The smartest decisions in a race may be made at registration
Bo rolled in well behind the field in the Cat 3/4 race, 29th of 30, laughing. I wondered why he wasn’t in our Cat 4/5 race, where he’d place higher.
We lined up for our race and the mist got heavier; it was hard to avoid the gritty wheel spray and its sour mechanical taste. Like most 4/5 fields it was a mix of experienced racers and beginners. Four 10-mile laps. If it got sketchy I’d bail.
Beginning the final lap it did. A rider ahead went down. I saw a spray of sparks but a clear path past him. Then his bike began to rotate around on the ground and his rear wheel slid over closing off what had been my path. There was nowhere to go; instantly I was on my back. The crash crushed the back of my helmet and tore a small hole in my jersey. Other than that barely a scrape.
I guess I somersaulted over the bars: Stuck the landing flat on my back and cracked the bike’s frame. I should’ve raced with Bo.
