Since Manny suggested it, I thought would start a new thread on knowing when to stop. Here are some thoughts:
1. When you're so tired your judgement is impared, stop. Sound logical? Nope! I'll bet we could get lots of folks to tell us about crashing after a long ride when they were just exhausted. My oldest son can tell you about two broken arms that occured at the same time after we had been riding in Holister, California for about 10 hours. We were tired, and should have stopped 5 minutes before when we passed camp on our way to take one more loop around the moto cross track. Lot's of things in life are a lot easier with just one arm...
2. When your goggles are fogged. Manny made the point in his last thread, but I'll add it and say "ditto". In fact, I learned about where the pit crew should store goggles while waiting for me to arrive at an ISDE qualifier. They stored them in the van, so when I arrived, they were nice and toasty. Two minutes up the trail, couldn't see a thing. Cleaned goggles, still blind. Tossed goggles on the ground and road for another two hours without goggles until the next pit when I got more goggles. DON'T RIDE BLIND! As a note, I should have stopped and waited for the goggles to clear instead of tossing them, but just had to have some more plastic and wood.
3. When you break a clutch or brake lever. I carry a spare in my pack, as I have seen too many folks wad up in a corner with a broken brake lever. They carry the same amount of speed into the corner without realizing it, and grab the front brake. Oops, no lever.... I have even stopped during a National under the theory that the two minutes I lose changing the lever will be easily made up with the ability to go faster and stall/crash less in the tight sections.
4. If you are riding in heat, pay attention to your body, as riding will cause sweating, which leads to dehydration. At the 2003 National my club promoted, we had a death when an out of state rider got so dehydrated he just kept riding until he ran out of fuel. When the bike died, he was 100 feet from a field that was being watered, and 1/2 mile from the Snake river. However, he was so confused from lack of water, he turned around and walked back into the desert 4 miles and then just dropped dead. Left behind a wife and baby. Not worth it. If he had just stopped and sat down, he would have retained a lot of liquid that went out through his skin. As a note, I was chase riding the event, and after the first lap in 105 degree temps, had to park the bike for 10 minutes and hydrate before we chased the second loop. Also, the ambulance had to start almost 20 IV's at the finish line for folks too dehydrated. As I said, not worth the trade off...
I am sure there are lots of others, so chime in...
Rick
