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| Pasty legs! |
Patapsco went well. I ended up racing Cat 2 (or Sport, but Cat 2 sounds faster), and took second place. I was happy and motivated by that result. The next race I could do was the Marysville Relay (official name too long to remember). Only problem was that I was slated to be at Brookhaven National Lab that weekend, so it didn't look likely that I would make it. But a some fast guys asked me to be on their team and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride on their coat tails so-to-speak, so I pulled some strings and bought a train ticket home from Long Island the Friday afternoon before the race.
{side note: big cities intimidate me. I didn't think they did, but they do. I had about 90 minutes to spare at Penn Station in NYC on the way home and was frozen with fear on the steps of Madison Square Garden for a good 20 minutes. But I mustered up all the courage I could find and walked around a few blocks, got some pizza, and actually enjoyed myself. I'll get over that fear yet, you watch.}
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| H_RT at Marysville |
So the Saturday of the race came and Henry's Bicycle Shop race team (about 30 racers for this event!) all got together and caravanned to the race site 2 hours north in PA. To be brief, Rich, Eric, Scott and I were turning in some good times, and ended up 11th of 149 teams. There were a lot of log overs, and some people loved it (like Scott). I did not.
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| Selfie post-faceplant |
I wrecked on my third lap, landed on my face (I think) and got a concussion, so the details are still fuzzy. I do remember knowing that I had fallen and checking my bars to make sure everything was still straight on my bike. My teammate Kevin (who raced with his son Nate in a father-son duo - pretty cool) said he saw me standing on the side of the trail and asked if I was okay and I said "yeah, but I hit my head." He rode on past and I guess I followed him, eventually passing him and successfully making it to the transition zone. There is about an 1.5 hrs there that I don't remember. I hear that I didn't know where I was, or what year it was, or who anyone was. Luckily there were some doctors on the team so they kept an eye on me. Before too long I became cognizant and sent a text to my wife that said "Hey I wrecked and have a concussion. Haha." Everyone on the team was very supportive and concerned, and that meant a lot to me.
So I took 2 weeks off and I think I am ready to get back into it now. This time no landing on my face.
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| Notice the new helmet, thanks to Henry's & Giro |
