Mercifully, there are only two more weekends left in this season. I normally dread the arrival of the last race of the year but between injuries and mechanical issues this season has been one to forget. Here's my Sterling report...
I've raced Sterling 4 times now and it is always fast, always frozen and always a great event. The night before I put in a good effort on the trainer to open up the legs and was ready for the race, new tires and all. CJ was alongside cheering... man do I love that little kid.
Two laps around the track (1 3/4 as Perham pointed out) and then up the run up. Between the left and right at the base of the run I'm riding towards Pascal Bussier (I think) who has hit the deck so I touch the brakes. My front wheel instantly dissappears out from under me to the left on the frozen ground and I go down hard. I'm "that guy" and the pile up starts, I could even hear Fries commenting on the carnage. The bike is clearly messed up and so is my left hand so I run to the top to assess the damage. Wheel is cockeyed in the fork: fixed. Bars are listing about 45 degrees to the left, anyone here watching have a wrench? Nope. My left thumb is killing me. The last of the field rides past and the lst guy says "at least I'm not last" in reference to me standing there like a dope.
I roll around the course watching the race ride away and asking everyone for a wrench. I stop at the Keogh's trailer, no luck. "Wait!" a 10 year old dissappears into the trailer and I wait a few seconds before he emerges with a huge monkey wrench. I should have been more specific. Roll up the pavement and Zank asks "What happened" and "Is the bike ok?" like any good parent would. At the pit Mark executes a perfect bar realignment (thanks) and I'm off. I think briefly about dropping out and trying again in the 2/3 race that is nexy, but my thumb tells me that I should take advantage of the natural pain masking powers of adrenelin and race now.
I chase and pull back a dozen and half guys I guess, I wasn't counting. CJ was cheering hard each time around, man I love that kid. Too bad they didn't have a kids race as they have in the past, he was ready to crush some souls. I took 42nd, went to a friends apres-party and had some fantastic lasagna, then went to the hospital where they showed me how unstable my left ulnar collateral ligament really was. No fracture, splint on for 4-6 weeks and see an ortho. Thanks to my history of illness, I don't just know a few orthos, I know a few hand specialists and will probably go with Ed Caulkins. He's a nice guy & leaves minimal surgical scars.
I'll probably race Portland and the last RI weekend, and if so I will race them hard, but I'm looking forward to the start of the offseason so I can heal completely (ankle still isn't 100%) and prepare for next year.
10 comments:
Well, at least you can still race.
Thanks for the wheelset.
How's the bike after the crash?
BT
Ouch! Nicely done on the finsh. Make sure you bring a set of bars to the consult so they can make a splint to fit.
the bike is fine, just a chip in the paint where Brant's bike fell on top of mine.
As for a fitted splint... I only plan on having this thing off for 3 total hours over the next two weeks: 45 minutes at a time.
ouch! I hear running speeds up the recovery...non?
ah - all i noticed in that pile up on the run up there was the tangle of what appeared to be only blue kit'd dudes on the frozen tundra...
and as fast as you mowed through everyone... wow, ya gotta be amped with your current form!
Definitely top 10, as fast as you were mowing people down... Ya came through me there on that twisty section that didn't suit my over geared situation... not that being properly geared would have been *much* better...
carry the form through man... u be rockin
Hi Matt,
Somehow when I googled Anthony Geruso, your site came up. Very nice visual as well as written.
Too bad about your thumb. Are you still going to Oregon this weekend?
Love you, Mom
Matt, I wanted to let you know that I went to the B's game last Friday and during the 1st intermission the B's Foundation gave it's donation check to the Pan Mass challenge. It was awesome. The jumbo-tron showed clips of the B's riding "team" riding the event. They had, get this, Bruins cycling jerseys on! They were awesome!
Good on ya for your participation.
BT
minimal surgical scares? whats the fun in that?!?!?!?!
:) heal quick buddy.
im gunning for you next SBC.
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