March 7, 2010
♫ Oh what fun it is to crash with less than 1k to go – Hey! ♫
Yup. It was another sketch fest this week. The Men’s C race attracted 46 suitors – most of whom, it would seem, tasted pavement at some point during the race. Halfway through the last lap I watched several bikes go airborne as rider after rider plowed into a growing pile of carbon, aluminum, and skin. I was one of the first riders to get around this mess, and I spent the next few minutes chasing back on. As we passed the 1K to go sign, the field expanded into both lanes and the sprint to the line began in earnest.
I was sitting comfortably on the left side, three or four wheels back when things got ugly. Two riders made contact and took each other out, causing a chain reaction that left at least ten riders on the ground less than 500m from the line. I was lucky in that I landed on top of a pile of bikes and riders, so my injuries were limited to deep bruises on my left side. Teammate Andy crashed hard, snapping his handlebars in half and leaving him with some pretty grisly road rash. In all the mayhem, Brett managed to sprint for fifth, salvaging an otherwise devastating race for the Hokies. Of our four starters, only Brett made it to the line unscathed. Justin went down in the first big wreck, and Andy and I went down together on the finishing hill.
After cooling down and assessing the damage, I packed my car and settled into a 12 hour drive to New Hampshire for Spring Break – the perfect ending to a genuinely surreal day:
I am putting together a video of the weekend, but it will be at least Wednesday before I have it finished. Stay tuned! (Edit: it will be a while before I finish this one…)
fiddleharpa 