Had my first crash yesterday -- it was bound to happen sooner or later. I'm just not very experienced with larger, aggressive packs -- and the Evanston crit course is technical with lots of turns. So when another racer swung across my line in a corner, I touched my brake -- my front brake -- probably harder than I needed to. D'oh! I went over the handlebars and landed on my chin and chest.
Happily, from the chest down and nose up, I'm unscathed. I have some stitches in my chin, a swollen jaw, and various lumps, bruises and abrasions on my chest and right arm. And that's it. I didn't even lose skin.
Because of the jaw, I can't close my teeth or chew. But a day or two of smoothies and soup isn't going to hurt me. Brushing my teeth this morning was a whole new adventure.
So I think I need to get out to Matteson to practice being in a big, fast race. While I was with the front group the entire time, I was giving up places regularly, especially in the corners. I was rarely in a good position. I saw breaks go off the front, and had the energy to chase, but I was nowhere near where I needed to be to do it. I really have to work on that.
Thus went my first race as a cat 3.
Heh, still seated.
9 comments:
Glad to hear that you are fine, Tamara. We were watching not 10 feet away from the flip:it was so fast that some spectators didn't realize what had happened until the chase pack came around. Everyone was worried that you'd broken something, but it sounds like the bicycle gods were watching over you. Heal quickly!
Congrats on your Cat 3 upgrade! Hope you heal quickly so we can square off in upcoming races.
Good to hear that you are alright. I heard you go down right behind me and was pretty worried. A&D ointment works wonders on road rash.
Hope you heal quickly!
~Carly
I'm glad to learn that you're okay! All I could see were your legs as you lay on the ground and I recognized your tattoos. It was definitely a day of scary crashes!
Don't worry, there will be plenty of future Cat 3 races for you! :)
Thanks! I'm pretty sore today, but I'm hoping to see you all at the Chicago crit.
I can't believe you're back on your bike already! I passed you heading south on the lake path as you were going north this morning. Glad to see you're back up and riding!
Congrats...I think. So far I have had 2 major crashes just this year...last year - I got hit by a car, then a month later crashed at Matteson, Blue and Evanston - all in a single week.
So glad you are OK tho..Saw you spinning out this morning at 5:45 from my living room window. You racing tomorrow? What about this weekend in Kenosha/Milwaukee?
Very, very glad to know you are OK and determined to get back out there. And glad you didn't lose any skin -- or ink!
hey chica: bummer on the crash but hope you bounce back in time to race with the 1/2/3's before long!
Tamara, Sorry to hear you went down. keep those spirits up. You will be back on the bike...though likely a bit sooner than me. :-) Jim
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