It was like any other Crack Wednesday. My boys and I were doing this...

When this sauntered across the road...

Which of course = mayhem at nearly 30 MPH causing me to go airborne and do this...again:

Yup. A heifer sauntered her fat ass in the middle of the road here in Boulder and caused mayhem in our pace line. Honestly, there was nothing I could do. Nearly 30 mph to braking and wheels going everywhere and me clipping one and going airborne. Result: Snappy snappy. Clavicle cracked again but I must say that the old break actually helped and held strong, only cracking around the outside edge of the old calcium 'knot'. It was a violent impact on bad chip-sealed pavement causing lovely meat grinder burns just about everywhere. 

I picked myself up, grunted an f-bomb once (OK, maybe twice), re-mounted the Ridley and rode to the hospital with Michael Robson. I knew I broke it again and was angry for a minute or two. But then it all got...calm. Which leads me to the good stuff....

For some strange reason, I'm not all heady and depressed. Seriously. Maybe it's because I've seen this movie before and know the drill. Sleeping, healing, zinc intake, etc, I know what I need to do to get better. No surgery again this time so that helps too having dodged that bullet again. 

But in truth, it's about why I ride (and yes, sometimes the crashing happens): my friends. It's why I do this. It's why I race. It's why I can not give up and am so excited to get back and ride soon with them. It's why I want my sons to experience sport, whether biking or any other thing they fall in love with. These people that surround me are angels, supporting me in all my goals whether its being fast on a bike or growing a business. And I do the same for them. 

Let me tell a story...and it's a quick one. I have a brother. The end. No...seriously, that's the story. But the reality is having been abandoned by him, I have spent a lifetime pouring myself into my buds because I really just want that relationship I think I was supposed to have when I was a kid. And to this day, the friends I have are more precious to me than...well just about anything. They are family. They are life. They are my true brothers.

Michael, escorting me to the hospital to get cleaned up. The quiet precision of Pete applying Tegaderm on my wounds with such care. But it's not just the care when you're hurt. We all motivate each other in so many ways.....as we're just trying to do the right things by our wives, children...and us. It's so motivating, and so rewarding, I am indebted to have them in my life. 

Thank you boys. You are more flesh and blood to me as brothers than my own.