Pick a fight and expect to be bruised. I can remember my most recent fight with the gates of Rookwood Cemetery… and like most fights that I pick, I came out badly bruised and obviously lost the match.

I did not really intend to choose a fight with a gate – it just happened. Although you may think that fighting is a deliberate choice, it is seldom the case.

Human beings and fighting go hand in hand. For some reason, we all love to have a ‘blue’ – even though we know that there is a good chance that physical and emotional pain would follow.  Even death does not deter us from having a decent fight and that is why wars will never end. As long as we are humans, we will try to pick up a fight with someone else. Sometimes, we even fight with ourselves – but because this does not involve an audience it is hidden beneath the surface… waiting to be uncovered by ‘shrinks’.

Rovny and Brambilla had a few swings at each other on stage 16 of the Vuelta. If it happened in the peloton, we would probably not have known. But because they were in the break and had good TV coverage, it is now quite a famous ‘blue’. It even forced the officials to wave the disqualification arm at both riders.  The fight will probably be watched on replay more times than the finish of the race that had Contador attack Froome in the last kilometre to produce an empathic (but less memorable) win. And now, most who follow cycle racing will remember this fight for years to come – but the pistol shot finish would fade into ‘another stage finish’.

Since fights are unavoidable, we just have to learn how to handle it properly.

When I get in a fight, I now know that there is no such thing as winning.  I will come out the other end bruised and hurt.

If I accept this law of nature, I know exactly what I am in for when I go in battling. And when the obvious results happen…it is as expected. And isn’t getting what you expect just the same as  winning?