2nd Again - and a week off the bike
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I was finally able to get a race in at our local race series. The race was held at the US Whitewater center in Charlotte, NC. We have a series that runs a race almost every Wednesday night of the summer. I signed up for the Super Sport class and was glad to see a lot of guys have stepped up this year. We had a large group of about 20 start the race. The course is a lot of fun with a lot of single track, some short step climbs and plenty of technical downhills. Neil (the race organizer) had us start at the bottom of a large grass hill that surrounds the man made river. I managed to get to the top of the hill in 4th place and that’s my position when we entered the woods.
I was pretty nervous before the start of the race, but not because of nerves. My back goes out about 2 times a year. I injured it in College playing lacrosse - while coming off another injury - duh. Anyways, I could feel my back twitching throughout the day and knew I was in trouble when I tried to put my shoes on before the race when my back really spasmed. But what’s a typical guy supposed to do…I raced!
I followed wheels until the top of the first climb and moved up to second place, behind Ryan (the fellow that beat me at the Clemson Race). I decided I would just follow him for the first lap. Well, racing doesn’t seem to work for me. We went down a rough downhill with a hard left into an uphill. I dropped my chain on the downhill so when I tried to pedal, nothing and I couldn’t get my chain back on before coming to a stop. I put my chain back on and in the process was passed by 5 or 6 riders.
I jumped back on my bike and followed the wheel in front of me looking for an area to pass. I managed to pass one rider only to watch my friend Tod crash out bigtime in front of me. I got around him and started chasing. I seemed to be by myself for a while but finally caught Zane. That left two more riders in front of me. I managed to catch the rider in 2nd place before we finished the first lap and passed him up the last climb.
The good news was that my back wasn’t bothering me, but every now and then on a steep out of the saddle climb, I’d be reminded that my back was bugging me. I started the 2nd lap sure I’d catch Ryan. My legs actually came around and I felt much better on the second lap. I was able to stay on the gas for most of the lap but never caught sight of Ryan. He ended up beating me by over a minute. I’ll get him before the season is over! That’s a promise - And if you read this Ryan, it’s all in good fun!
Back to the whole ‘Back’ thing. I knew I was in trouble when I couldn’t lift my leg over my saddle to get off my bike. Nathan, Nick and I set around for awhile until we started getting cold and decided to head back to the truck. I knew I was in big trouble when I hurt trying to get back on my bike to ride back to my truck - no beers for me and we drove home.
When I got home, I was able to to get my bike inside and called it a night. When I woke up on Thursday morning, I could barely get out of bed. It took me about 10 minutes just to get to the bathroom. Anytime I moved without any support, my back would just lock up. I knew it was bad and called in for work. I managed to get to the Doctor around 1:30 and get looked at.
The only good thing about the visit was when the RN asked if I had a physical recently because my pulse was 48 (maybe I am in shape). The Doc gave me a shot of Tordal and a prescription for some Vicadin and a muscle relaxer. I took the pain meds through Saturday and managed to get back on my bike yesterday. I rode today and am starting to feel like myself again. The good news is my next mtn. bike race isn’t for a few weeks, but I am doing the Corporate RAAM race the weekend of June 7/8. So my fitness will be excellent.
