Monday, January 11, 2010

Grote Prijs - Shawnee KS

Lots of snow and ice. Mark and crew did a nice job clearing the course but there were still a few dangerous ice patches. Hey, it's racing in January! It was a flat and would-be uninteresting course other than the snow and ice, so as it were, it was quite fun and a little too interesting in a few spots.
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I got 2nd in the SS class after riding without sitting down most of the race- not that I would've been seated that much anyway. I crashed halfway through the first lap and when I picked up my bike, the saddle was nosed straight down. I rode around to the finish like that and asked if I could step off the course and grab my tool to fix it. I was asked if it was in the pit- it wasn't- and I was told "no". So, I pounded it with my fist until it was close to where it was and stopped a couple more times throughout the race to perform the same beating ritual.
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With about 6-8 laps to go I saw a rider lying flat on his side right in the middle of the course. It appeared as though he'd suddenly grown tired and decided to nap. I stopped and asked if he was alright- no response. So, I stepped off my bike and hailed him again-nothing. I threw my bike to the side and kneeled down and poked his shoulder as I talked to him and he finally started to move. He sat up and I talked to him a few moments as I went through the progressions learned in Red Cross training. As I sat there, I watched everyone else in my race cruise by, but finally a couple race officials showed up and I was able to jump back in the race. I spent the rest of the race making up positions but I was unable to catch Stephen Songer of 360 who got first.
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Great beer was provided by Boulevard and my 2nd-place prize was a 750 of Seeyoulator doppelbock- nice! Joe A. commented that I'm the Master of winning alcohol. I take great pride in that.
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One more race: Epic Cross on Saturday. It's gonna be Epic, bra'h!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for stopping Dan, that was one of our boys you took care of. He and Songer got tangled up and banged heads. They said he was out for at least 30 secs. That was a real classy move on your part. Thanks for the words of encouragement going up the hill too.

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  2. Sorry it was Shadd that hit him, but our guy says it was his fault for getting thrown out of a rut and Shadd had no where to go.

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  3. I was more excited to use my Red Cross training than to be racing at that point. Funny- I started to ask him if his fingers or toes felt numb... duh.

    Hope he's doing fine.

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  4. Good work Dan! The problem begins when you start causing injuries and crashes so that you can use your training.

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