08.12.2008 | 12:59 pm
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m generally not a very angry person. Maybe this is because just about any time I work up a nice batch of righteous indignation and then express it, I find myself feeling silly about it after I’ve cooled down.
Like yesterday, for example.
Shortly after posting, I re-read what I wrote and considered taking it down. Then I decided to leave it up, because, after all, it’s how I really felt at the moment. And I think that it’s a pretty good representation of how anyone who’s ever been knocked off his bike — whether in a race or not — feels.
Which is to say, yesterday’s post may not have been my most noble moment, but it was an honest moment.
Now that I’ve cooled down a bit, here’s what I’m thinking:
- I still think Louis made a bad move. It was reckless and unnecessary, and it could have ended not just my race, but his race, and a lot of other people’s races.
- There was no need to make a reckless move in order to get ahead of me. As I stood in line at the beginning of the race, a racer from behind Rick McDonald and me asked if he could wheel his bike ahead of us to get a better start position. Of course we said yes. The racer’s name was Manuel Prada. He eventually took third, overall.
- I have done stupid things, too. I’ve done very stupid things on a bike before, causing other people to crash. I would have been humiliated if someone had caught those things on camera and published them for the world to see. Well, actually, when I do stupid stuff I write about it pretty much immediately. But there’s a difference between writing about something stupid I do and something stupid someone else does.
- I should not use my blog for revenge. I can see that if I use my blog as a place to get even, it will quickly transform from the generous community it has become into an angry, snarky place that I wouldn’t want to read. So I’m going to take 300 deep breaths before clicking Publish the next time I consider using my blog as a weapon.
- I forget to suck in my gut when I’m crashing. Thanks to Holly for getting this photo. While I don’t seek out crashes, I’m glad that I somehow manage to have people catching them on film. Here it is again. This time, just admire it for Holly’s awesome timing with the shutter.
Comments (52)
08.11.2008 | 2:30 pm
I’m back from Leadville now, and tonight I’m going to try to write a report about what I consider to be the best race experience of my entire life.
Really, I enjoyed it that much.
But for right now, I’d like to talk about the first thirty seconds of the race.
The Rule
The Leadville Trail 100 race organizers have stated, over and over, in no uncertain terms, that the paved downhill at the beginning of the race is a neutral start. It’s a crowded, narrow road, and no passing is allowed. Get your pass on once we’re on the dirt.
And, thanks to my strong finish time in 2007, I got to start in the cordoned-off section at the front. I set myself by Rick McDonald, one of very few people who has started and completed every single one of the Leadville 100s.
The Crash
The gun went off at 6:30am, and I — along with everyone else — started pedaling. Things were tight, but not scary.
And then this happened:
Ladies and gentlemen, meet racer #845, aka Louis Baker. Louis — feeling the neutral start did not apply to him, but lacking the skill to ignore rules safely – elbowed me as he surged by, then hooked my handlebars and sent me to the pavement.
I went down on my knees, catching my upper body with my right hand. Luckily for me, my right shoulder did not dislocate.
My bottles scattered on the road, and other cyclists dodged me, my bike, and my bottles.
Note: As most of you know, I’m ordinarily not an angry person. In fact, I’m one of the least-angry people you’ll ever meet. But the rest of this post is going to be kinda angry. Why? Oh, I dunno. Maybe because some bonehead had, within the first half-minute of the race, gone and done exactly what the race organizers had spent the last ten minutes telling us over and over not to do. And he had, with this move, very nearly ended my 12-year Leadville streak, and the only race I’m doing this year, what with my wife being sick at home and all. Anyway, if you don’t like the thought of an Angry Fatty, you’ve probably already read too much of this post and you may want to just come back tomorrow, when I promise I’ll be incredibly upbeat.
I gathered everything up, angrier than I can ever remember being, but not knowing who had done this (and I never would have if this picture hadn’t been taken). I wasn’t hurt, and my bike was fine.
Louis continued on, unconcerned, unapologetic. In, what I’d like to note, is an atrocity of cycling garb.
You may be saying to yourself, “But maybe Fatty was drifting back. Maybe this Louis fella in the super dorky knickers wasn’t surging forward at all.” Except in the center of the picture you’ll see Rick McDonald, the guy I started with (Rick finished with an 8:26, a very fast time). He and I were playing by the rules.
As for Louis, well, let’s take a look at how much that extra 1.000008 seconds he bought by making that illegal pass helped him.
Just a second…still checking the standings. I’m looking very carefully through all the sub-9-hour finishing times, where clearly Louis belonged.
Hm. Not there. Odd.
OK, let’s take a look at the sub-10-hour finishes.
How peculiar. He’s not there, either.
Oh, there Louis is. He finished in 10:38.
Which is, I feel compelled to note, after I finished.
More to the point, It’s more than half an hour after I finished.
Louis, some advice: next time you race, you may want to go start further back in the field.
And stay there.
Comments (134)
08.9.2008 | 10:59 pm
I’ll have a story to tell early next week, but here’re the bare basics: I finished the race in 10:06 (plus or minus a minute — I can’t find official results posted anywhere), about an hour faster than I had hoped to.
My WaltWorks single speed worked flawlessly, my shoulder gave me no problems, and I felt utterly fantastic the whole day.
Comments (68)
08.9.2008 | 4:57 am
It’s 4:50am. Less than two hours ’til the race begins. I’m making final preparations. Like eating breakfast. making weather-based clothes decisions. And this:
Because you never know when you might want a packet of mayonnaise.
Don’t worry, there’s another packet on the other side, for balance and artistic symmetry.
As you can see, I’m taking this race very, very seriously, as befitting a very, very serious racer.
Comments (30)
08.8.2008 | 1:54 pm
The top 100 returning Leadville riders get a red, white and blue
wristband, allowing us into a special starting area at the front of
the line. So I’m showing this off at every available opportunity.
Too bad I’m too fat and slow this year to put this to good use!
Elden
Comments (16)
