"Crashes? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Crashes"

What a year so far. It seems like a crash a week these days. Some might say crashes are a good thing, natural selection at work. I might even have said that myself but that is a flippant response to a serious issue. Crashes do happen and they come in all sizes. There are the catastrophic bike meets car crash. There is never anything funny in that unless the bike wins. As if THAT is ever going to happen. There are the bike meets animal crashes. The bike wins more often and there is often cause for humor. There are the bike meets stationary object crashes. These are funny when you are not on the bike meeting the object. Then of course there are the bike to bike crashes. Funny? sometimes, when no one gets hurt, but usually just stupid.

After the shock passes, the Band-Aids are passed out or the meat wagon leaves, it is time to gain value from the crash. The local bike club has posted news of several crashes. Unfortunately the posts only ask for prayers or laud the SAG. Crashes should be handled like 12 step meetings. Crashers should stand up (Figuratively will work if literally unable to stand.) and say “Hello my name is Buckwheat and I crashed.”

Now that we have our dear friend Buckwheat admitting to crashing, let’s try and find out the underlying causes of his crash. Was he just reckless for a moment? Is this a behavioral pattern? Was he even to blame? Was it an act of god or close contact with a chevy? Once we have discovered the reason for the crash we can move on to treatment.

Treatment is easy. Apologies all around if you caused the crash. Laugh a little if it was really funny and no one was hurt. Most of all discuss how to avoid repeating the crash. So far this year crashes have been caused by:

Bad cleats (broken collarbone)

Running off the road and coming back on (multiple road rash cases)

Getting a drink and being blown of the road by a gust of wind (shame)

Trying to adjust a bike magnet while riding (shame and roadrash)

There have been others I am sure. I am not the clearing house for crash rumors. In fact, if I am slandering anyone by posting an unsubstantiated rumor, please stand up and tell us all what really happened. Inquiring minds want to know.

Don’t crash, Please, It is never a good thing when it happens. But if you do crash, stand up and tell your story. There are a lot of rookies out there that don’t have a clue. I once ran into the back of a parked car while trying to check my derailleur. Once you have heard that you are not likely to do anything that stupid. Let’s all try and help each other out and not be enablers.

My name is Speedo and I have crashed.