A few crashes of the past season
Crashes are an inescapable part of cycling that, for better or worse, make up a fundamental ingredient of the sport's tradition and history. What is fascinating about crashes is not so much that sympathetic moment of wincing horror as we observe and relate to the unfortunate pain of another, but rather the toughness and determination of the cyclists that makes them capable of getting up again. Without the crashes, we would not get the miraculous recoveries, the overcoming of desperate misery, the inspiring evidence of suffering faced and mastered.
I think that we watch the crashes not because we enjoy seeing anyone get hurt
(which we don't), but because watching the fallen rider struggle painfully back onto the bike
is a moment that in its own way girds and strengthens us as we daily face our own downfalls and struggles. We want more than anything for that crash victim to get up despite the pain, the blood, the road rash, because it is an emblem for the way we would all like to be able to face life: never
surrendering to the vagaries of bad luck, never refusing to face the demons head on, never
laying down and refusing to get up. So in honor of the riders who have inspired us this year, by taking the punishment of capricious fate without complaint, and defiantly getting back on the bike (eventually)....here are a few pictures and videos of some of the crashes that have stayed prominent in my memory from the past season.
I think that we watch the crashes not because we enjoy seeing anyone get hurt
(which we don't), but because watching the fallen rider struggle painfully back onto the bike
is a moment that in its own way girds and strengthens us as we daily face our own downfalls and struggles. We want more than anything for that crash victim to get up despite the pain, the blood, the road rash, because it is an emblem for the way we would all like to be able to face life: never
surrendering to the vagaries of bad luck, never refusing to face the demons head on, never
laying down and refusing to get up. So in honor of the riders who have inspired us this year, by taking the punishment of capricious fate without complaint, and defiantly getting back on the bike (eventually)....here are a few pictures and videos of some of the crashes that have stayed prominent in my memory from the past season.
1. Stuart O'Grady vs the fence post, stage 8, Tour de France
2. Rigoberto Uran at Tour of Germany
3. Andrea Moletta at Milan-San Remo
4. Graeme Brown vs Tom Steels, Tour of Qatar
5. Jimmy Casper, Marco Velo, and others vs the descent of the Kemmelberg at Gent-Wevelgem
6. Tour de France, Stage 5: Mayo, Kloden, LeQuatre, and Vino all crashing
7. Giro, Stage 11: Mass crash at finish line
8. Brad Huff at Tour of Missouri
9. Dave Z at Tour of California
10. Graeme Brown vs Alex Rasmussen, Tour of Denmark
1 comment:
One of my favorites has to be Johan
Bruneel descending some mountain, overshooting the left hander and going between the barriers and over the cliff in , me thinks, the
'89 Tour. Then, he climbs back up the side of the mountain and, trashed as he is, starts looking for a new bike!
Great stuff!!
Scott
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