Slip Slidin' Away...
By monday I had gone from feeling like crap to merely feeling like garbage. I did absolutely nothing but lay around and eat at mealtime. The holiday couldn't have come on a better weekend. Work would have made me feel twice as bad.
Tuesday morning I awoke feeling better. My stomach was still queasy at times but it was minor and as the day wore on, I got better. By the time I got home I was 85-90% and figured I would give the Worlds a try. Especially since we were having the little go away thing afterward for AJ.
The fieldsize was lighter than normal and we started out in a very controlled manner. There must have been some tired legs from Quad Cities. I was just sitting at the back trying to gauge how I felt which turned out to be pretty good. Five or six laps into the race, the pace started to lift a little.
We were passing through turn 2, when someone (Rister?) locked his brakes a little, this caused Dyer to slightly lock up. I heard rubbing of rubber and touched my brakes. Sure enough, I locked up to. The rear end slid out to the right. I corrected and though the save had been made when the tire blew. POW!
The cornering properties of a Mavic rim are not good and the slide began again. I was falling to the left and unclipped and was tripoding (is that a word) with my left foot trying to stay upright. It worked to a point. There wasn't much hope of staying up up but I did scrub off a lot of speed. My leg was getting bent out and back though. I started to feel the strain on my knee and groin/hip. Luckily, I came to a virtual stop, the bending of the leg stopped and I just fell on my side.
First thing was to check the bike. No scratches on the frame, not even torn handlebar tape. I couldn't believe it. I knew I didn't fall hard but figured there would be a scrape or two. Nothing. No tears on the skinsuit either. The only damage I saw immediately was the rear wheel rim was chewed up from sliding on the pavement. I walked back to the start and sat down. A few others were asking what happened and thats when I finally noticed a little more damage. The inside of my left shoe, around the toe box, was pretty beat up. They aren't pretty but they are still usable. I'm going to have to check the carbon soles but I think they are still good.
I also put a nickel sized hole in my right glove. Not sure how I did that since I fell on my left but strange things happen in wrecks. Lastly, I noticed that I shaved a good chunk of left Speedplay off in the slide.
I tested to see if I could still clip in and that worked. Visually, it appears that nothing vital to the operation of the pedals was harmed. I'm going to have to give a more thorough checking after mounting a new tire.
Afterward, a small group went to the Tower Pub for some beer and pizza. I stayed much later than I should have but all is well. Sitting on the bar stool gave my leg time realize that its hurt a little. My knee hurt with pretty much every step. A little stabbing pain, nothing terrible. This morning it still bothers me some. Walking straight and normal causes no problems but if I twist it or move suddenly then it stabs me again. I can't decide what it might be. Maybe a ligament, maybe a hairline break. There is no pain when I touch around the knee, though and no discoloration of the area. I think it is only tweak of some sort but this probably tipped the scales toward not racing in Rolla this weekend.
By monday I had gone from feeling like crap to merely feeling like garbage. I did absolutely nothing but lay around and eat at mealtime. The holiday couldn't have come on a better weekend. Work would have made me feel twice as bad.
Tuesday morning I awoke feeling better. My stomach was still queasy at times but it was minor and as the day wore on, I got better. By the time I got home I was 85-90% and figured I would give the Worlds a try. Especially since we were having the little go away thing afterward for AJ.
The fieldsize was lighter than normal and we started out in a very controlled manner. There must have been some tired legs from Quad Cities. I was just sitting at the back trying to gauge how I felt which turned out to be pretty good. Five or six laps into the race, the pace started to lift a little.
We were passing through turn 2, when someone (Rister?) locked his brakes a little, this caused Dyer to slightly lock up. I heard rubbing of rubber and touched my brakes. Sure enough, I locked up to. The rear end slid out to the right. I corrected and though the save had been made when the tire blew. POW!
The cornering properties of a Mavic rim are not good and the slide began again. I was falling to the left and unclipped and was tripoding (is that a word) with my left foot trying to stay upright. It worked to a point. There wasn't much hope of staying up up but I did scrub off a lot of speed. My leg was getting bent out and back though. I started to feel the strain on my knee and groin/hip. Luckily, I came to a virtual stop, the bending of the leg stopped and I just fell on my side.
First thing was to check the bike. No scratches on the frame, not even torn handlebar tape. I couldn't believe it. I knew I didn't fall hard but figured there would be a scrape or two. Nothing. No tears on the skinsuit either. The only damage I saw immediately was the rear wheel rim was chewed up from sliding on the pavement. I walked back to the start and sat down. A few others were asking what happened and thats when I finally noticed a little more damage. The inside of my left shoe, around the toe box, was pretty beat up. They aren't pretty but they are still usable. I'm going to have to check the carbon soles but I think they are still good.
I also put a nickel sized hole in my right glove. Not sure how I did that since I fell on my left but strange things happen in wrecks. Lastly, I noticed that I shaved a good chunk of left Speedplay off in the slide.
I tested to see if I could still clip in and that worked. Visually, it appears that nothing vital to the operation of the pedals was harmed. I'm going to have to give a more thorough checking after mounting a new tire.
Afterward, a small group went to the Tower Pub for some beer and pizza. I stayed much later than I should have but all is well. Sitting on the bar stool gave my leg time realize that its hurt a little. My knee hurt with pretty much every step. A little stabbing pain, nothing terrible. This morning it still bothers me some. Walking straight and normal causes no problems but if I twist it or move suddenly then it stabs me again. I can't decide what it might be. Maybe a ligament, maybe a hairline break. There is no pain when I touch around the knee, though and no discoloration of the area. I think it is only tweak of some sort but this probably tipped the scales toward not racing in Rolla this weekend.
1 Comments:
A little shoe ventilation?
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