KLM Kansas City Cyclo-X UCI (C2)

OK. Races this weekend didn’t go quite as planned. The Missouri State and UCI races were back to back on Saturday and Sunday on the course that is going to be the Nationals course in 2007 & 2008. The weather changed from the mid 70’s early in the week to the 30’s and below on the weekend. Saturday’s race went OK. The ground was snowy in places and I won fairly easily. I rode hard for about 1/2 the race, trying to save some energy for the UCI race Sunday. Sunday was way colder, in the 20’s, and all the mud ruts and wet spots froze solid making the course much more treacherous. I was riding much better than the day before. I started kind of conservatively and started riding abit harder after a lap. That is when I made a major error. Because of a situation, obviously out of my control, I ended up on a lake/pond that was frozen over. I hit a frozen rut with my front wheel that sent me off toward the ice. I had to throw my weight the opposite (wrong) way to not fall. My brakes were already not working and by the time I realized where I was going it was too late. I broke through the ice trying to get off of it and pretty much soaked myself to the bone. I got out of the water and realized I needed some dry gloves, but by the time I got to the pit area, my gloves had frozen solid and were impossible to remove. At least for me to remove. So, I kept riding and screwing up more and more. Finally, I just put it in “just finish” mode and did just that. Two days later now, 4 of my fingers are still throbbing and all my finger tips ache and are swollen. Pretty much the hardest thing I can remember doing in recent history. But, my memory isn’t what it used to be. Cycling is a painful sport sometimes. Cyclo-X is always a painful sport!! Especially when ride like a moron. Read below what Velonews has to say-