Masters National Criterium Championship, 35+ - 07/20/2009
of broken hearts and dislocated fingers... .....and heroism.... this report is being typed to you with one hand. and NOT in the good way... so much to say so i'll do it thusly: a synopsis and then a tale of heroism sure to bring a tear to your eye for those who don't mind reading a bit.... the synopsis: set up my teammate to be in the break of the day. crashed HARD. broke bones. got BACK into the race on a "neutral bike" and well.....this story is too good for a synopsis.... best in the country toe the line. gun goes off. we are coming out of turn 2 on the FIRST lap and i decide to show folks why i've got the bear on my back. i get about 15 seconds and i'm in full tt mode. field is dropping internal organs behind trying to make sense of such a brash maneuver. some even drop out of the race.... ...eeeeeeexcellent..... after about 8 laps in the wind, two SIGNIFICANT things happened: 1. i got caught and all the horsepower had risen to the front so "THE move" was imminent...and.. 2. it started raining. mach3, as expected, throws down a gavel of pain and people start gapping. perfection. he's brought back and now i'm on the front again and i'm going into turn 3...3 dudes are coming under in the turn and i'm all set to get on their wheels...something is about to go....i can feel it. not one but FIVE things do, in fact, "go". 1. the 3rd dude coming under me goes a bit wide, forcing me to adjust my line a little wider... 2. my front tire goes into the edge of where the road and the now-wet grass meet. 3. my front wheel goes out from under me. 4. i go down 5. hard. it happened so fast i didn't even have time move my hand. my left shifter is crushed and broken in half. my handlebar is snapped in two. my hand was in between these two things... i get up stunned and look at my left hand. my middle, annular and pinky fingers are all bent 90 degrees and my palm itself is in a strange "wavy pattern". i'm in shock now and not even gonna TRY to get my head around this...i grab them one at a time and pull hard. snap, crackle, and pop and i'm running with my crushed rig into the pits... i can no longer use my left hand to grip as the three little piddies in question are incapable of bending now. my bars are broken so there's no saving my bike. shimano neutral support had "neutral bikes" avail and i called out for one. they had one lap to slap on shimano pedals and raise the saddle to my height. "what's your saddle height??!?!" in shock i reply, "71cm"... now- i personally measure "saddle height" from the bottom of my saddle rail.....but that's just me apparently.....so, here's the breakdown of what i'm now on: MY BIKE vs. "NEUTRAL BIKE" M.B. saddle tip to center of handlebars = 62cm N.B. saddle tip to center of handlebars = 52cm (yes, that's TEN centimeters too compacted) M.B. saddle to center of crank (the way I measure it) = 71cm N.B. saddle to center of crank (the way I measure it) = 67cm (and yes, that would be FOUR centimeter too short....) so....without getting all tech-weinie on you, i was essentially riding a small woman's bike. EVERYTHING about this bike was wrong. off. out of the question. but i'm in shock now and my teammate is in 'THE MOVE' and i'm gonna make damned sure it stays that way. my chances are done. time to be selfless. kharma points are on offer now and the buddha is watching my every move... and speaking of "every move", i was ON every move that even tried to go across to my boy. it was an interval workout of HERCULEAN proportions....3 guys would jump, i would KILL myself to get on them, field would bridge up and a counter would go...and a counter would go....and a counter would go...and a....for 30+ laps... finally, with about 10 to go, two teammates of another break-member got on the front and the 3 of us just set a blistering tempo to prevent any more jumping....the break dangled 10 seconds off the back of us now and we did NOT want them to catch on. MUCH safer and better odds to let the three of them go for a 3-up sprint than to risk broken bones on a slippery wet course with about 60 remaining dudes.... 4 to go now and a solo rider jumps off the front. the ONE time i don't go after someone because a) i know he ain't gonna make it across to threaten my boy and b) he's alone and i've pulled back EVERYTHING thus far....let someone else bring this dude back! they don't. bell lap now and the final podium position is up for grabs. i come through 2nd wheel out into the final straight. everytime i squeeze with my left hand the bones dislocate again and the pain makes me see white....but i don't give a crap anymore. i'm pissed and i don't even notice that i'm on a small woman's bike....or that my back is pretty much out completely from an hour of KILLING it in my ridiculous position....or anything... i take the field sprint by a bike-length and tell myself i'll go to the hospital afterward. sadly- in the final sprint for the win, Mach3 got pipped at the line by a formidable sprinter who has gotten 2nd at Downer's a few years back. i would have LOVED to have had the chance to go head-to-head with this hombre for the win in another life....but this is a perfect example of how luck is truly a factor you can't leave out in a race of this magnitude. it just ALL has to come together... so- the crap is: i got 5th and Mach3 got 2nd. but the gold is: for only being the two of us in that race- we represented like a straight-up full squad of 9 vikings. my hip is shredded and swollen and was sticking to the sheets all night long. my fingers on my left hand look like three eggplants grafted onto my palm. and the 5th place medal and 30 seconds on the bottom step of the podium of the National Championships was recieved with pride. i rode my f-ing heart out. interestingly- it's already only served to make me hungrier for Downer's and World's in Austria. there's NO question me and DeMach3 are the two strongest masters in our division. we are not done just yet this year.... i got a month to heal up and make it up in Chicago. word. meat.