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Cyclonauts Racers Road Race |
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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Steve Morse
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Friday, 28 July 2006 |
Cyclonauts Racers Road Race
Monson, MA
 | | click to enlarge |
Monson is just a good 'ol classic New England road race. It's nice and long (56 miles,) has lots of grinding climbs, and plenty of twisting rollers. I was told the course was very similar to Sturbridge R.R., only safer, and with an uphill finish. That sounded good to me. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the safe parts, or the finish.
Today was my first road race since upgrading to category 3. I entered the 2/3 race (the premiere race , as there was no pro-1 option- I guess to keep it an "amateur" event). I have had pretty much nothing but bad luck on the road this year, so naturally I felt a bit tenative. Actually, I have either flatted or crashed in every big road race so far. I was hoping today would break the streak.
So, the 2/3's roll out first. It was definatley faster than what I was used to in the 4's, and can I say the racing was a lot more "clean". It was pretty ballistic from the gun, no slowing down then accelerating like the days in the 4's. I like it a lot better now.
Anyway, not much else to tell, so I'll skip to the end of the story.
I was keeping up comfortably in mid-pack. All of a sudden this giant pothole appears from underneath the peleton. No warning, no fingers pointing to it, and no "parting of the peleton" like you would usually expect. The rider in front of me bunny hopped, but we were going so fast (30+ mph) that my brain didn't have any time to react. I saw my front wheel drop in to the 8-inch deep crater and the rest was just the usual moment of pain creation. A bunch of clattering noise, a weird detached view of the road and my somersaulting bike from above, and then sliding on my back down the highway.
A Boston Scientific rider who I know was riding behind me. Down he went, I think he must have run over my bike or something. I heard him muttering profanity as I laid there doing my personal assesment of the situation.
I sprung to my feet and realized I was mostly OK. Everything seemed intact, or so I thought. I looked down at my elbow which was ripped up. I think I saw a flash of bone which instantly made me sick to my stomach. Then the blood started gushing out. I had blood dripping down my arm and off my hand making a crimson trail as I walked off the road. The wheel and offical cars stopped and give me "assistance". Instead of the first aid that I was expecting and needed, I got handed a big stack of Dunkin Donuts napkins as the offical's car sped off.
Merlin from the SRAM neutral support car took my dilapidated bike off the road, got me situated in the back seat amongst the array of spare wheels, and I got quite a painful ride to the finish line for medical assistance.
So in summary, here's the damage report:
-Messed up elbow
- ground up nice and deep
-belt-sandered back
-bruised legs
-sore neck and arms
-bent handlebars
-smashed STI levers
-smashed front brake
-both wheels bent
-torn saddle
-grip tape torn off
-one complete BIKEMAN kit destroyed
Steve
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; "click to enlarge")
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