KIDS...dont try this at home!!!

Well yesterday was the West Palm crit. I was totally stoked for a great day of racing. My plan was to race the womens pro 1,2,3/women 4 and then turn around and race the mens cat 4 immediately after.

After a long drive we finally got the course. But not before remembering what we forgot...my transponder. After registering and getting a temporary transponder I was ready to go. I sat under the shade of our tent and watched the masters races. I watched the sprints very carefully to get an idea of the prefect position. My dad and I both concluded first out of the final corner was the place to be.

Halfway through my warm up it started to rain. I didn't really care about the rain because I like to race in the rain. To my disappointment it was only sprinkling on and off. Just enough to get the roads wet.

Our field wasn't huge. We had maybe 10 or so riders total, including the cat 4's. I was pumped at the start. I had my race plan and my legs felt great. Once we started I slid back in the field trying to find Tine Elliot's ( Cycle Science ) wheel. She was the power house of the day and I knew if I didn't watch her wheel she would attack and check out from the field. The rain had stopped but the roads were very slick. On the second to last turn I lost a bit of positioning and ended up with Tamera ( Herbal Life ) in front of me.

As we rounded the final corner in the first lap I could see Tamera slide in slow motion. She unclipped on her way down and her bike was shooting out right in front of me. With no where to go and no possible way of avoiding I ended up hitting her bike dead on and went down hard. We took down one more rider and I think it was her pedal that got stuck in my front wheel...



I toasted my front R-SYS and cracked my Specialized helmet. I also landed hard on my right knee, hip, and elbow. I was in shock at first but then managed to get up and followed the official that had my bike to the wheel pits to get my free lap.

Adrenalin was pumping through my body. My right elbow was causing me alot of pain and I couldn't stop shaking, but I was determined to get back into the race. As the field came around (SURPRISE) Tina was off the front with Marylin (Naples Cyclery). I jumped into the field as Tamera hammered at the front trying to pull back the break.

After a lap of sitting on and hoping that the field would pull the break back I got impatient. I was ticked off that I crashed because my legs felt amazing so I put my adrenalin to use. I attacked the field on the front stretch and got a huge gap. As I sprinted and tried to bridge to Tina and Marlin. Every pedal stroke hurt but not in my legs. It hurt to put pressure on my arm. I was so close but then I gave up. I went back into the field.

I managed to stay on for a few laps but I was in alot of pain and ended up dropping out. I also skipped the mens race because once I got off my bike and my dad and I evaluated my condition he decided it was best not to race again. I still wanted to race but with camp next week I finally gave into the fact that racing again would be stupid.

This week I'm going to try and recover and get healthy. I got lucky and my injuries are not bad just some cuts and bruises. My spokes are trashed but the rim and hub are in good shape.

Next week is the Junior Camp in South Carolina (nice time to crash...1 week before camp). I'm really excited and cannot wait to go.

Thanks for reading,

Ciao