Crashed in my first race of the year

[Adventure Girl]

Yesterday was my first race of the year. I raced mountain bike cross country in the Sea Otter Classic. I had an injury in January that kept me from riding and training for almost 2 months, so I knew I wasn’t going to do really well in this race, but I decided to try and do my best. The course has a new technical down-hill section that is long, steep and has big ruts (wash-outs) running down it. You have to choose your line carefully or you end up on the wrong side of the rut. Earlier this week, I rode that section 5 times and started to get my confidence up and learned what line I wanted to ride.

The race started pretty well. I was ahead of my projected time by the half-way point. I felt pretty good. As I approached the down-hill section, I was a little nervous. There were dozens of people along the course (watching for the carnage!!). I cleaned the first two parts, but about half-way down the third decent (steepest and most treacherous), my front tire washed and I slammed into the ground. WHAM! Wow! That hurt!! Somebody grabbed my bike and pulled it off the line. I struggled to my feet and moved out of the way of oncoming racers but my legs were so shaky!! I took a few moments to “gather myself” and check my bike then I rode off.

I was hurting, but I finished the race. My husband wasn’t too thrilled when I crossed the finish line all scratched up and dirty… As we walked through the crowd, I did notice many people staring at me. I didn’t realize how bad I looked! I have a black eye and a big scratch and a bruise on my chin. And scratches and bruises on my shoulder, elbow, hip and knee. It could have been much worse. I felt a sense of accomplishment for finishing wounded!! Overall, I have to say that I still had a good time and I love mountain biking.

[Veronica]

Wow! I'm glad you're okay. Kudos to you for finishing. What does it mean when you say your front tire washed?

V.

[pedalfaster]

Originally posted by Adventure Girl
I was hurting, but I finished the race. My husband wasn’t too thrilled when I crossed the finish line all scratched up and dirty… As we walked through the crowd, I did notice many people staring at me. I didn’t realize how bad I looked! I have a black eye and a big scratch and a bruise on my chin. And scratches and bruises on my shoulder, elbow, hip and knee. It could have been much worse. I felt a sense of accomplishment for finishing wounded!! Overall, I have to say that I still had a good time and I love mountain biking.

Great attitude Adventure Girl!
And a nice write-up.
Got any photos of your roadrash?

[snowtulip]

Congats on your race! I'm so glad you shared this because I'm planning on racing this year and have been a little nervous, but hearing that even after crashing and finishing the race you still love mountain biking...how great is that! I plan to feel the same way on my inaugural mountain bike race crash. Hope you're feeling better and thanks for sharing!
Enjoy!

[RdDezert]

Veronica,
means that your tire, either front or rear, lost traction on the dirt and slid out from under you. I guess you can also apply to road riding, especially in crits and lots of corners, but you hear it more with mt biking.

[Veronica]

Ahhh... that makes sense. Thanks!

V.

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by RdDezert

means that your tire, either front or rear, lost traction on the dirt and slid out from under you.

That's exactly what happened. It was my front tire. The odd thing is that I chose the tires for the race specifically for that section. If that section wasn't part of the course, I would have used a tire with a little less grip (and less rolling resistance) to make a few of the other climbs faster. But even with these full knobbies and lower tire pressure, my tires slipped out because I was going to fast on the loose dirt.

Progress report: The bruises are coming in quite well, now. My black eye is a pretty purple but luckily it isn't puffy or swollen. The bruise and scratch on my chin is about 1.5" diameter. My whole face hurts when I yawn or sneeze. The various bruises and scrapes on the rest of my body aren't that bad. I just have a general overall soreness. But, yes... I do still love mountain biking.

[Irulan]

I"m glad you didn't break anything. And yes, the crashes, hopefully not bad ones are something you take in stride. Those front washouts are nasty, they usually turn into an endo of sort.

I much prefer the slo-mo tip overs that you can laugh about...

Irulan

[snapdragen]

Originally posted by Adventure Girl
Progress report: The bruises are coming in quite well, now. My black eye is a pretty purple

Yes, but do you have a pretty purple outfit to match it?

Glad you had such a positive time, in spite of your crash!

[RdDezert]

Inrulan-

...or the amazing comments (if, unfortunately you catapult in front of an audience) of "you landed ______ and _____(fill in the blanks) while watching yourself and everything else go over in slowmo...

Adventure girl -
Only a suggestion on the bruises, arnica gel. Its homopathic slight pain relief, contusion, bruising reducer. Try a small amout to see if it works for you. I carry it when I ride and slap it on immediately when anything but my feet hit the ground!