Downers Grove

The day started out with a uneventful 3 hour drive to Illinois with my Mom, yet was anything but in the end. We got to Downers Grove about 3 hours before my race (we didn't plan on the time difference, thankfully it was in our favor) So Mom and I went out to get some breakfast, and shot over to the race. The big thing I noticed driving in the Downers area is that, there are a ridiculous amount of expensive car dealerships. As in Porsche, Maserati, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lamborghini, and well you get the picture. So we get to the race and registration isn't open yet so I ride the course a few times, while my Mom waits in line. Half an hour later I'm registered and ready to race. I get a nice intense warm up and head out to ride the course again. I then cut back to the car on a sidewalk, a couple is also walking on the sidewalk also and I' thinking that they'll go single file..........but they don't. So I jump off the curb and jump back on, except my wheels catch the sides of the curb and I hit the deck.

I wasn't going too fast but I landed pretty hard. I stayed on the ground for a few seconds assessing the damage to myself. (After a crash, no matter how soft or bad it is, always, always, ALWAYS, stay on the ground for a for at least a few seconds or until someone comes over to you. The first thing you should do is to check yourself out, not the bike! Don't worry about your bike. You can always get a new bike put you can't get a new collarbone or arm. And for a bit of legal advice, if a car is somehow involved always call an ambulance, and never say that you are ok or fine. You may be in shock and dazed and feel ok at the moment but when the adrenaline wears off you'll be one sorry cat.) So I just stayed on the ground taking a breather while testing my back, chest, internals, legs, and arms for immediate damage. My mom was over me in a fraction of a sec and slowly helped my up. When I knew I was ok, I then checked out the bike. Ok, handle bars twisted an opposite 90 degrees from the wheel, brake pads rubbing, saddle pointing a different direction then the top tube, shifters bent inward.......not a pretty sight. But miraculously it was all fixable. So I got back on the trainer for another 15 mins to regain my bearings, while my Mom pinned my number on. As I'm warming back up it starts to rain. And now the current 60 degrees is starting to feel a little chilly.

Now I head over to the start line to get a nice starting position. Thankfully they let us just scramble for starting positions rather than calling us up by registration. The race officials decide to shorten the race from 30mins to 20mins. While they're telling us the rules, I'm starting to get colder and wetter. The race starts and I start losing ground because of the slick conditions. I decide I'd better move up soon or attack, so I don't get caught up in a wreck. A lap later there was a prime and I attacked right after it on the hill and manage to get a little gap. I keep my cool and take my time going through the turns and hammer on the flats. Before I knew it there was only 1 lap to go. I remember thinking to myself, don't ruin this, don't crash, don't crash, don't crash!!!!!!! So I took my own advice and added another one to the win column.