being in the right gear as you approach a stop, and watching your six? True. About not riding when you're not feeling your best? True. That thing about assuming another vehicle near you will always do the worst possible thing, so be ready for that thing? Mostly true. True, true, true. In fact, I have to say that not one moment of that weekend last year standing in the pouring rain while those perky people rabbited on about what can happen on a motorcycle was wasted. It has all happened, something on almost every ride.

What's funny is, stuff that would make me apoplectic if someone did it to me while I was driving a car, I brush off on the bike. It's like when you're suited up to ride, you inhabit an alternate version of yourself, someone unflappable and, well, superior. The most people get from me is a shake of the head, which tends to seem doubly reproachful when you're wearing a helmet. Though I don't bother with wildlife, of course.

But I think the main thing I want to say here is this: if you're thinking of taking this up, take the course and pay attention. It will turn out that not a single word they say to you is frivolous.