Back when all my riding companions were cat1 and cat2 racers, the only talk of crashes were jokes about watching the cat4 races to see a bit of blood. Crashes were not considered acceptable or inevitable.

Nowadays, with more people racing and better training that does not involve bike handling or mentoring, far too many people who are racing accept crashes as the price of admission. I see no need to ride with these folks. I hope they have fun and wish them well, but we'll ride apart.