Confucius said, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

This is not about the 1993 film starring Michael Douglas, but the time when your bike doesn't stay shiny side up.

There are many reasons why you might have an 'off,' some of which you can do nothing about – e.g. extreme mechanical failure or the action of another that could not be anticipated.

We all make mistakes when riding - perhaps a missed gear or leaving an indicator on for a while; however it only takes a slight error of judgement in either the planning or execution of a manoeuvre for the outcome to be more dramatic.

Even the best have been known to 'lay it down;' I'm not saying that I am one of the best but I did manage to hit the deck during a January social ride a couple of years ago. Should I have changed the route on the fly, as it hadn't warmed up as forecast and a patch of black ice was my downfall - literally!

Luckily a twisted ankle and sore shoulder - along with a couple of scratches on the Pan - was the sum total of the consequences; I was only doing around 10mph - but should I have been there at all?

I know this hurts both mentally and physically, but the best thing to do is bounce straight back - analyse what happened and how you would do things differently next time, if you find yourself in a similar situation.

Share your experience with others; this may well help them in the future - a nice positive outcome from a negative experience.

Learn from it - that's how we improve - above all, come back smiling!