[adouglas]

LOL... Nope, I don't ride dirty bikes.

It's really just a matter of riding in a sane and mindful way combined with a little luck that's kept me away from uncontrollable wild card incidents.

A debate I often get engaged in is the well-worn "there are those who have crashed and those who will" and "you have to push your limits to get better" thing. I don't buy into either argument. I believe it's a mindset thing.

If your primary goal is to go fast then yeah... you'll probably crash along the way. But if your goals are different it need not be so. That doesn't mean you won't become fast over time... it just happens more slowly.

In five years of track riding I've advanced from the slowest to second-fastest of four groups (my organization runs four groups, red/yellow/blue/black, slow to fast) without pushing to the ragged edge. If "you have to push to get better" were true I’d still be in red group instead of blue. Learn, apply, be thoughtful and progress happens. That may not win races but it does make you a better, safer, faster rider.

I'm inherently cautious and don't find benefit in pushing limits because I'm not a racer. My motivations are different. I'm out there to learn and become a better rider, not do whatever it takes to win regardless of other considerations. Frankly, I think I'd be a lousy racer for that reason.

Sure, what we do out there is risky... but approaching it from a place of mindfulness, clear-eyed assessment and risk management produces a different kind of riding. I'm no shrinking violet on the bike and I do enjoy riding fast but you're talking to a guy who wears full leathers on the street. Seriously... who does that? ANYONE you know? I can't remember the last time I saw someone doing it.

My off was not a case of pushing limits to see what I could get away with or how fast I could go. It was straight-up user error. What caught me was that when you go faster, the margins shrink.

IMHO the difference between a racer and a track rider is a warrior mindset. Racers are out to win, and everything they do is in pursuit of that goal. Pushing limits is required because the other competitors are doing it to gain an edge.

But as any thinking rider knows, you can’t win a track day. Therefore intentionally pushing to the ragged edge is pointless. Nothing to gain, a lot to lose. What rational reason is there to take such a risk?