The thinking was the Derby today would be small, due to the training crits later that day. Less riders, safer (from a traffic perspective), easier to manage all together. It would be the first time I rode the fast-paced training ride leaving from the velodrome this year, and hopefully it would be uneventful.
Hah. Great weather and riders reveling in the balmy conditions, after a week that started by dumping 3 inches of snow on us, produced a group of at least 100 eager riders. Suffice it to say, the ride was uneven. Speeds surging on the rollout, some sudden slowdowns and then...
A dude up the way slows and bears right after a turn onto a small tree-lined lane, the dude behind him isn't paying attention, overlaps his front wheel, goes down. I happen to be right behind this fella, and my fate is sealed. Scraped knee, scraped elbow, scraped left hip (read: ass cheek). No pictures of the latter; my assistant was not home. Luckily no one was right behind me; maybe my newb-chic hairy legs kept them away. The bike is fine. After a little assistance from teammates of the aforementioned dudes, we turned around, caught the group on their way back to the track, and I rode the rear of the field on the way back.
Welcome to my blog.
