While out at the Tour of Elk Grove this AM, I heard some of my teammates got caught up in yet another crash.  Again, it was due to bad decisions and poor riding of a few riders.  This seems to be a recurring theme in just about every race this year. It seems as if many riders are focused on their own personal race, rather than what’s going on in the race around them.  They execute moves and bomb corners as if everyone else will get out of their way.

Dude, if you really want to push the limits on your own terms, do so in a time trial or in a solo breakaway, not the peloton.  Don’t jeopardize the safety of other riders just because of your selfishness and carelessness. As my teammate Jeff Holland says, not everyone has $500 dollars in their pocket for the $500 deductible on their collarbone surgery. Not everyone has a trust fund or is Canadian (aka, has socialized medicine).

It’s one thing to hurt yourself when pushing the limits, it’s another to hurt others.  Trust me, I pushed it too far in TT and look at what happened to me.  That was my own decision, but it was also my own race. I learned what my limits were the hard way, but I didn’t make others pay for my mistake.

BTW, if you want to see what it’s like to really push the limits, here are some great TT crashes from the past…