Just today, I was telling James that both he and I were going to crash someday. It was said in the context of a discussion regarding other folks crashing. I wanted him to know that our moment on the pavement was coming. Little did I know that both of us would hit the deck tonight!
James was doing really well sitting in with the adults. He is really getting faster. We hit the turn on top of the hill and James just lost it. We don't know why. It could have been a tire problem or he could have just lost it. We don't really know. I was a couple of riders back and I watched him just destabilize and fishtail then he endo'ed. I swerved left but the rider in front of me hit the brakes. I hit mine, locked up my rear wheel and I could see that I was going into the curb. When I hit it, it launched me and my bike into the air and I went over the handlebars and onto some softgrass. If my landing was soft James' was anything but. He cracked his helmet and got road rash all over his legs and back. I got up and rode back to my truck for the first aid kit while the other riders kept an eye on him.
In the end, he was okay. My bike is fine and James' is mostly fine. This will be James' third helmet lost to crashes since he got into this. He is in the shower cleaning up as I write. In some strange way, he is getting off on the whole thing. Like a badge of honor or a rite of passage. Crazy. My ribs hurt a little. Not bad. I managed to get back into the racing after I patched Jim up.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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3 comments:
Good to hear that you guys are doing okay. I hope the injuries heal up quickly. And by any chance, have you checked the air pressure in James' rear wheel since the crash? Fishtailing unexpectedly like that can happen when you have a slowly leaking rear flat.
David
The fishtailing actually pulled the tire bead off the rim on one area of the rear and the pressure held. I had to dump the pressure to get it back on. There was so much side load that one of his spokes (Mavic Ksyrium SL SSC) backed up enough to come free. James disagrees but I think he just lost it in the corner. I was right behind him when it happened. The bead came off the front wheel also and the tube blew a few minutes after the crash. He had ridden several races on the tires and tubes before last night. The inflation was around 100-110 psi. Thanks for the well wishes. James will be reading your comments. He keeps pretty close tabs on what is written in my blog.
Dad, Dmo's right, and he's has like a P.H.D. in physics. IT WASN'T MY FAULT!
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