You Win Some You Crash Some

The Ridgefield Tri was my first race of the season. This is only my second season (I was a runner before) so I still make a lot of beginner-scaredy-cat moves, like getting in the water last so no one will kick me. Then I just chill when I swim. That's what I did this time but somehow I was passing everyone in my wave and I was first out of the water. In my head I kept thinking "Woah, I'm so awesome" I think that made me swim faster. I also think I swam faster because I've been doing all my swims at the 50 meter Big Boy Pool.

On the bike it took me awhile to feel warmed up, as usual. I'm stronger this year because I've been riding a lot more. I wasn't being passed as much as usual and I wasn't paying attention to how fast I was going. At one point early on, I was passed by a girl in my AG. My first thought was that it didn't matter because I would catch her on the run as long as I kept my eye on her. Then my superhero powers kicked in and I passed her, like by a lot. At this point I realized there was a good chance I'd be first in my AG because I felt great, was riding well, and running is my super strength so I still had that to look forward to. This realization encouraged me to overzealously take a sharp downhill turn WAY TOO FAST. I knew better. I rode this course a few times with my tri-studs (Javier, Phil and Tom) and I came close, every time, to smooching the guard rail in front of me. The problem is that I love going downhill fast, especially with turns. I love taking risks and I love being scared. Add these things together and they equal STUPID.

It happened in slow-motion... I saw my rear wheel out of the corner of my right eye, fishtailing. I thought uh oh. In response, I applied some brake action, flipped over the front of my bike, tackled the pavement, skidding, skidding, skidding down the hill, somehow totally relaxed the entire time. Then I got up as fast as I could, ran up the hill to my bike and tried to get on before that girl could catch me. I looked at my rear wheel and it was a goner, not only that, my chain was dangling. I also heard my Knight In Shining Fireman Outfit screaming "Don't get on that bike! Are you okay? Don't move!" as he ran towards me down the hill.

Long story short, my Fireman Knight checked my wounds (even the ones on my butt cheeks) and his fireman friend checked my blood pressure and all the rest of that deal. I started to feel dizzy and nauseous and I was yawning a lot so they wanted to call an ambulance. I hate hospitals and ambulances so I disagreed on that particular idea as being a good one. I told them I was probably just a little too excited about my awesome crash, took deep yoga breaths, and magically my blood pressure came back up. I also used my fembot powers of persuasion, which always seem to work ;)

While we waited for the last rider to come through I chatted it up with my new friends. I asked them to describe, in detail, how awesome my crash was. I got to wear a fireman jacket AND a super heavy fireman hat to match. I kept them well entertained. Then they drove me back to the start, listening to my suggestion that it would be helpful to use the sirens for my entrance. We got there and found Javier (my coach) and I skipped over to him, covered in road rash all excited about my first crash.

Overall it was a great day for my tri-studs. Phil was fourth in his AG, Javier made it to the top third, and JH won overall and set a new course record! Also, people were coming up to me and saying that they had never seen someone so happy after crashing. Ain't nothin gonna breaka my stride...

I was not thrilled about removing this bandage

A cute little road kiss.

Knee and shin.

Elbow: day 2

Leaving the race, being a self-sufficient badass.

Oh, and my bike's gonna be okay. Just needs a wheel and some TLC.