Eh, It's Just a Bike Crash

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about relaxing and going with the flow, about my races seeking to go better when something went a little wrong.  Apparently I should be careful what I wish for as approximately three hours later I found myself disoriented and bleeding in the middle of a country road after flipping over my handlebars for no apparent reason.  This was my first bike crash (other than tipping over in my parking lot or falling off the trainer) and I was a mere six days out from USAT Age Group Nationals.  Lovely. 

Anyway, after finding myself on the pavement I took care of the important things in the following order: 1. Stopped my watch, 2. Gave my bike a once over, 3. Messaged my coach, and lastly 4. Checked myself for any major damage.  I had landed straight on my face and head then rolled so the right side of my face banged up, road rash on right shoulder and left knee, and a good bruise coming in on my right quad from hitting my aero bars as I went over.  My head was feeling a bit foggy but fortunately nothing seemed to be broken (except my helmet) – yes, because I’m a big weirdo athlete I was relieved to realize my face had taken the brunt of things (three weeks later I’ve established that I probably chipped my chin but it’s not deformed so oh well).  After resigning that I wouldn’t be riding the 15 miles home I called my dad who was up on the boat but arranged a pickup for me (thank you to Gerry and Cheryl Meyer – always good to know the church family of my youth still has my back).  Despite the fact that I’m fairly certain I got a minor concussion, I decided against wasting time and money on a hospital trip and spent the rest of the evening icing and relaxing (yes, I repeatedly checked my pupils and made sure to stay awake for like seven hours). 

To be honest, the next few days sucked.  I was disoriented for about 36 hours and about the sorest I’ve ever been.  Fortunately, I was able to maintain my normal training schedule as taper and recovery melded well.  My spectacular father took Maureen in and all fixed up by the awesome crew at Attitude Sports; fortunately she was uninjured and only needed some minor tweaks.  By Wednesday, I was running again (even if it felt like my quad was going to fall off the bone) and by Thursday the aching had mostly subsided. 

It was a busy and fun weekend with Ian flying in Wednesday and Hannah coming Thursday from Arizona.  On Friday, we loaded up and headed down to Milwaukee for some course recon and packet pickup.  Boy oh boy, it’s awesome having a big race so close to home; I think not having to travel more than an hour basically made up for any crash damage.  As an added bonus, I had the opportunity to meet my hero Chrissie Wellington – a lady who’s overcome much worse crashes than I had!  Ian and I stayed with my cousin Jacqueline very close to the race site which made for a relaxing Friday night and a very fun Saturday. 

Swim Recon

Getting some inspiration from the great Chrissie Wellington!

Come race morning, I was surprisingly relaxed.  My quad was still giving me grief and my right shoulder was hurting but I knew it was nothing I couldn’t handle.  I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day and the course was pretty stinkin awesome.  Long story short, I had a pretty great race.  There were some rubber band issues with my T1 but that’s about the only issue.  I got out of the water in about 18th age group, and off the bike somewhere around 10th.  That’s when the fun began.  Slowly but surely, I started picking off ladies, especially in the final two miles.  For someone who’s “not a runner” it was great to finally realize that I am; that I am stronger than I once thought.  In the end I finished 4^th in the 25 – 29 division and 8^th overall; what an improvement from last year! 

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad!

Clearly I'm more rested than Ian at this point (my race was almost an hour before his)

Basking in our post race glory

I was slightly disappointed after realizing that I was a mere 18 seconds from top 5 overall, wondering if a better transition or lack of crash might have made all the difference.  However, as I said before, no one ever has a perfect race and that was just how my cards fell.  I’ve improved so much in the last year.  I have improved dramatically and it’s not over yet.  While I hate to see my tri season draw to a close, I’m excited for my final multisport race in Des Moines next weekend at the Hyvee Championship.  We’ll see what happens if I can keep from crashing and wear the proper shoes all in one race!

Many thanks to Jacqueline, my parents, Ian, and Hannah for sitting through the epicly long awards ceremony

I like podiums