What its supposed to look like- (first lap)

  What it ended up looking like (third lap) 

  But look at that muscle definition in my left calf!

 Thanks to Anthony Skorochod for taking these and many other killer shots at Nittany Cross. Check out his work here- http://www.cyclingcaptured.com/

Nittany cross was today. This one was my first cross race a few years ago so its always been a bit of a nemesis to me. This year was no different- I crashed out. There was a racer out there who seemed bent on taking me down with him every time he screwed up. On the start- he pushed me into the tape. In the sand, he went down in front of me and we got tangled up. On the straights he would get by me because my horsepower just sucks, but then in the corners he would slide out and basically take out whoever was immediately behind him. That would be me...for the entire three laps I made it until one of my brifters plowed into the ground and stopped working. I made it to the sand pit (by now he had out-climbed me and was ahead again) but when I tried to feather my brakes to get the second round of sand, my front brake decided to stick (see above for issues with brifter) and I went clean over the bars. I tried to ride on, but with my brakes dragging, my brifter bent out of whack, unable to change gears, and overall demoralized from this guy effectively eliminating my ability to get away from him I was done. I ducked under the tape- I was out, and headed to the scoring tent to make it official. I know the guy wasnt intending to mess me up that badly- heck rubbin's racin' and thats how it is, but for me it really sucked. I would like to say I am taking it well- like a well adjusted adult should, but frankly Im pissed and disappointed. I talked to Mike Kuhn and he said I might just be too nice out there. Maybe I need to push people around a bit and just do what it takes to get by. I dont know if Im that type of person- I would rather cleanly overpower someone with fitness and skill instead of playing blocker but I just dont seem to have either one of those qualities...so maybe Im just not a 'racer' because this race really seemed to encapsulate my entire year of racing- a bunch of shit getting in my way, taking me down, and me being unable to make enough power to get past it. After the accident all I wanted to do is get back in the saddle and start racing again. Now Im just dreading racing in general. It might be time to pack it in for the 'real' racing this year, and do whatever I feel like for a while. Get back to having fun, because I sure dont feel like this has bee a fun year of racing at all.

Back from the ashes of the terrifying combination of 84 year old lady and 2000 white chevy lumina- the cross check is reborn! Im honeslty glad I built another one of these- its not 'blingy' but its a 'go anywhere, do anything, then hang up wet' kind of bike. Oh yeah-

 

 

So yes, I was hit by a car. Here are the facts- on July 26 at approximately 12:15pm on Old Berwick Road in Bloomsburg PA an 84 year old lady driving a white 2000 Chevy Lumina ran into me from behind. The bike came out from under me and I landed on my right side. I rolled out of the way of her car to keep from getting crushed under her wheels, so I am still here and alive. Yes I was hurt. I ended up with some pretty bad road rash on my right side that oozed for a week straight, and the soreness is just now starting to subside.  So now Im in therapy with Dr. Mark Walter at VSAS on the LV Hospital campus. He looked at my initial X-rays (fortunately I didn’t break anything outright in the crash and didn’t rupture anything internally) and we have just run through a bunch of strength and range of motion tests to see where I am at. Bottom line is- I have some issues that are keeping me sore. So Dr. Walter is going to help me with that.

My bike is pretty well trashed. The Cross Check frame is bent, cranks are bent, wheels are annihilated, handlebars are bent, seat is ripped up…and on and on….the adjuster used the word ‘totaled’ and I agree with her. I really won’t be able to salvage parts from that one.

I missed the Steelman Triathlon because Im only allowed to go to a ‘6’ in terms of effort on a scale of 1-10 right now. Basically that means I can ride, but no hard efforts. No racing. Props to the organizer of the Steelman, though- he refunded my entry and wished me a speedy recovery. I will be there next year. And might even try the Olympic distance. Iron Hill enduro- yep that one is gone too. BCSTXC- lost two of those so far- July and August. Hopefully I will be able to hit the final in September. We will also see about the season opener for PA CX in mid-September. Im not getting paid to race and am not in danger of being in that position but it is a part of what defines who I am. It is an activity that has taken 80lbs off of me and has brought me to better overall health and I do not want to lose that.

The good news is my settlement check came through for my bike so Steve at Saucon Valley Bikes has begun to order the parts for the rebuild- gotta say he has been outstanding in handling my neurotic ass during all of this. He made up the insurance quote and has answered every stupid question I could come up with without telling me to stop being such a PITA. Thanks Steve- you definitely made the bike part as easy as possible through this and I really appreciate it.

So as of today my road rash is healed but I have some nice scars on my butt, my hip still aches but Dr. Mark knows what we need to do to improve that, and I am able to be on the bike for at least light efforts. In an ideal world I would be racing and prepping for CX right now but all in all Im just glad to still be here and count my blessings. And just because people have asked- here is a picture of some of my road rash. Yes, the black stuff is where my shorts melted into my skin while sliding across the pavement and it covered an area about 8x6 on my hip, with more on my thigh and lower leg just to give you an idea of how much there was of it. Yes I photoshopped my crack out- no one wants to see that anyway.