I still haven't been able to tell if I'm mad, sore, disappointed, hopeless, or unlucky; but I feel all of them. I went down very hard on Saturday at the Detroit Cycling Championship and I'm having some serious doubts about the rest of the season. I'm probably being a little too dramatic, but this is my 'first' time falling off a bike and it was a big shock to me.
4/14 Eagle Creek Crit, Indianapolis, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/22 Notre Dame Crit, South Bend, IN 12th Cat 4/5 (29)
4/29 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series Ann Arbor, MI 22nd Cat 4/5 (40)
5/6 Kalamazoo Half Marathon Kalamazoo, MI 13th (27) AG (M 19-24) / 249th (1392) Overall
5/7 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (9)
5/12 Tiger Lane Crit, Memphis, TN DNF Cat 3/4
5/20 Ann Arbor Spring Training Series Ann Arbor, MI 6th Cat 4/5 (25)
5/28 Waterford Hills Circuit Race, Clarkston, MI 13th Cat 4/5 (38)
6/3 Cobb Park Crit, Kankakee, IL 18th Cat 4/5 (36)
6/4 131 Racing Series, Matin, MI 2nd 'B race' (6)
6/9 BTR Crit, Kalamazoo, MI 8th Cat 4 (16) 20th Cat 3/4 (32) $30
6/10 Race for Wishes, Lawton, MI DNS
6/15 Zeeland Crit, Zeeland, MI 26th Cat 3/4 (43)
6/18 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (9)
6/24 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (10)
7/1 Great Lakes State Classic, Marne, MI 4th Cat 4/5 (11)
7/9 131 Racing Series, Martin, MI 1st 'B race' (7)
7/14 Detroit Cycling Championship, Detroit, MI DNF
7/15 Corktown Crit, Detroit, MI DNS
7/22 Tour of Port Sheldon, West Olive, MI
7/29 Muncie Grand Prix, Muncie, IN
8/19 Gaslight Crit, Grand Rapids, MI
8/26 54th Annual Debaets-Devos Pro-Am, Detroit, MI
I feel very resigned. I just realized there are only 4 races I have planned the rest of the year, and I am not feeling good about them. I feel even if my road rash was to heal enough where I could ride, I think my fitness will take a hit as I'm nursing some serious burns, and my confidence has never been lower. I am going to have some doubts about my bike handling flying around corners at 30mph +, and that will significantly hinder my results. I'm going to take a couple days off and heal up, then I will hit it hard again on Thursday. I have some new handlebars I ordered that will be super rad and fast, looking forward to getting them installed.
Thankfully the bike was not damaged in any way, some just minor scuffs on the right shifter. It is always recommended that carbon bars are replaced after a hard crash, so I've done that! We were flying around the second corner, a tight one, after a prime lap, so the pace was very high! I positioned myself perfectly this entire race. I was in the top 10 the entire time, exactly where I wanted to be in a 70-person field. I still feel like I could have been a little more towards the front because whenever we sprinted on the finishing stretch, I wasn't really getting close to the first place rider. As we were coming into this second turn, a guy on my left, on the inside, just came into me very strong and there was nothing I could do. He came out of no where, went straight into me, and I went down. He threw me towards the barriers and my wheels came out from under me, sliding out to the right. I went down hard on my left side, thankfully my forearm and leg took all of the impact.
Of course with my history, anything crash-related/head-related is very concerning. I laid on the ground for about 10 minutes while an EMT made sure I didn't have a concussion or anything serious. The extent of my injuries is only road rash, but it hurts very badly. I've done some good research on the best way to heal this up quickly, and I've been taking very good care of all the damaged areas, hoping to be ready to ride again by Thursday.
I'm still very disappointed, but I am also hopeful that something good may come out of this. I have a good grasp now on what it takes to be in contention in a crit, and I'm very much looking forward to my 22nd birthday next weekend...aka I'm beginning to be an old man now.
Cheers! CE
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