Oh well, Not Again !!

Well here is the story. Fort Ritchey Criterium today is Cascade, Maryland. I raced two races. First the category 3/4 35+. I got 11th place. Still can't get in the right position for the final sprint.That is not the story.

Second race was category 4. The wind was blowing. The field was nearly full and the course fast and fun. Ted and I were racing together like usual. He wanted to ride with me so we could stay out of the wind. Early in the race I was up front and I could not see Ted. So I went to the back to find Ted. He said the braking in the corners was preventing him from getting to the front. I said follow me, lets get up there now. With in a couple laps we were right where we wanted to be. Now just holding our position waiting for the laps to count down was are goal.

The wind was blowing us all all over the place. Two guys bumped shoulders on the back straight and began to crash. I was sitting a rider back and a bit to the left. The crash began to swing my way. I thought I was save when a bike shot to the left and a handlebar hooked my front wheel. I was braking at the time so I went down very softly. Just really stepped off the bike. There were 7-8 riders on the ground. One pretty hurt holding his shoulder, not good. Another kid asking if he was bleeding over and over again. He had a cut on his chin.It was kind of funny. He asked if his tooth was chipped? It was a little. He started yelling that his parents were going to kill him. It was really kind of funny. Ted was under a another riders bike not hurt at all. He had to slam on his brakes and endoed into the back of the crash.

Both of our front wheels were out of true. We went to the pit for our free lap. I had my wheels in a bag on a hill in the pit. I changed my wheel and waited for the official to tell us when to go. The group came by and we sprint to get in the group. Ted took off and got right in. I couldn't get my right cleat to clip in. I tried a few more times. I reached down and pulled a handful of dirt off the bottom of my shoe. Crap they are getting away.I pedaled some to not get dropped. I tried my cleat again, nothing. I put in a couple of hard pedal strokes so I could get closer to the group. BAM !! I'm on the the ground sliding. My foot slipped off the pedal and I crashed by myself at 25mph. It hit my head real hard too. Helmet cracked into two pieces. Sunglasses lenses came out. Shorts and jersey torn. Even my socks were torn. DAM, I CRASHED TWICE IN ONE LAP!!

Other than the loss of skin, I am fine. I'm sure tomorrow may be a different story. But I will be ready for battle again next week.