The Suitcase of Courage: Memorial Day Crits:The Best of Times,The Worst of Times

I came back from Louisville pumped for riding and racing, actually looking forward to making up the training days I'd lost. I figured I'd rest Monday, do the Sleeping Giant ride/race Tuesday, ride into work Wednesday, rest Thursday and then do an easy spin Friday in prep for the Memorial Day Weekend races in Stafford Springs and Hartford. A strange omen of how the weekend would end, I missed the Sleeping Giant Ride and got two flat tires in two other rides on consecutive days. Friday night's spin was the first time I'd ridden that week when I didn't get a flat.

But Saturday dawned beautifully - a great way to kick off the first "official" weekend of summer. My first and second races ever were Hartford and Stafford Springs, so it was neat to have a chance to race them back-to-back. Bike and gear packed, we headed for Stafford Springs Motor Speedway - a great track in northeastern Connecticut. It's just what you think it is - we race on the racetrack, with only a chicane after the start/finish to break up the loop.

It was great to see some friends, new and old, during the warmup - Esteban & Gil, and even Victor who I'd met at this same race 2 yrs ago. And as you can see, I even got to toe the line at the start. That's JoeP from our team behind me and to my right.

The best though was seeing friends Mickey and Dave again. They're both getting back into racing after a LONG hiatus and had raced that morning. I hadn't raced with them since Plainville so it was great to be on a track with them again. That's Mickey at the start of our race.

And Dave's third from the right, during the race.

The Cyclonaut's Stafford Springs Crit is one of the safer races around - no curbs, lots of places to bail out and mostly just beautiful paved oval. The race was as about as typical a crit as you could describe. It was here I got my first ever placing 2 yrs ago - coming in 3rd winning the pack sprint.

I had good luck here again Saturday - "luck" in the form of new-friend Guido who kindly offered to lead me out. It had been a fairly uneventful race, but I was still a bit tired not being at quite the form I'd hoped. And I heard later there was a crash in our race, but I didn't notice it from where I was. By the time we got to the bell lap and Guido yelled at me to take his wheel, I didn't know if I could hold it. He's a very strong rider - even after having raced another race earlier in the day - but I was able to keep up (barely). What was a little tougher - and a new experience for me - was actually holding the wheel. Seemed like everybody we passed wanted to be where I was and I actually had to lean back into some guys and hold my elbows out to hold my position.

We got to the front of the field and with about 100 meters left I tried to come around, but didn't have much snap left. I guess a few other guys had either been on my wheel - or had a little leadout train of their own - because at the line there were 5 of us pretty close together. Three guys hit the line ahead of me, but I got 4th - and, with 65 starters, some much-needed upgrade points. Thanks Guido!

Here's a video of the finish - courtesy Mrs. Suitcase:

After the race, I went home to recover and prepare for the Hartford Crit the next day. That is if you think "recovery" includes loading up two truckloads of stuff for the dump, chainsawing a juniper down, and chopping up the stump with an axe. Unfortunately, I don't have any ~~domestiques~~ domestics to help with such things. Fortunately, Mrs. Suitcase stopped me shortly after I'd started with the ax reminding me that I needed to "save something for tomorrow."

Who was I to argue? :^)

The next day was even more beautiful than Saturday - and better still that the race wasn't until the afternoon. So we spent a leisurely morning around the house and moseyed on up to Hartford, really looking forward to the race being over so we could get to visiting and dinner with SDC and his lovely wife.

Here's me and SDC. I should have paid attention to the sign . . .

One of my favorite things about the races are the guys you meet. I finally got to meet Hobgoblin in person and it was nice to see ShawnW again, upgraded to Cat4 in this year's edition of Hartford. JoeK, ChrisB and Dillon from our team were there along with JoeP and me. Esteban had also made a weekend of it, racing with the 5s right before us.

My race was the last one of the day. Hartford is always a great race - very competitive and many racers target it. It's a short race, but its technical and often has some of the largest fields of the season. As I mentioned before here, it was also my first race ever and the track goes right past my office window. So it has some sentimental value too.

The race started fast - or so my body, tired from the previous day's events, thought - and then settled in. I actually felt better than I thought I would and, while I didn't have any expectation of winning the race or even getting on the podium, I thought I might have a chance to get some more upgrade points.

Things were a little sketchy, especially in the downhill second corner. Too much hitting of the brakes. Then I noticed even corner 1 was getting a little nutty - more brakes, even though it was uphill. But that's all not too uncommon in crit racing. Unfortunately, the Cat4 races here in 2006 and 2007 had the dubious distinction of having the only crashes of the entire day.

This year's edition continued the record. And worst of all, this time I was in it.

We went through the start/finish with 6 laps to go and I was feeling better than I thought I would at that point. When we got to the corner at the top of the hill (more of a "rise") I was in the middle of the pack, about 3-4 guys from the inside. I don't know if someone hit the curb, got nervous and overcorrected or what, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw guys moving left pretty hard (through a right turn). Then the guy to the right and in front of my went HARD left, taking out my front wheel. I had nowhere to go and no time to correct. I went down hard on my left shoulder. Then my head. Then my left hip. Then everything else.

About 5 of us went down. When I got up, I saw some guy tangled up in my bike about 7 meters down the road and I immediately felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I cradled my left arm, thinking I might have dislocated it. I somehow carried my bike over to one of the barricades and we all got out of the way before the pack made it back through. We were all relatively ok - we could all get up. 3 of the guys limped off, but me and one other Cyclonauts guy got under a shade tree waiting to be checked out.

When the ambulance got there, the EMTs didn't think anything major was wrong - nothing seemed dislocated or broken, but thought it best to be checked out. So I got a ride in the ambulance to Hartford Hospital. Major thanks to all who hung out with me while I waited - especially to Mr. & Mrs. SDC who traded an early dinner for emergency-room conversation and a later dinner. It was priceless to have a fellow racer pack my bike and gear just so in our not-so-big trunk and keep us company at the hospital.

The hospital was a story in itself - and I won't bore you with all the gory details. But suffice it to say that we were all expecting I would get my road rash treated and be sent on my way. Despite the fact that the doctor on duty didn't see any outward evidence of any fracture or dislocation, he wanted me x-rayed to be certain. I figured at worse, I'd have a fairly painful GYGIG ride next week - but at least a good story to share.

When the xray came back, the doctor said - "Well you fooled me." I'd actually joined The Club that so many racers have joined before me.

I'd broken my collarbone.

What this is going to mean for my racing season - much less my ambition (as stated at the top of my blog) to advance from "wheelsucker to Cat3 racer" - remains to be seen. Obviously I'm MAJORLY bummed - I'd gotten a total of 7 upgrade points in my last two races - and need "only" 20 to upgrade.

But even worse is what this already means for my MAJOR fundraiser and one of the primary reasons I started this blog in the first place. As any long-time reader knows, I have a passion for raising awareness - as well as funds - for Crohns disease research and a cure. Having Crohns myself - and loving my bike - the Get Your Guts in Gear charity ride has become an annual highlight. And it takes place at the end of next week. Thanks to many of you, I've already raised much-needed funds and was looking forward to sharing my ride with you all again this year. But with the doctor's advice to not ride for 6 weeks (I'm getting a second opinion from an orthopedist this Thursday morning :^) I won't be able to ride.

I can't not participate though. So I hope I can be part of the crew that supports the riders. Not only will it give me a chance to still be part of a cause I feel strongly about, but it'll give me a chance to see the ride - and the riders - from the "other side of the table." Strangely, and thankfully, I'm already looking forward to next weekend at least as much as I was before this setback.

And if Mrs. Suitcase's review of my race schedule is correct, I'll only end up missing my two June races. So, as Le Tour starts in July, I may be back on the starting line myself...

3 Comments

Chris - So sorry to hear about your crash. I have had some doozies in Cross, Mtn and Road and it never feels good. Rest up, and take care. PS - Congrats on some great racing this weekend. I hope to meet you in person at the races one of these days.

Best,
Jesse (The Bell Lap)

Posted by: Jesse | May 28, 2008 at 03:15 PM