Oh yeah.

1. Rode into a pole dividing the "lanes" of the Truckee River bike path during the Tahoe century, which I was coaching for Team in Training. They removed ALL of the poles except ONE - the one I hit!. I was riding with an honoree (leukemia patient) whom I adore, and he tends to go off and tell these wonderful stories, so I got distracted and hit the pole dead on with my handlebars, going about 15. Did and endo and basically landed on my feet but I broke off my computer.

2. Riding down Silverado trail at 20 - 25 mph in Napa into a stiff headwind after a 90 mile ride in 100 degree heat, during which I basically bonked. We were in a tight paceline, and a gust of wind hit the rider in front of me and we touched wheels. This happens, and usually I could deal with that and not crash, but I was so fried from the ride that I couldn't recover and went off the road. Bent my bars and got some road rash, but otherwise okay.

3. I coached the Tour de Tucson last year for TNT. This is a real race, and I generally race it, and do pretty well. But last year I decided to coach instead. Big mistake. My ride group was pretty strong, but there was one guy who didn't make it to the practice rides - we usually would not let someone like that ride with the group, but since the group was all friends we made an exception. Bigger mistake. Anyway, one mile into the race, in a tight pack, someone's water bottle popped out and rolled across the road. This happens all the time in races and it is no big deal. But the weenie who hadn't trained with us shrieked like a little girl and slammed on his brakes and hit the deck. While I could have avoided or run over the bottle, I could not avoid the 200 pound weenie right in front of me, so I hit him and crashed hard on my hip. No road rash, but I knew immediately when I got up that my back wasn't right. I ended up DNF'ing - my first ever. As a coach, my priority was my ride group, and I rode about 40 miles with them and they all ended up finishing fine (even the weenie!). But my back still bothers me a bit climbing.

I have been riding about 6 years pretty seriously in long distance events and races, so the number of crashes may seem like a lot, but over that long, its really not a big deal. I also seem to fall well - knock on wood. I grew up riding horses, so I am good at the tuck and roll. Don't stress about it. It may happen or it may never happen.