By Cheri Felix
You Crashed. It Doesn’t Mean You Suck. It Means You Crashed.
My life. Every day I am given a nugget of truth. A nugget that shows me my true self. And if it’s not me, it’s someone that’s with me. I’ve been mountain biking since 1999 and if there’s one thing that’s been consistent, unlike the length of my shorts, it’s that we all crash. Some more than others. Some harder than others. Some more epic than others but in the end, crashing or toppling over is part of it. I’ve found that many times it’s not epic. It’s when we are doing something we’ve done a hundred times. It’s when we can see the parking lot. It just happens but that doesn’t mean we suck. Although it’s so easy to take that route, make it into a bigger story, make it into something that is TRUE, it’s not.
We all know someone who crashed and they never rode again. “Yah, one time I went out with my boyfriend and he took me on a super techy trail and I went over my handlebars.” Or “Back in college…” It sucks to crash. Not only can it be scary but it can be costly and time consuming if you have to go to the doctor or have surgery like I did (goodbye ACL, hello cadaver). And it’s normal to be tentative and scared after a crash. But it’s not okay to make it into a big story about how you suck and you’ll never be any better. It’s not okay to let fear get in the way of doing something you love. Or at least think you’ll love. Or at least like a lot.
Becoming good at anything takes time and I’m not suggesting you wait 10,000 hours to get better but getting good at anything takes work and patience. Maybe that’s why we keep kids at home until they’re 18. Maybe it takes at least that long to figure out how to be good at the parenting thing or at least not suck. After I tore my ACL riding in Fruita, for years (sorry to tell you but it did take years) I had to work my way back to my old self. It took time to remember that I was good and that I had skills and to remember that fearlessness I had in my bone marrow. It took TIME. Like when your favorite middle school boy/girl/friend broke up with you, it took TIME. But you didn’t give up did you? I hope not.
So you crash sometimes and maybe you’re the only one in your friend group that crashes. Oh well. Don’t let it stop you from being your best. From taking a few risks. Life can be very small when we believe our own BS stories about how we suck and we’re never going to get better and everyone else is better than us. There will ALWAYS be someone who is better than you. And that’s okay because like I always say, mountain biking is like life. It’s got it’s ups and downs and sometimes you’re on top and sometimes you’re on the bottom (yes, we’re still talking about bikes) but don’t weave a sad tale about how you suck because you crashed. Just ride your bike. That’s all I’m saying; ride your bike.
Thanks for posting this, it was really helpful. I needed the reminder.
It’s almost like your vision changes when you have a crash. Those features that looked small and irrelevant before, now look larger and more daunting. Then, as you regain your confidence, they get smaller again. I remember back to a few weeks ago, I took a nasty fall in another state and came back home, but noticed things on the trail that I had never seen before, because they stood out so much more. It took a week or two for my “vision” to come back to the point that it was at before.
It’s really funny what confidence can do.