Dodging the dragon

摘要

The more races I attend, the more I realize that, in general, the safest rider on the pavement is the leader. When there is a crash, the top runner is seldom involved. Even when two or three closely matched riders battle for the lead, rarely do any of them fall. This directly contradicts the ancient maxim, "Slow Down and Live," so beloved by departments of public safety. The obvious converse, "Speed Up and Die," suggests that the simple act of going fast brings deadly risk. Then why is so little of the crashing in races at the front? Riders with the skill, experience and equipment setup that allow them to lead races are usually persons of judgment and self-discipline, able accurately to estimate their margins of safety and to act rationally upon that knowledge. They know that the harder a rider pushes, the more frequent mistakes become, elevating the chance of falling.