the best laid plans

January 2, 2008--that's one anniversary date I don't forget! I was driving home from Chapin after my first ski session of the year when, out of the blue, another driver crossed the center line and crushed my Civic. In spite of airbags and my seatbelt, the crash broke my ribs, punctured my lung, broke bones in my lower back, and snapped my right kneecap into three pieces. It really jacked up my 2008 racing season and drained away the fitness I'd built up in the prior two seasons.

I know many people in the local cycling community that worked hard to recover from various injuries--broken collarbone, a broken hip, a shattered pelvis, broken arm, broken tibia, head injuries, etc...

It seems like adversity is built into the sport of cycling. It requires so much preparation: physical, mental, mechanical, logistical, that things are bound to go wrong every once in a while. Broken bones are just one example.

Fate will kick you in the butt and the cycling gods will shred your puny training plans and racing strategies. The only recourse is to persevere and try to stay mentally nimble to overcome the problems that are thrown in your path.