Up Down Up Down Up Down... repeat

Ahh, cycling. A sport of highs and lows. Remaining sane is all about riding the waves and therefore not getting too cocky while you're surfing the top, nor sinking into depression when you're down in the nadir. Things were super going into yesterday's stage 3 -- Peter is in Green already, the team is basking in super high spirits, and England has been hosting one heck of a grand depart -- besides a rogue fan wandered into the street seeking a #TDFSelfie (#tdfSELFISHselfie?) caused a domino effect where suddenly my front wheel had no more spokes and I was surfing the British pavement on my back.(sigh)So with stage 4 today, I opted for a healthy dose of optimism. We arrived safely to France yesterday evening and stayed in a stunning French manor, the sun was shining this morning, and a pleasant breeze was coming off the water putting a smile on everyone's face. Ahh, all things good! Alas, a crash for race favorite Froome and a few other GC dudes within the first few moments of the race set the peloton's nervousness into high gear for the entire day. Phooey, the wave begins sloping down.Again, looking for silver lining to that cloud, the sun continued to shine, the team was riding terrifically, Peter did well in the intermediate sprint, hmm, what else? ...I had a really nice pair of pre-race interviews today; both very thorough and not dealing with the normal song and dance that you come to expect, but rather really fascinating and thought provoking question -- those are the best. Plus my roommate is Jean Marc Marino who's my favorite ever French teammate (admittedly, yes, he's my first ever French teammate, but truly he's an awesome and uplifting soul).Aaaaand now back to the race, with about 20km to go, I had an untimely flat, but it was a smooth wheel change and I was shooting back up the peloton when we came upon a roundabout. Meanwhile, those sunny skies by now had vanished and it was sprinkling. Wet paint, new rubber, me... down. Crud.Banged and bruised, I'm again seeking that optimism. So I'm now symmetrical since I hit my right side yesterday and left today! (Ha.) Better yet, we're now at the same hotel we use for the Spring Classics for the entire month of April, so it's like being back at our home away from home! In this circus life we live, it's always nice to see friendly faces.POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING.