I thought I'd write a blog about crashing, because from my experiences, it is a fundemental aspect of bike racing.  Bike racing is a sport that is based on a couple things:  skill, athletic ability, determination, will power, work ethic, positve thinking. . . and luck.  You can do everything right - the training, preparation, visualizing yourself crossing the finish line first, having a bike that works flawlessly - and get a flat tire right before your race or crash into the first corner.  It is unlike anything else becuase it is so important to be lucky.  Maybe it's having bad karma the day of your race, or maybe it's that split second of doubt as you are descending a rocky technichal trail that makes you faceplant into the bushes.  Who knows. 

But that is also part of the beauty of racing bikes.  It's a grand adventure, you have to play your cards right and the rest is up to fate.  Road racing is especially interesting, becuase you can have one person make a slight mistake and take out an entire peleton of riders.  There is absolutely nothing so exhilarating as racing a road criterium with 80 riders, all desiring the win.  You go out hard, and the entrire race you are suffering trying to move up in the pack and cover anybody who attacks.  There are people beside you, inches in front of you, behind you, all trying to do the same thing.  You hear the constant sound of tires spinning and people breathing, and you must be so alert becuase if you make one tiny mistake you could go down.  And you are going so fast, it would be bad to crash.  The worst sound is when you hear the cracking of bike on pavement, followed by more cracking and snapping as people behind go down or struggle to get around the crash.  If it's behind you, you feel relieved that you were not part of it, and keep racing.  And if you go down . . . well thats just bad luck. [:|]

Then somebody crosses the finish line first, throws up their arms, celebrates their victory.  The poor racers who went down go home to nurse their injuries and heal, all the more determined to have a better race next time. You just have to take it as comes, enjoy the excitement of battling it out on your bike, love the adrenaline rushes and pity the person who never goes out and takes a risk.