It was awhile ago, but better late than never. Went up to Eau Claire for a stop of the WORS tour. Several LaCrosse peeps made the trek as well - this is the closest wors race to La Crosse at 90 minutes. I raced here last year and did ok in the cat 2 comp category. Placed pretty much mid pack in my age group and top 1/3 overall. This year I wasn't gunning too much since this is my 2nd race since the whole knee ordeal. Still didn't have good power on my top end and lacking explosiveness.
Went off without a hitch, and found a nice place to settle into. Previously I've always sat in more or less at MTB races, only to find myself slowed down by other riders once we hit the singletrack. Not that I have mad skills or anything but I'm getting quicker. But obviously I just need to bury myself to get into singletrack first or top 5, where I know my legs can land me. Anyway, first lap had a lot of stopping and slowing down at the technical sections or any uphill. That part sucked. About 2/3 through the first lap, some dude tries to pass me on an open grass section and basically rides directly into my handlebars from the side. My bars take an immediate turn to the left and the 2 of us hit the ground going about 15 mph. I landed on my right hip really hard and I was in some pain. I got the worst of it as he just got up and rode away and said something to the effect of an apology. I laid on the ground for a minute or so doing a systems check and slowly got back to my bike. everything was in working order and after several minutes climbed back on and slow pedaled back on course. I was dead last as everyone in the wave behind me had already passed. I still had 2 more laps to do and figured if I could ride, I finish the race. After awhile, I loosened up a bit and was slowly picking off riders. My back was getting really sore and I could tell afterwards I would be in the hurt locker. I managed to gain back 30 or so spots in the last 2 laps, finishing 50th out of 90 starters, 80 finishers. 8 out of 10 in the age group. Had it not been for the wreck, it would have been top 5 for sure.
The following week was rough for sure, it's currently been 2 weeks and my back muscles are still tender - but it's pretty good.
Spent the past week in Lake Tahoe and San Francisco. Did some riding, not as much as I had hoped. I will say this, I like the road riding around La Crosse, WI better than tahoe. Didn't get to MTB as my back was still acting up.
Tomorrow marks the arrival of this recent ebay purchase and new ride:
no Jamis-FOCUS?? ? ? ?
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