Early season inaction

Saturday was the first race of the season for me. A nice little road race near Albemarle. A nice rolly course, but with some seriously narrow roads that would make moving around pretty difficult.

I toed the line as one of the biggest non-threats in the peloton. Few could fathom how indecisive a role I would play in the days events. All went well as I rolled around, until the 500m mark. The moto official rode up the left side of the group and warned some riders to watch the yellow line. A flick, a touch and a little cascade of riders started breaking my way. I tried to avoid it but just couldn't. A biggish guy came right across my line. I caught him square, went over the bars, and somehow caught his top tube across the shins. With a presence of mind that reflects my experience, I chose to tuck and land on the big guy and surf him rather than the pavement. At this point in the crash cycle I began laughing loudly. We came to a stop, me laughing, big boy looking shaken and another guy faintly going "Unhhhhhhh" and clutching his arm to his chest in the international sign for "I have messed up and broken my collarbone."

Well, who'd a guessed you could crash in a Cat IV race for no good reason? Well, color me surprised! I ripped a hole in my new shorts, but no scrapes. The bonus is that I have definitively proven that my left shoulder is the heaviest part of my body. Throw me up in the air and I'll land on it first every time. I'm sore directly underneath a big scar from another road racing crash which is right on the point of collarbone that sticks up from my shoulder separation suffered during a mtb race many years ago. I've guess I'll have to do another one soon just to redeem myself...

In the "Will the idiocy never stop" department, check out the latest EPO scandal to rock the european sports world here. WTF indeed.