Kt's First MTB Crash!

Had a fun ride up Harding with Ryan, Lynn, Andy, and Sarah. It was my second ride on my new mtb. 

Made it to the top!

On the way down, I went up a bump too fast, my feet popped off the pedals and didn't land right, then I panicked and hit the brakes too hard. Ryan says I went over the handlebars, and kinda got my legs tangled up as I went over. The main part i remember was skidding on my face. Yay!

Fire truck they sent after Ryan told them I needed help down.

Helicopter was sent just in case...

Happily enjoying my wait at the Chapman Medical Center ER.

 They did a CT scan of my brain to make sure there was no bleeding (since I dented up my helmet), and another of my face to check for fractures. No problems with my head! Took x-rays of my wrists, forearms, and elbows to see why my arms were so stiff. They did a CT scan of my elbows to check for some areas that looked iffy. The doctor said it looks like there is a slight fracture on my left radial head and another somewhere in my right elbow. There's fluid in my right elbow joint that's making it hard to move.

After the doctor scrubbed my face and decided I needed stitches in my chin. He said if he didn't scrub the dirt out of my skin, it would leave a permanent tattoo, so I opted for scrubbing. It didn't hurt quite as bad as I thought it would. That was after lidocaine and vicodin though.

It was dripping quite a bit while Sarah and I waited for the firemen, but we didn't think I'd need stitches. Ended up with 8 of them

   

Some before and after showing what my comfrey did. I think it really helped me start to heal quickly.

 

 Going back for another CT scan of my elbows tomorrow to see if they're fractured. I'm hoping they aren't and I won't need a cast!

Cheryl at Mt. Pinos, rockin' her Team Margarita kit!

Andy takes the series lead (and leader's jersey!) in OTH!

Round 6 was almost the same route as round 5, but again more of the single track had been removed, as it had become very sandy (which was ok with me - 29-ers like sand, and mine had no issues). 

It started well, and I was in 3^rd place heading for the climb. I fell back about 10 yards, but as soon as we hit the turn onto the climb, I caught the leaders, and by the top of the climb I took the lead.

I took it easy on the steep, dusty downhill (as Anthony fell there in the warm-up) and got passed and fell to 2^nd, which was ok with me. Then coming off the beach, I got passed for 3^rd and discovered they knew a faster line up the bank, which I had considered before. I stayed in the small, select group, which was four B4 riders; we went past loads of B3 & B2 riders and felt ok. The group separated a little on the single track, but was basically all together for the second lap climb.

It was still going well, and I decided to take the new line with the others and made a mistake, forgetting to change down to the small ring. I cranked up the bank at almost zero revolutions and max power and got an instant cramp!

I had to spin it off in the small ring and the top 3 got away ... another lesson learned!

I finished 4^th and moved to the Jersey points lead by 1 point in B4!

I am now researching cramps/drinks, etc. and plan to keep training. In 4 weeks time I will start with the Jersey and try and keep it! Then we will see what happens, as it’s the best of 9 from 12 which count. So, results get dropped near the end, and some people have missed rounds already and do not show up on the table yet.