Hello Again

It's been a long time since my last post, almost two weeks. I don't really know where all the time went. Mostly yardwork, I think. I've done two races since Grandview. The Twin Sizzler was nothing new. Same nasty roads, same unmarshalled intersections. I dominated the expert 18 and under by at least four minutes, but that's not really saying much since only two other kids signed up and one didn't show. My dad rode his first race and wasn't even close to last. Better than he thought he would do and way better than I did at my first race (I was lapped twice at Euro Hill). Mom ran the 5k and had a pretty good time, adjusting for the cop who stopped runners every two minutes or so (within sight of the finish!) to let a line of cars through.

Sunday mom and I went to Wilmington for the Team Dayton Crit, my first race as a cat 3. I was doing pretty well, sitting between fifth and tenth wheel pretty much the whole race, and I made the one break that had any chance of sticking. Too bad nobody wanted to work. Also too bad I crashed on the last lap. We were going around turn one and the guy in front of me went way wide, almost falling off the road. I was on the outside of his wheel and saw it coming so I went into the grass, figuring it wasn't a big deal and I'd just hop back on in a minute. So I was on my way back up onto the pavement when something on the side of the road caught my front tire and put an inch-and-a-half long hole in the sidewall. I blew out half on the road and half off and totally lost it. I went down mostly on the grass, but must've been run over two or three times. For sure somebody hit my ribs, right where my heart rate strap goes. It knocked the wind out of me pretty bad and now my chest says POLAR across the front (it's backwards though, it took me a while to figure that one out). My knee went into somebody's bladed spokes, that needed six stitches but definitely could have been worse. I can still bend it all the way, so it shouldn't keep me off the bike at all. No broken bones either. Just a little cosmetic damage to the bike, one big-ish dent and a few medium-deep scratches. Dad and I took it to Bike Authority today, just in case. Props to them for getting everything looked at and truing my wheels in almost no time at all, thanks guys! Good news is that I felt amazing during the race, everyone around me was breathing harder than I was. Mom says she could hear it from the side of the road. I think I'll be looking to score at least a few points by the end of the season!

New party music's up if anyone cares about that.

All for now

-Russ