First road race of the season, first crash of the season...

I wasn't planning on racing until Tour of the Battenkill in April. As it sits now I will have 4 races before I do that one. Today was #1, the Spring series in Central Park.

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!

crashes and new whips...

Its been awhile since I posted. I was out of town, and lacking in internet access. Anyways, I got my IRO rideable. I felt comfortable on it immediately. Its a bit on the heavy side, but the plush ride of steel makes up for it.

Yesterday was the first day that I got it to the phase you see in the pictures. Last night on my way home from work, I was riding home pretty fast. I cut between a cab and the curb on the corner of Spring and Lafeyette. The door on the cab swung open. I was propelled almost in front of the cab. I landed on my head and shoulder. The people riding behind me said that they literally watched me flip over the door.

I escaped with a bruised wrist, knee, and shoulder. The shoulder is the only thing I'm concerned with. I may get X-rays because it seems like it may be more than a bruise. All in all, I'm REALLY lucky. This is the first time I've been doored. I've had some friends who didn't fare so well in the same situation. My helmet was cracked. Without it, I would be in really rough shape. My front wheel was wayyyy out of true and my tire popped off the wheel. I was able to get everything back together and finish my ride home, albeit a bit slow and shook up. I've officially broken in my bike.

I'm going to be changing a few things in the future. I'm going to change the chainring and overall gearing, different pedals, cross tires, and possible a carbon CX fork. For now I'm digging it as is. Its good to have a practical, do-all bike in the stable. This fits the bill well.

(click to enlarge)

a small yellow reminder of a cab door...

Sunday ride gone wrong

This afternoon I met up with My friends Dan and Ryan to hit up prospect park for some laps. It was such a perfect day today. Loads of sun, and great riding temps. We rode 4 laps pretty hard at prospect. Dan had a frame that has been at my apartment for awhile, so he decided he would come over and grab it before he headed home.

We were about 5 minutes from my apartment. We were going up a hill, and I hear a scream from Dan. I look back to see him flip over his bars, hit the ground, and literally slide on his face. I ran over to him almost not wanting to see what he looked like. He had pretty bad road rash on his face, legs and arms. Some people came over to help. Someone must have called 911 because a fire truck, ambulance and 2 cop cars showed up.

At first I thought he had hit something, but as I looked over at his bike I saw his pedal on the ground. Then I thought "oh shit his pedal broke!" until I saw half a crank arm attached to it. He broke his fucking crank arm in half! I couldn't believe it.

He's doing fine, but obviously he's pretty scraped up and in pain. It could always be worse, but it still sucks really bad. I feel pretty bad for him. He also broke a couple spokes on his front rim.

I guess the moral of the story is do not buy eightinch cranks!