The above video, following one Doctor Steve Peat, of Sheffield, England, as he competed in the Lisboa Downtown urban downhill race last weekend, serves as a good cautionary tale in the land of internet marketeering. In the video, we see the good Doctor, evidently running a good four seconds up on the hot-seat rider, pile-drive his spanky new carbon v-10 (which had just been previewed a couple days beforehand), complete with a very swank set of carbon fiber rims, straight into a very sturdy looking stone pillar. Rung. His. Bell. But. Good. For the slow, painful, drawn out, sketchy, run by run, slimy misery that turned into the final few runs of an event that probably shoulda been cancelled, it can be seen here. Mad props to the local Portagee pinners, but that there was a junkshow:

Aside from illustrating just how miserably treacherous limestone cobbles in an old European city can be when it rains, the crash was a testament to both Peaty’s ability to take a good beating and the similar tough qualities of the new, as yet uncrashed v-10. Here, naturally, is where the irony kicks in.

When the bike first hit the worldwidewatercooler, there was much e-speculation. There were voices that contended that carbon fiber is not a good material to make a downhill bike out of, especially in terms of crash-worthiness. Some said it “looks flexy.” Others stated that the bike was too skimpy in crucial areas. It wasn’t an overwhelming chorus of doubt, but it was an audible undercurrent during the new bike’s few days of being an internet glamor model. The irony here is that finding a decent video or hi-res photo of this crash is pretty close to impossible. Why? I contend it is because the bike Did Not Break. You, me, and our millions of virtual friends all know beyond any shadow of a doubt that, IF the bike had broken, instead of just bouncing hard and catching Peaty in the Crown Jewels, pictures of the carnage would have spread around the world within minutes.

That’s kind of how it goes. Nobody remembers all the times when things worked just fine, but everybody knows the second one thing goes wrong, and there’s always someone with a camera ready to catch the bloodshed. The world loves wreckage. there’s a joke somewhere in the world that about sums it up. Cover the kids ears…

The bike is fine, by the way, and Peaty’s had worse. His words on the subject: “Just a few aches and scratches on myself, and the bike is still beautiful mate! But that one did hurt a little, and the guy trying to help me before I gathered my thoughts almost got hurt too...”

Flipper was there, capturing the action behind his lens for vitalmtb.com. Click here for the story on the story, complete with audio.

Always a bit of a risky proposition, taking a brand new bike made out of a material that the e-speculators have little faith in, then throwing it down the stairs in front of cameras. So far, so good. The real fun begins this weekend in Slovenia. Where it is raining now, and likely to stay raining. At least there’s some dirt to crash in, in between the rocks and roots. Fingers crossed.

All this famous people and glamorous bike talk probably isn’t inspiring anyone to look at photos of my Fruita trip, is it? Well, you get another day’s respite. But I might still break them out, just to “keep it real”, whatever that means…