I felt good this morning except my knee which has been giving me issues. Legs felt strong and ready and I had 3 of my friends to work with in the race. Everything felt in place.
The race started and it was pretty laid back until the 2nd half of the second lap. A few insignificant breakaways happened...the kind where you see it happening but immediately know they will be reeled in. I just sat back and conserved energy and let things unfold.
The finish was after a small uphill. I was getting myself in position for the final sprint. I went to the outside and saw my line. I saw one guy that I needed to pass and then I was going to hammer it to the finish. As I was passing him, I think someone slammed into him from the side. He then crashed into me sending me flipping and taking out a huge group of riders.
I don't remember much but I do remember landing on my head, and turning around in the fetal position with my feet pointing at the other cyclists crashing. Being in a crash is like getting doored by a car... You literally have no time to prepare. It just hits you out of nowhere and at any time. All it takes is one stupid move. My friend Chris stopped when he saw me crash and helped me, and carried my bike over to the finish. Last year I did the same for him when he crashed.
The casualties of the crash included mangling of my bars, hoods and saddle, all of which I was able to put back in place. My Rapha winter bibs and shoe covers are torn up, I cracked my helmet, broke my garmin mount and my shoe ratchet clasp, and worst of all put a big gash in the paint on my frame.
I'm a bit bruised up but I still consider myself very lucky. A friend crashed yesterday and broke his collarbone which will probably ruin his season. I can't imagine putting in this much time and training and having something like that happen. It could always be worse!
On a lighter note my friend Dave (5th floor) took 3rd, and he also took 1st in yesterday's race in NJ. Dude is crushing it!
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