Sport 45 to 54

2:01

31 of 45

Two falls

Eight minutes faster than last year, still 20 min. off the leader.

Not much to say about the race, so I'll tell you about my falls. The first one happened on the hard left just before we reached the airport. I locked up my rear wheel and rode up the backside of a rear tire, washing out on my left side.

The second one was one of my best. I happened at the bottom of Pope Valley. I was descending well and took the line on the right. I was trying to slow down before the little water crossing, but didn't scrub off enough speed. I hit the bottom, the bike stopped and I went over the bars hard. I got up quickly, twisted my bars back and remounted. I think Matt was right behind me and said that was Epic as he rode by. I briefly thought about stopping and waiting for a ride back to the start, but it was quicker to finish the race as I only had 5 miles to go. I was achy, but still in one piece and started riding in survival mode. Although, I did manage to fight off one rider as we climbed back to the airport and dropped another before the last single track section and held him off to the finish.

Quick shower, followed by a visit to the EMTs, a couple of Aleve and beer later, and I'm beat.

I did win the prize for best knee injury. A sweet orange CalTrans polo.

The only other time I crashed this badly was when I carpooled in Tick's van for a CCCX race last year. DNF, busted helmet, the works. I will never ride in his van again. It's bad mojo.