I don’t know exactly where this cross thing is going, but I’m pretty sure that it will change me as a bike rider. I think if I survive it that it will be a change for the better.
First, I would like to thank the medic in the First Aid tent – he was a really nice guy and spent all the time necessary to pick the many blackberry thorns out of my arms, legs and face. While he was doing that I had an opportunity to explain to the audience of fascinated young onlookers how important bicycle helmets are – yes, I used up another one this day.
The race was called the “Battle at Barlow” – Cross races have names, just like the 24 Hours of Lemons races do, that give the impression something magnificent or spectacular will occur, so they must not be missed. Like almost all of the other races this year will be, it was a first for me. The unique feature at Barlow is the “run-up” which is a series of maybe ten 2 foot high steps of rail road ties. I’ll talk about the ride down into the gully that you climb up out of later.
These guys make it look easier than it seemed at the time…
There was a smaller than usual contingent of the Mt View team at Barlow, but still a group of at least 10 riders. I had a chance to watch the Masters C race that included teammates Tony Dirks, Eric Moody, and Gregg Leion and then to pre-ride the course (I didn’t pre-ride Double Cross #1 and it cost me – note to self…). My pre-race preparations had gone precisely to plan – If you’ve heard one of my ridiculous lectures to driving teammates or students about planning, you know how important this is to me…
Also, this time I didn’t let all of the line-cutters barge their way past me and I successfully secured a front row start position – SWEET!!! That’s another item off the checklist – now I just need to ride the bike. Easier said than done…
The first couple of laps went pretty well – I was just riding along battling with a few of my newly found 50+ nemeses and having a grand ole time… As we worked our way into the back of the Masters B’s passing was uneventful, as most of the course was pretty wide… most.
To climb out of a ravine, first you must ride into it. There is a trail that runs downhill along a fence to get us there. Near the bottom there is a barrier to force us off the bikes so we won’t try to ride down the steepest little bit and into the creek that separates the “down” part from the “up” part. This is where I had my problem – “battle” if you prefer…
I had passed all but two of a group of 6 riders in a safe area between the start line and the beginning of the drop toward the railroad ties. This was a trail that follows a fence line to the right and a hill on the left that is easily ride-able in many parts. The second of the two riders passed the first and I followed (with a voice warning). I would have preferred the uphill side but the other racer went along the fence line, so it made sense to simply do the same. As I got to the slower rider he started moving me toward the fence, I was quickly running out of room even though I had given him the “easy” side of the trail. I was desperately wishing I was over in that comparatively huge space to his left…
On the fast laps I was going 20 mph in this area – I was going 17 when I hit the fence. Well, really the first thing I hit was a tall wooden pole (think telephone). Thankfully, I was able to scrub off some speed with my head because the next thing to hit it was my previously separated shoulder, the arm that’s attached to it, my right hand, face, leg, bike, spin around 180 degrees, get the other side scraped up some, and land in a twisted, tangled mess of my bike and “Mr. Bike Skills” in the middle of the trail. THIS IS FRIGGIN’ AWESOME!!!
So, after I had led with my head into the pole, the blackberry bushes and chain link had grabbed my bike and a bunch of my skin before letting gravity finish me off by throwing me backward into the same fence and then to the ground. The up-side is that none of the guys behind us ran me over. They just yelled that we should get out of the way… Really..? Thanks for the tip.
I looked around and saw that the other fellow had his eyes open (WIDE OPEN) and I asked if he was okay… I simply got a blank stare – similar, I believe, to what I would have seen just before he made contact with me. I said “on your right” one last time, picked up my stuff and rode toward the railroad tie run-up.
sometimes bike races are lonely...
As I climbed the hill the spectators were screaming at me to go harder “IT’S A BIKE RACE NOT A NATURE WALK!!!” Hey, shut the F*** up, I’m having a moment… Apparently they hadn’t noticed that the right side of my body looked just like I’d been attacked by a pack of angry elves armed with cheese graters – well, spectators need beer too.
post crash - working back through the field
I just kept pedaling the bike and focused on staying upright. As I was able to identify others in my class, I would gain motivation and make progress. I could see the two guys that had been just behind me when I crashed and put some effort into reaching them. With one lap to go I was close so I pushed, with success. As we approached an open area before the long power pulls to the finish I could see another (tuned out to be a lapper) and cleared him with enough of a gap to take some care in the fast pavement sweeper leading into the finish line complex. I had made it back to 5th – All was well.
My crash partner was leaving the First Aid tent as I got there. The medic was sending him to the hospital with a suspected broken collar bone. I’m not particularly happy about that, but better him than me… I’ll evaluate how I’ve been choosing my passing zones and maybe make some changes in the future. I’m torn between the ideas of getting potential problems behind me as quickly as possible and being extra careful. I’ve seen the “extra careful” thing backfire too many times.
Hopefully, as I gain experience, the proper balance will come into focus. On to Alpenrose and the Crusade…