I'll quickly post about Jeff cup just to put them in correct order. To be honest, serious training for me started only a number of weeks prior to this race. We had a number of Coppi members in the race that I figured were in better shape than I and my goal was to help them when needed and sprint at the end if I had it.
Our race was 4 laps of a 10 mile closed course loop. The loop had 3 turns and a decent hill directly after turn 1. It was a moderately windy day to boot. Long story short, each lap I was slowly worn down. I made sure I stayed in the top 20 for almost the entire race. Lap 4 really sucked for me but I hung on. I tried to go for the sprint but knew I didn't have it and sat up for a pack finish. Yes that's not like me, I know. I beat myself up a little afterwards about it and didn't really tell anyone. Will make sure not to do that next time. 48th? ew. =)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Monday, July 14, 2008
Giro Del Cielo - CAT 4/5 (7/13/08)
I drove up to NJ this past weekend to spend some time with my sister, brother in law, and nephews. It turned out to be the perfect weekend, except for the massive amounts of driving both days.
My friend Tim Magee (ex Temple U cyclist) and I decided to do this race months ago together. We get to the race and Tim introduces me to 5 other ex Temple cyclists of which 4 are in the same club now. This race was stage 3 of the Giro and two of the Temple guys were in 2nd and 3rd in the overall classification. We decided to offer assistance where possible but I think both parties understood that the sprint was every man for themselves (unless we were in a break and it would give them the overall classification).
The race course was very rolling with most of the hills on the back half of the 5.5 mile lap. We had to complete 5 laps of the course and we were informed there was a preem after lap 1 but you would only get overall classification points.
The race started and it went out pretty hard. I'd say I stuck around the middle of the pack feeling out some of the riders and the course and realizing that I wouldn't be sprinting for the preem on lap 1. Most of the entire lap was fast. After the first lap, during the regroup 3 riders went off the front. The pack let them go and I was in no position to hop on. Over the course of the next 2 the break was kept at about 15 seconds up the road with various people trying to bridge unsucessfully. The pace altered back and forth between an almost outright sprint to an easy training ride. At one point two of the guys from Temple tried to go up the road with a 3rd guy behind them. Once they realized they would be caught by the peleton (the guy in 1st overall had a workhorse who chased this break down) the guy in 3rd took off and noone seemed to care.
I made my way to the front of the peleton just before the end of the 3rd lap and climbed a hill at a moderate pace sitting behind some guy who I could tell wasn't that strong. The peleton slowly let us go about 5-10 seconds up the road but I wasn't about to start working for this kid who was already dead tired. I just took my time and let the pack catch me over the next 400 meters. I was kinda hoping one or two of the Temple guys would sprint up to me and we could take off but it didn't happen. No worries.
The 4th lap was slower than any of the others. Noone wanted to work. It wasn't incredibly slow but it was pretty easy and everyone was bunched up the entire time almost. We come around for the final lap and the gap had grown to 45 seconds for the 4 riders up the road. Things picked up and I moved from near the back of the peleton to the top ten within the last two miles before the final 1/2 mile. The last 1/2 mile was a right turn followed by a fast dip down and a hill up with a false flat up the finish line. I was boxed in going down the hill and as we went back up it slowly opened. I couldn't grab any wheel because I was to the left and all were taken. I just started sprinting and finished 6th in the field sprint. Only one guy passed me once I started sprinting (the overall race leader). I should have sat on him, bah! 10th overall. Not too bad I suppose for a 4/5 race. Although, I don't think NJ 4/5's are as hard as VA/MD ones. Maybe I'm just getting stronger =)
My friend Tim Magee (ex Temple U cyclist) and I decided to do this race months ago together. We get to the race and Tim introduces me to 5 other ex Temple cyclists of which 4 are in the same club now. This race was stage 3 of the Giro and two of the Temple guys were in 2nd and 3rd in the overall classification. We decided to offer assistance where possible but I think both parties understood that the sprint was every man for themselves (unless we were in a break and it would give them the overall classification).
The race course was very rolling with most of the hills on the back half of the 5.5 mile lap. We had to complete 5 laps of the course and we were informed there was a preem after lap 1 but you would only get overall classification points.
The race started and it went out pretty hard. I'd say I stuck around the middle of the pack feeling out some of the riders and the course and realizing that I wouldn't be sprinting for the preem on lap 1. Most of the entire lap was fast. After the first lap, during the regroup 3 riders went off the front. The pack let them go and I was in no position to hop on. Over the course of the next 2 the break was kept at about 15 seconds up the road with various people trying to bridge unsucessfully. The pace altered back and forth between an almost outright sprint to an easy training ride. At one point two of the guys from Temple tried to go up the road with a 3rd guy behind them. Once they realized they would be caught by the peleton (the guy in 1st overall had a workhorse who chased this break down) the guy in 3rd took off and noone seemed to care.
I made my way to the front of the peleton just before the end of the 3rd lap and climbed a hill at a moderate pace sitting behind some guy who I could tell wasn't that strong. The peleton slowly let us go about 5-10 seconds up the road but I wasn't about to start working for this kid who was already dead tired. I just took my time and let the pack catch me over the next 400 meters. I was kinda hoping one or two of the Temple guys would sprint up to me and we could take off but it didn't happen. No worries.
The 4th lap was slower than any of the others. Noone wanted to work. It wasn't incredibly slow but it was pretty easy and everyone was bunched up the entire time almost. We come around for the final lap and the gap had grown to 45 seconds for the 4 riders up the road. Things picked up and I moved from near the back of the peleton to the top ten within the last two miles before the final 1/2 mile. The last 1/2 mile was a right turn followed by a fast dip down and a hill up with a false flat up the finish line. I was boxed in going down the hill and as we went back up it slowly opened. I couldn't grab any wheel because I was to the left and all were taken. I just started sprinting and finished 6th in the field sprint. Only one guy passed me once I started sprinting (the overall race leader). I should have sat on him, bah! 10th overall. Not too bad I suppose for a 4/5 race. Although, I don't think NJ 4/5's are as hard as VA/MD ones. Maybe I'm just getting stronger =)
JD Wilmington Classic (woops long overdue!)
On 6/15/08, I drove to Wilmington, DE to compete in the JD Wilmington Classic. The humidity was quite high that day and I was dripping by the time I ended my warmup on the trainer. The course was set in downtown Wilmington within 10 city blocks. It was somewhat in the shape of the a figure 8 with 3 city blocks on the back portion and only 1 on the front. Two streets were moderate uphills as well. The course was almost a mile and we had to do 24 laps. 8 turns total. Turn 6 coming off the double downhill section was extremely tight and there was even some sand that apparently just collected there that morning on the inside of the turn.
They start the race and people are just gunning it from the get go. I am in the back half of the group and attempt to move up where possible. The race is going along fine I'm hurting a little bit as the pace was incredibly quick but I wasn't going to get dropped. About halfway through the race, a big Artemis guy takes turn 6 incredibly tight and WHOOSH, the bike flies out under him. I can't say I'm surprised because he hadn't been that safe going through a bunch of the previous turns either. He wouldn't hold his line and would cut people off so others were adjusting to him which made him a very unsafe rider. I wasn't about to say too much though as he was ripped and about 250lbs and I'm sure could take me. A big Rhino riding a bike comes to mind. I'm sure he was nice however. So, the Artemis guy goes down and naturally he had cut me off on the previous two turns so I was behind him. I was on the outside and in order to avoid him, I had to take the turn extra wide into the caution tape. It eventually broke and I didn't go down but the pack was already a block ahead and by the time I got up to speed they were two blocks ahead. One other rider had been in the mess as well and we started working to catch back up. I could tell he was hurting bad and figured let him use a little extra juice before I would take my pull. After a lap or two he was gone. Up ahead two more riders went down on the straightaway and 3 more riders were slowed. I made it a goal to slowly tempo them all back. They had been riding somewhat together and I slowly picked them off over the next 10 or so laps. With 2 and a half to go, I caught them. I then pulled the majority of the next lap and moved to the back for the final lap to rest for the sprint. I figured they wouldn't expect me to pull and I would have pretty decent position. Of the 3 other guys, I could tell 1 wasn't too interested in the sprint at all. Looked like he was lacking some competitiveness. We go up the short 1 block hill and have 3 blocks of false flat to the finish. I'm currently on the second wheel and I get lucky because the guy in front decides to lead me out! Wow, how nice. The guy behind me is some young kid but I could tell he would give me a run for my money. I wait and wait for the last possible moment so I don't give the kid behind me a chance to draft me expecting to see his wheel at any moment. At the last possible moment, I go and the kid goes too but it's too late, I beat the riders from our little group.
I guess that makes up for losing the peleton from the crash and I'm quite glad I wasn't actually in the crash this time! hehe. Lesson learned: When you find a rider you don't feel is safe, do not ride behind him. The race was crazy fast as well. =)
They start the race and people are just gunning it from the get go. I am in the back half of the group and attempt to move up where possible. The race is going along fine I'm hurting a little bit as the pace was incredibly quick but I wasn't going to get dropped. About halfway through the race, a big Artemis guy takes turn 6 incredibly tight and WHOOSH, the bike flies out under him. I can't say I'm surprised because he hadn't been that safe going through a bunch of the previous turns either. He wouldn't hold his line and would cut people off so others were adjusting to him which made him a very unsafe rider. I wasn't about to say too much though as he was ripped and about 250lbs and I'm sure could take me. A big Rhino riding a bike comes to mind. I'm sure he was nice however. So, the Artemis guy goes down and naturally he had cut me off on the previous two turns so I was behind him. I was on the outside and in order to avoid him, I had to take the turn extra wide into the caution tape. It eventually broke and I didn't go down but the pack was already a block ahead and by the time I got up to speed they were two blocks ahead. One other rider had been in the mess as well and we started working to catch back up. I could tell he was hurting bad and figured let him use a little extra juice before I would take my pull. After a lap or two he was gone. Up ahead two more riders went down on the straightaway and 3 more riders were slowed. I made it a goal to slowly tempo them all back. They had been riding somewhat together and I slowly picked them off over the next 10 or so laps. With 2 and a half to go, I caught them. I then pulled the majority of the next lap and moved to the back for the final lap to rest for the sprint. I figured they wouldn't expect me to pull and I would have pretty decent position. Of the 3 other guys, I could tell 1 wasn't too interested in the sprint at all. Looked like he was lacking some competitiveness. We go up the short 1 block hill and have 3 blocks of false flat to the finish. I'm currently on the second wheel and I get lucky because the guy in front decides to lead me out! Wow, how nice. The guy behind me is some young kid but I could tell he would give me a run for my money. I wait and wait for the last possible moment so I don't give the kid behind me a chance to draft me expecting to see his wheel at any moment. At the last possible moment, I go and the kid goes too but it's too late, I beat the riders from our little group.
I guess that makes up for losing the peleton from the crash and I'm quite glad I wasn't actually in the crash this time! hehe. Lesson learned: When you find a rider you don't feel is safe, do not ride behind him. The race was crazy fast as well. =)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Upgraded!!! I'm a CAT 4!
So yesterday afternoon I submitted my request and resume (races and results) to USA Cycling to get an upgrade to CAT 4. I was told it normally takes about 3-4 weeks to process. 1.5 days later, I'm a CAT 4!
My resume must have been pretty badass. Ha! I doubt it, but that definitely made my evening. No no, made my weekend! Now I get to race with actual teammates.
Back when I was in high school, I would always get interviewed after my races and get little blurbs in the local paper. The columnist for the paper.. well he was inept. Let's just leave it at that. I pickup the paper the morning after a race and there's a quote of me saying "I can't run any less hard". What the ef! I thought back to the interview and I didn't even say that. Naturally my friends laminated it and put it up in the locker room with that line highlighted and it pretty much stuck the rest of the season. Since they couldn't beat me on the track they had to talk a big game =). Anyways, getting to the point of this. I was thinking of changing the quote of my blog to "I can't cycle any less hard". Thoughts? Tacky?
What are you doing reading this?! Get a few extra miles in on the bike!
My resume must have been pretty badass. Ha! I doubt it, but that definitely made my evening. No no, made my weekend! Now I get to race with actual teammates.
Back when I was in high school, I would always get interviewed after my races and get little blurbs in the local paper. The columnist for the paper.. well he was inept. Let's just leave it at that. I pickup the paper the morning after a race and there's a quote of me saying "I can't run any less hard". What the ef! I thought back to the interview and I didn't even say that. Naturally my friends laminated it and put it up in the locker room with that line highlighted and it pretty much stuck the rest of the season. Since they couldn't beat me on the track they had to talk a big game =). Anyways, getting to the point of this. I was thinking of changing the quote of my blog to "I can't cycle any less hard". Thoughts? Tacky?
What are you doing reading this?! Get a few extra miles in on the bike!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Ride Sally Ride (CAT 5)
Ride Sally Ride Crit hosted by Whole Wheel Velo Club (WWVC)
Course: 1k Triangular loop (CAT 5 Race = 15 miles)
June 7, 2008
Prerace:
Holy crap it's going to be a hot day! The forecast says high of 97/98. Luckily, my race is at 8:45am. I drive over to the race partly because I'm not sure how my knee will respond since it had been hurting the day or two prior to the race and also because I want my trainer and extra fluids easily accessible. I sign in, do a lap or two on the course just to see how the turns look and go warm up on the trainer.
Race:
I line up on the inside behind the WWVC guys. Mike Davis (Coppi) lines up next to me. Prior to the start, I notice the lap counter only says 23, I guess we're doing 24 laps instead of 25! I know I'm going to need to mark some of the WWVC guys, Ted from Evo, and Mike(tri) of Endurance (I think). The first 200 meters doesn't go so well as I get stuck behind someone who couldn't clip in but I quickly move up to the top 15 just after the first turn. It feels like Ted and Mike(tri) are flip flopping attacks trying to get free with Ted being the most aggressive. I get on Mike(tri)'s wheel a few times and notice he accelerates very quickly and it's hard to hold his wheel. I make sure I'm not the only one responding to the attacks but that I be a part of the break if it gets away. Ted makes an attack about 10 laps into the race and Mike(tri) responds. At the time I was right on Mike(tri)'s wheel but I couldn't hold it. Mike from WWVC was on Ted's wheel at the time and was able to make the break as well. I'm kicking myself that I wasn't able to hop on. Sooo pissed.
Mike (Coppi) comes and sits near the front and I decide to try and pull the break back. After 2 laps, Mike (WWVC) pops and is dropped from the break. I continue to work hard at the front pulling. I figure I'll try to get in a small group that bridges to the break or at least catch them so Mike can win the sprint. I swear it felt like noone else wanted to bring the break back. I must have been pulling almost half the time. At least I was getting a good workout. The break went from 20 seconds down to 11 to 8 to 6 to 5 over the last few laps but it was just too late. By the time we got to the last lap, I was cooked and just hanging on the back of the peleton. Mike won the field sprint to get 3rd but we were unable to catch the lead break which sucks because we knew exactly how the race would go down and couldn't stop it from happening.
A big congrats to the 8 NCVC riders in the race who did.. hmm well nothing. 6 of them were never in the top 20 the entire race and 2 of them surged to the front for one corner and then went back to join their buddies. In hindsight, I should have jut sat up with 3-4 laps to go and rested, then I would have had lots of options for the last lap. I could have tried to gap the peleton and made them work to catch me while Mike did nothing or I could have led Mike out to guarentee he got 3rd a little better. I guess it all goes hand in hand with race experience. I know I was one of the top 5 guys in the race, yet my results don't show it. I also realized there was no way to catch Ted/Mike(tri) without a couple of the big dogs in the peleton doing work. Lesson learned. Although, I must say, that if 2 more guys in the peleton actually worked with me, we would have caught the break no problem. Ah well.
So I have now started 9 races (8 finishes + 1 crash) and am hoping to get #10 this weekend. Then I can CAT up!
Course: 1k Triangular loop (CAT 5 Race = 15 miles)
June 7, 2008
Prerace:
Holy crap it's going to be a hot day! The forecast says high of 97/98. Luckily, my race is at 8:45am. I drive over to the race partly because I'm not sure how my knee will respond since it had been hurting the day or two prior to the race and also because I want my trainer and extra fluids easily accessible. I sign in, do a lap or two on the course just to see how the turns look and go warm up on the trainer.
Race:
I line up on the inside behind the WWVC guys. Mike Davis (Coppi) lines up next to me. Prior to the start, I notice the lap counter only says 23, I guess we're doing 24 laps instead of 25! I know I'm going to need to mark some of the WWVC guys, Ted from Evo, and Mike(tri) of Endurance (I think). The first 200 meters doesn't go so well as I get stuck behind someone who couldn't clip in but I quickly move up to the top 15 just after the first turn. It feels like Ted and Mike(tri) are flip flopping attacks trying to get free with Ted being the most aggressive. I get on Mike(tri)'s wheel a few times and notice he accelerates very quickly and it's hard to hold his wheel. I make sure I'm not the only one responding to the attacks but that I be a part of the break if it gets away. Ted makes an attack about 10 laps into the race and Mike(tri) responds. At the time I was right on Mike(tri)'s wheel but I couldn't hold it. Mike from WWVC was on Ted's wheel at the time and was able to make the break as well. I'm kicking myself that I wasn't able to hop on. Sooo pissed.
Mike (Coppi) comes and sits near the front and I decide to try and pull the break back. After 2 laps, Mike (WWVC) pops and is dropped from the break. I continue to work hard at the front pulling. I figure I'll try to get in a small group that bridges to the break or at least catch them so Mike can win the sprint. I swear it felt like noone else wanted to bring the break back. I must have been pulling almost half the time. At least I was getting a good workout. The break went from 20 seconds down to 11 to 8 to 6 to 5 over the last few laps but it was just too late. By the time we got to the last lap, I was cooked and just hanging on the back of the peleton. Mike won the field sprint to get 3rd but we were unable to catch the lead break which sucks because we knew exactly how the race would go down and couldn't stop it from happening.
A big congrats to the 8 NCVC riders in the race who did.. hmm well nothing. 6 of them were never in the top 20 the entire race and 2 of them surged to the front for one corner and then went back to join their buddies. In hindsight, I should have jut sat up with 3-4 laps to go and rested, then I would have had lots of options for the last lap. I could have tried to gap the peleton and made them work to catch me while Mike did nothing or I could have led Mike out to guarentee he got 3rd a little better. I guess it all goes hand in hand with race experience. I know I was one of the top 5 guys in the race, yet my results don't show it. I also realized there was no way to catch Ted/Mike(tri) without a couple of the big dogs in the peleton doing work. Lesson learned. Although, I must say, that if 2 more guys in the peleton actually worked with me, we would have caught the break no problem. Ah well.
So I have now started 9 races (8 finishes + 1 crash) and am hoping to get #10 this weekend. Then I can CAT up!
Murad RR: Crash! Oh Noes!
Murad Memorial Road Race
Location: Poolesville, MD
May 31, 2008
CAT 5 Race: 4 x 8 mile loop (32miles total)
Prerace:
I got up pretty early and popped on my things into the car. Took the bento box and saddle bag off prior to putting my bike on the back of the car. Drove an hour to Poolesville, MD. Upon getting to the race, I walked over and registered. The woman at the registration tent looked familiar. Turns out I did Tour de Skyline (TriRATS) with her and her husband some short time ago. Got my things together and headed back to the car to deal with my bike. While taking the bike off the car I noticed my bento box was hanging from the chainring. Wow! I must have put it on the trunk prior to leaving and forgot about it. I told the guy next to me and he said "Wow, that's crazy, today must be your lucky day". I smiled and got my bike ready. Warmed up on the trainer and felt pretty good.
Race:
The race start was interesting. We were all at the edge of the field and had to ride over grass and rocks after they started the race. It wasn't far, just interesting. I wanted to make sure I remained in the top 15 for most of the race and had marked Ted/Collin from Evolution. The first lap and a half Ted was constantly trying to get up the road. Collin was pulling him, blocking for him, bridging for him, basically doing a ton of work for him. Such a good teammate!
On the second half of the second lap the pace got pretty slow. Noone wanted to lead and noone would let any breaks get away. We must have been going 18-20mph down River Rd. My two teammates worked their way up and rode with me at this point. Coming down the hill going into the turn for Hughes Rd, Ted and Collin from Evo take off. I seriously felt like noone else saw this coming until after the turn. You could see they had something planned when they went from 3&4 wheels to 1&2 wheels right before the turn. The punched it into the turn and blew out of it. I was sitting around 10-15 at the time, exactly where I had wanted to. Suddenly as I'm looking up the road trying to respond up the slight hill, one guy rides between two others and all 3 handlebars are instantly locked. As a whole, these 3 riders are now all over the road trying to break free. Because there was noone on the left side of the road because of the centerline rule, I figure I'll pass on the left. Just as I'm about to pass, 2 of them kick out to the left and spill all over the left side of the road. It's instantly blocked and I have nowhere to go. Not enough time to steer clear or even hop. I slam into one of the bikes and flip over the bars landing on my helmet. When I sit up I'm staring at my broken sunglasses and attempt to put them back together. I hear one guy on the left side of the road screaming as I look over at my bike thinking I need to get back up and ride on. My bike looks okay but what's all this blood all over the ground and my hands. It feels like I'm sweating a lot down the right side of my face until I realize it's blood. Thinking I should stop, I take my helmet off and put my sunglasses in them so they aren't lost. Some rider comes over to me and asks if I'm okay. I ask him about my forehead and he says I'm bleeding a lot. Tells me to lay down. I can't lay down because there are bikes in my way but he takes care of it and I'm soon on my back. Ambulance rolls up and I'm the first attended to (I guess because I was really the only one with a head wound and bleeding a ton). I'm mostly with it and able to answer all the questions asked. They put a neck brace on me and put me on a backboard. I hear some riders passing me saying encouraging words but all I can make out is my name and clearly cannot see a thing because they have me looking straight up. David Battan rolls up just before I'm put in the ambulance and I tell him how to get my things and I'm off.
Backboards are NOT very comfortable. Especially when your head is also taped to the board. I get my neck x-rayed and it's fine. Get all stitched up (7 stitches in my forhead caused by the helmet) and they let me go. Turns out I got the least amount of damage of all the guys taken to the ER. I was very fortunate.
On the way home, we stop at Davids and check out my bike. It looks like nothings happened to it. Very fortunate again! David mentions that he was directly behind me prior to the crash and was able to go left onto the grass prior to being thrown from his bike as well. Luckily he was okay and continued riding. Unfortunately he was unable to catch the peleton and decided to quit upon seeing me still on the ground the next lap. I get my keys, cell, wallet, etc and head back home. Over the next two days we finally drive back to Poolesville and manage to get my car out of the grass field. I also picked up my bike to find very little wrong with it.
The road rash has still not completely healed and my knee is still a little swollen which has definitely limited my riding as of late, but I'm very glad I was okay. It's crazy when something like that happens, you almost feel no pain because of the rush you get from the race itself. It was also so nice to see so many people send out emailed concerned about me in both Squadra Coppi and TriRATS. Love you guys!
Location: Poolesville, MD
May 31, 2008
CAT 5 Race: 4 x 8 mile loop (32miles total)
Prerace:
I got up pretty early and popped on my things into the car. Took the bento box and saddle bag off prior to putting my bike on the back of the car. Drove an hour to Poolesville, MD. Upon getting to the race, I walked over and registered. The woman at the registration tent looked familiar. Turns out I did Tour de Skyline (TriRATS) with her and her husband some short time ago. Got my things together and headed back to the car to deal with my bike. While taking the bike off the car I noticed my bento box was hanging from the chainring. Wow! I must have put it on the trunk prior to leaving and forgot about it. I told the guy next to me and he said "Wow, that's crazy, today must be your lucky day". I smiled and got my bike ready. Warmed up on the trainer and felt pretty good.
Race:
The race start was interesting. We were all at the edge of the field and had to ride over grass and rocks after they started the race. It wasn't far, just interesting. I wanted to make sure I remained in the top 15 for most of the race and had marked Ted/Collin from Evolution. The first lap and a half Ted was constantly trying to get up the road. Collin was pulling him, blocking for him, bridging for him, basically doing a ton of work for him. Such a good teammate!
On the second half of the second lap the pace got pretty slow. Noone wanted to lead and noone would let any breaks get away. We must have been going 18-20mph down River Rd. My two teammates worked their way up and rode with me at this point. Coming down the hill going into the turn for Hughes Rd, Ted and Collin from Evo take off. I seriously felt like noone else saw this coming until after the turn. You could see they had something planned when they went from 3&4 wheels to 1&2 wheels right before the turn. The punched it into the turn and blew out of it. I was sitting around 10-15 at the time, exactly where I had wanted to. Suddenly as I'm looking up the road trying to respond up the slight hill, one guy rides between two others and all 3 handlebars are instantly locked. As a whole, these 3 riders are now all over the road trying to break free. Because there was noone on the left side of the road because of the centerline rule, I figure I'll pass on the left. Just as I'm about to pass, 2 of them kick out to the left and spill all over the left side of the road. It's instantly blocked and I have nowhere to go. Not enough time to steer clear or even hop. I slam into one of the bikes and flip over the bars landing on my helmet. When I sit up I'm staring at my broken sunglasses and attempt to put them back together. I hear one guy on the left side of the road screaming as I look over at my bike thinking I need to get back up and ride on. My bike looks okay but what's all this blood all over the ground and my hands. It feels like I'm sweating a lot down the right side of my face until I realize it's blood. Thinking I should stop, I take my helmet off and put my sunglasses in them so they aren't lost. Some rider comes over to me and asks if I'm okay. I ask him about my forehead and he says I'm bleeding a lot. Tells me to lay down. I can't lay down because there are bikes in my way but he takes care of it and I'm soon on my back. Ambulance rolls up and I'm the first attended to (I guess because I was really the only one with a head wound and bleeding a ton). I'm mostly with it and able to answer all the questions asked. They put a neck brace on me and put me on a backboard. I hear some riders passing me saying encouraging words but all I can make out is my name and clearly cannot see a thing because they have me looking straight up. David Battan rolls up just before I'm put in the ambulance and I tell him how to get my things and I'm off.
Backboards are NOT very comfortable. Especially when your head is also taped to the board. I get my neck x-rayed and it's fine. Get all stitched up (7 stitches in my forhead caused by the helmet) and they let me go. Turns out I got the least amount of damage of all the guys taken to the ER. I was very fortunate.
On the way home, we stop at Davids and check out my bike. It looks like nothings happened to it. Very fortunate again! David mentions that he was directly behind me prior to the crash and was able to go left onto the grass prior to being thrown from his bike as well. Luckily he was okay and continued riding. Unfortunately he was unable to catch the peleton and decided to quit upon seeing me still on the ground the next lap. I get my keys, cell, wallet, etc and head back home. Over the next two days we finally drive back to Poolesville and manage to get my car out of the grass field. I also picked up my bike to find very little wrong with it.
The road rash has still not completely healed and my knee is still a little swollen which has definitely limited my riding as of late, but I'm very glad I was okay. It's crazy when something like that happens, you almost feel no pain because of the rush you get from the race itself. It was also so nice to see so many people send out emailed concerned about me in both Squadra Coppi and TriRATS. Love you guys!
Friday, May 30, 2008
WWVC Race Report - RFK CAT5
So after speaking with a friend in WWVC he sent me a blurb of a race report of one of his teammates Michael Alhers who was 4th in my race. Although I have not yet met Michael, I have a feeling we'll have plenty to talk about. Below is a small piece of his RR.
"...The bell lap was fast, furious, and I was full of energy. There were some attacks and I held position, but avoided stepping out of line until the blistering-fast back stretch. Taking advantage of how sheepish most riders were through the corners, I snuck up several positions for the last sprint. We all took off and I was surfing wheels like a champ all the way up to sixth. At that point, two riders just popped and fell back fast, but I hesitated just a bit. Too much. Fourth was secured but straight ahead was a rider from Coppi. I kicked things up a notch but it was just not enough to overcome him. I lost the podium by less than half a bike length. SHIT!! Beat by a Coppi... and he had reflectors in his spokes. Reflectors!! I am disgraced..."
Needless to say, I took care of them before my next ride. haha. I guess that goes to show just how new I am to this sport. Still learning but definitely not performing bad with my lack of knowledge.
"...The bell lap was fast, furious, and I was full of energy. There were some attacks and I held position, but avoided stepping out of line until the blistering-fast back stretch. Taking advantage of how sheepish most riders were through the corners, I snuck up several positions for the last sprint. We all took off and I was surfing wheels like a champ all the way up to sixth. At that point, two riders just popped and fell back fast, but I hesitated just a bit. Too much. Fourth was secured but straight ahead was a rider from Coppi. I kicked things up a notch but it was just not enough to overcome him. I lost the podium by less than half a bike length. SHIT!! Beat by a Coppi... and he had reflectors in his spokes. Reflectors!! I am disgraced..."
Needless to say, I took care of them before my next ride. haha. I guess that goes to show just how new I am to this sport. Still learning but definitely not performing bad with my lack of knowledge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
