That's totally not the point. The ride I went on that day had 5k of climbing in a loop, which means 5k of descending. If that skewer broke on one of the 40 mph descents, I would have been sent hurtling off the bike and bouncing across asphalt into bushes and trees.

So I want to know: what causes skewers to break in this fashion, and how often do such things occur?