Lucky
Last night at the driveway it was a small group for the cat 4/5 race. With all the rain we had received that afternoon, I wasn’t surprised by this. It wasn’t raining at the track, however, so I was expecting a good race.
After the first lap my brain was convinced that the track (even though there was standing water) was as grippy as ever. With the small group things stayed pretty calm. I just hung out at the back (not necessarily intentionally) and kept up with the pace with no problem. I felt really good. Even though I had to get out of the saddle every so often to keep attached after a turn or something, my heart rate was staying down in a very manageable level.
The lap cards came out, and I figured this was going to be a good finish. I saw the 3 to go card, and decided I would take the next 3 laps to try to move up and get towards the front. We go through the finish, go into the turn, and I see it plain as day in front of me. A guy dives into the corner, and then he loses his grip. He goes down, starts sliding. The guy next to him goes down, starts sliding. I’m headed right towards both of them. I hit my brakes… my rear wheel locks up. I release the brakes, catch my grip, and accept the fact that I am about to t-bone one of the guy’s hamstring. I get my feet out of the pedals, and I put my heels down, and slam right into the guys leg, bounce around, but I stay up.
I consider myself lucky. I have no idea how I didn’t end up on the ground. I go to click back in and realize that I have of course dropped my chain. My race is done.
All I got from the incident was a few cuts from my chain ring on my calf, so I definitely feel lucky. Lessons learned:
- STOP RIDING IN THE BACK, DUMMY!!
- repeat #1
- the pavement at the driveway is super sticky even when wet
- I am getting more confident in turning
- I still need to get better and more confident in turning
- I need to learn to not give up positioning to more aggressive riders so much
All in all, it was good to get out and race.
On the bathroom front, both bathrooms are now fixed and functional. We are currently letting the caulk and grout cure, but tomorrow we should be back in business. Taking a shower in my own bathroom, how novel.
Finally, on the photography front, I did complete JiBW2. While I have not posted the pictures to flickr yet, I did take them. I believe I did miss two days of the month. It definitely seemed harder this year. But it was interesting nonetheless.
Happy weekend!
