The Scrub Down

Left Knee got it the worst. Headache all night last night from landing on my head. I knew the date and month so I got away without a concussion ( I can't believe I BROKE MY HELMET). I couldn't find a comfortable position to sleep in last night as my back was twiggin out... Had to peel myself from the hotel sheets this morning.

When the crash happened I screamed "This Wasn't Suppose to Happen!!! It wasn't suppose to turn out like this"!!! I truly do not know how I went down. After talking to Michelle Peariso on the phone yesterday on our way home she said that a few people went down on the inside and took me down and I got it the hardest. She said that Megan Karol asked her if I was alright because all she could hear was my helmet hitting pavement...

I'm still pretty frustrated with the crash as it came out of nowhere. Yes I picked myself up after a good minute of agonizing in pain... I had so much adrenaline going (even after screaming because my wrist felt seriously damaged when I went to push myself up) that I WAS GOING TO CONTINUE. I had to push my bottle cage back together so it could hold my water bottle again. And once on my bike I realized my stem/handlebars were turned to the left a good 20 degrees. It didn't matter, I could still get into this race couldn't I? Michelle waited up for me, the sweet person she is and saw that I was on a mission. She warned me to not go to hard and blow. I pulled, she came around, I went around her and then I set off picking off the girls that were up the trail. Anderson was on one of the hills near the first section of single track and I yelled to him for a tool to fix my handlebar/stem. He didn't have it so I said don't worry...I kept going. I was moving, powering up the climbs, hammering the descents in the biggest gears I had using my full suspension to my advantage and I was slowly picking off riders one here, two there... Jason Lumis came up from behind as I think he had suffered a mechanical (men's race had a crash right off the gun as well). I tried in vein to stick to his wheel for a bit, it didn't work. My body was starting to feel the effects of the crash. Put that out of your mind...keep going.

The strong head wind out on those roads started to take a toll on me. The climbs were no longer "power climbs" and I was no longer having fun (was I ever?) and the adrenaline rush wasn't there anymore. I was going into survival mode and knew I needed to stop at the next feed station (60% percent mark in the race). Everyone was so kind and cheering me, Anderson questioned my continuing on at mile 1 and I said "I am not quitting" and he questioned me here again. I was done. I had gotten the anger and frustration out of me and now I was just in the hurt box as I stepped off my beaten up racing rig. My back was spasming and the knees were throbbing. Somehow I landed on both of them filling them with pavement and pebbles. My whole right arm covered in road rash, head throbbing. Everything started to hurt and the tears started to flow...

I was sent over to get cleaned up by one of the paramedics. And this might be the funniest part to the day. The paramedic started to clean my arm with hand wipes. He got a good scrub going up and down and side to side, I'm like "what are you doing! This burns"! Then he started to pump this stuff out onto my arm..."WHAT IS THAT"? Oh, it's hand sanitizer... "STOPPPPPPP"!!!!!! "do you have a towel and some water"? I ask... Yes he did, THANK GOD! He continued to wrap my knee with some gauze right on the wound. I asked for some neosporin so the gauze didn't just stick to my leg once it dried out. Nope. Good time getting that off 4 hours later.

I think the looks on peoples faces were the best on the drive home today when we stopped at gas stations or at breakfast. "Don't you know what road rash is"? I wasn't beaten! Well yes I was, the pavement beat me, the game beat me.............

Should be an interesting trip over to Portugal tomorrow evening. I hope we don't have any delayed flights because I'm not moving too fast. It looks like the weather is in the mid 60's so I should be able to show off my war wounds nicely.

Not the end of season I was looking for... It was hard enough just to train in the ridicules weather we had all of October, but I did it and thought it would pay off. To have my bike spontaneously combust in Sheboygan while feeling on fire, Swine Flue, and now landing on my head in Michigan. A real crapshoot!

Did a black cat cross my path and I didn't know it?