crashing out of a motorcycle race must be one of the single most disorienting and disheartening events one could ever experience short of being trapped in a bouncy castle full of enemy ninjas. think about it: you’re absolutely tearing down the track, having established a good rhythm and are battling for position. you’ve overtaken two riders already and have begun chipping away at the the leaders. your pit board is a countdown: -2.1, -1.7, -1.4.

then, without warning, your front end gives way and you highside into the gravel. when the world stops tumbling, you sit up just in time to see all the riders behind you roar past you one by one until the backmarkers disappear from view. adrenaline is still pumping as you run over to your bike. it’s trashed. you’ve gone from 100 miles per hour to naught, from race speed to walking pace, from possible podium spot to DNF. all in a matter of seconds.