There are crashes, and there are CRASHES. My most memorable (and painful) one was a commuting crash I had 4 years ago. Beautiful fall day, I was headed downhill on a pot hole riddled road I had ridden pretty much daily for several years. I knew where every pot hole was on that road. I remember the oh **** moment when I hit a deep pothole that I somehow managed to clip. I was doing between 35 and 40, at the time, and had just touched the brakes to begin braking for the stop sign at the bottom of the hill. Since my hands were on the brakes, I managed to flip the bike and landed on my face.

I was airlifted to the closest trauma center. Broken jaw, 4 missing teeth, fractured neck (C5 and C6), nearly lost my eye. Thank goodness I had my (now broken) helmet on as I likely wouldn't have made it. It took about a thousand (yes, that many) stitches to put my face back together, as the surgeon had to do it in layers. I spent a couple of days in ICU, and about 6 wks in a neck brace. The dental work went on for the next couple of years. One more surgery to my face a year later to take care of some issues with my eye. The bike survived nicely (other than the wheels and fork). I must have protected that Ti frame with my body as it was still between my legs when I was sprawled out on the blacktop. I rode it today.

So that one was the crash that slowed me down a lot. No more 50 mph down hills. No more slaloms through pot holes. I'm very happy to be alive, and don't mind slowing it down a bit. I'm much less serious about riding these days, and traffic unnerves me a little more than it used to, but I still ride a fair amount.

BTW, you can't practice for a crash like that. Avoid it in the first place, maybe.