My first race as a cat 4 didn't turn out as I had planed. I got off to
a good start, the climb on the first lap was fast but I hung in the
with the lead group. On the descent I fell off for a bit (I need to
gain some weight) but I was able to get back on. Near the bottom of
the decent we were going about 38-40 mph. The guy in front / side of
me decided to cut to the right abruptly taking out my front wheel, and
down I went.
At first I thought I was dead, but when I gathered myself and saw a
second group of guys coming straight at me, I new I was probably still
alive. I got back on my bike and went at my own pace for a couple
minutes to assess the damage. Realizing I didn't have any broken
bones, I decided to finish off the next 10 mi and call it a day.
Then a group of 5 riders came up on me and told me to get on, so I did.
We kept up a good pace and before we knew it we had the lead group in
sight. We got into a pace line and managed to catch them right before
the start/finish. I told myself if we caught them I would stay on and
finish the race. My body had other idea's. After the feed zone the
pain really set in on my hip and knee. I started feeling a little
blurry in the head and decided to pull off for the safety of others.
Synopsis: Me, lots of road rash and a bruised rib. Bike minor scraps
and damage. Kit, completely destroyed, cracked helmet. And in the
tradition of race crash photos, my wife included the one below. (funny,
I don't look as happy as Druber did)
All in all, it could have been worse and I am very lucky. See you guys
out there soon.
Cheers
Brett Harrison
2 comments:
Brett, ouch, I hope you get better quickly. Regarding Druber's smile, I suspect he had better drugs. ;o)
Ouch is right Brett. Sorry to hear that you went down... one minute you were pedaling along next to be and the other minute you were flying sideways- always frightening. Pick up some tagaderm and you'll be back in no time...
Post a Comment