Weekend Racing Report

This past weekend I rode two crits--the first one was in the rain and I felt great. I attacked, chase, and cornered and then was able to get a gap going into the last lap for the win. We ended up taking a 1-2 punch for our team, which always feels good.

And then I got the leader's jersey for the series. It turns out that leader's jerseys are bad luck for me as my other crash happened in a leader's jersey. (Do you think it would be ok for me to say, I appreciate the jersey but I'm going to have to graciously decline?)

The next day in the crit, I was in my leader's jersey and all was going well. I got into some short-lived breaks off the front with a Tibco rider, had attacked, bridged, etc. Then on the last lap, I had set myself up right behind the leader for the back stretch. I had spent the past three laps sitting in and getting rested for the sprint. I couldn't wait to see how it went. I mean, I was riding with the cream of the crop--sure she just got back from a total exhausting tour in Europe and had been so fried she couldn't get on her bike until the day before--but still, let's not focus on that part :) Back to the story. I was on Tibco's wheel around the last corners to the final stretch. But alas! when I followed her around the corner, my 1 year of bike handling experience versus her 15 years showed. I slid out. I'm not sure if I feathered the brakes, if the ground was starting to get wet from the drizzle, if I accelerated too soon or what, but the next thing i know I was on my left side on the ground.

COLLARBONE!

After quickly moving my arm to see that my collarbone was ok, I immediately jumped up and grabbed my bike. My first instinct was to jump on the bike and finish. I HATE DNF's! But then I didn't know if the whole bike would fall apart if I jumped on it, etc.I learned a lesson in safety the last time, and applied it. (Two gold stars for me.) And I also noticed my hand was pouring out blood onto my glove and shoes, etc. Something had punctured my hand. It was odd cause I can't figure out what it was. All I knew was that I was thrilled that I was ok, and everyone else that crashed was ok, too. Oh and so were our bikes. The medics were like, I can't believe you're so calm. I just raised my arm over my head. I'm calm because my collarbone is ok! Woo hoo!

Anyway, so here I am scraped up and swollen, waiting patiently for the scabs to arrive. I got three days until Hood. I need some major scabbage to heal my wounds so I can TT the mofo out of that place :)

I guess that's a part of bike racing. I was thinking that crashes go away with experience--as I continue to try to learn from my mistakes--but then I'm remembering all the footage of crashes in the pros. Hmmm...Whatever the case may be, it's worth it. I'm sure about that.

P.S. Oh and speaking of carnage, check out my car tire and rim from the week before.The tire rolled off of my wheel while in I-5. I barely felt it and then saw it in my rear view mirror, rolling onto the shoulder. "Hey! That's my tire" I thought. I was in shock but then quickly learned how to change a flat thanks to my detailed owner's manual.