I was on the Elon ride and we were in a rotating paceline (see the video) on our way to the first sprint point.
My good friend Kevin decided he was going to break free of the group about half a mile out. I was behind him, saw his move, and stayed glued to his wheel. No one else responded and he/we had a gap on the field. I decided to go for the sprint from 150 meters out. I stood up out of the saddle and pulled my left foot out of the pedal on the 3rd stroke. I went down on my left side. The last thought that crossed my mind before contact was, "do not let go of the bars until contact or you'll break a collar bone." The resultant injuries are scrapes on my left knee, right shin, left elbow, right elbow, my lower and upper back, and my bottom. My left shoulder is bruised and I have some tightness in both shoulders. My helmet is destroyed and I think my shoes are unuseable. I ripped up a brand new Palmetto Velo Sports jersey and shorts. Palmetto Velo is the local team I race with. In spite of all that I seem to be ok and I will be doing an easy ride tonight to see how my legs feel.
I've thought a lot about my trip to Denver, and I am still very excited to race there. Before my crash I was getting nervous about the race, but I am very calm now. I know that I have rode hard and done everything that I needed to do to prepare for this race. There is no reason to fret about it. Worrying will only mess me up, I am just thankful now that I will be able to race next week. While my goal is still to win, I will be happy as long as go out there and ride as hard as I can.
Pictures:
This helmet is destroyed but it kept me from dying or becoming further disabled!
A picture of the left side of my body.
This is my left knee.
No comments:
Post a Comment