Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 07: Corkagh Park crit. 40mins + 2 laps

Long Story Short

• I crashed during my warm up.
• Lasted 18 minutes.

View the ride on Strava: Orwell Wheelers 2015 Club League Round 07: Corkagh Park crit. Unable to obey rule 6 for too long.

Fighting through the pain. Note the blood on the left knee.

The 18 minute version

So the much prophesied new bike was still stuck in Germany. This is the slowest that the Germans have moved across Europe in the last 101 years. I didn't feel great that day. I had been working hard in work without much time to properly train for races. I wanted to get out on Tuesday to do some sprint intervals, but I forgot my Garmin. I did my usual routine of starting to eat at 17:00. Consuming two Bananas, John West Tuna Pot and two fistfuls of mixed nuts. I "dropped a few kilos" at 17:35 and got changed in the shower rooms of the office. I drove over to the Corkagh Park track. I was doing laps at 18:10.

I did my usual three laps, one easy, one high cadence, one big ring normal cadence. I stretched, using my usual routine. Then I continued the routine with one lap easy, one lap hard. I mixed in some slow sprints and fast sprints. This was to wake my body up to the process of sprinting out of corners. My next step, as it was 15 mins before the start, was to slowly consume a high-GI Nutri-Grain bar. But my plan did not advance that far.

Then, I was rolling easy. Behind another guy. He moved over to take the corner. I had got too close to his wheel and I pulled the front brake to slow. I don't know what happened, I just went over the handlebars. Well, slightly to the left of them, if you want to be pedantic about it. Pedantic, the tarmac was. I felt a strong impact on my head as I hit the ground. I got straight up, picked up the bike. One dude stopped to ask if I was OK. I instinctively said "yes". Then I seen my bottles on the ground, the Garmin too. It takes a serious jolt to dislodge a Garmin quad-lock mount.

My knee started to sting, then my elbow and finally my hip. I checked myself. Bleeding through holes in my left side arm and leg warmers. This didn't upset me as much as the hole on my cycling shorts. I rolled over to the organisers, asked for some plasters. Gene helped me out and gave me spares for later. I went back to the start line just as the race was starting. I was very confused. I received some banter for the "Luke 'Socks' Potter" posting on the Club's last race report. I lined up at the back of the wrong group, banter also ensued.

The whistle blew, we were off. Fourteen Limit men being chased by Fifteen Semi-Limit men. I noticed that I was having Garmin problems again. It wasn't picking up my Speed/Cadence Sensor or my Power Meter. I spent time playing with this on the straight. I was already being dropped. I can recall the difference between my last few races, and this race. This race I was not able to concentrate or relax at the start. There was a fog over my brain. I stayed with them for a few laps. Then they rode away and I got dropped. I chased for a while.

I noticed that Semi-Limit were closing on me, I wanted to jump on the back of their train. I heard Jules shouting "Jump on, Luke, get in", to encourage me. I found a gap and I held on to them for a lap. The next time through the first corner, I couldn't sprint to get on their wheels. I knew my race was over. I sat up. I coasted back to the start line. I ate the Nutri-Grain bar that I missed out on. I drank some water too. Jules came through and asked for my wheel, as he had a puncture. I obliged. I did tell him that it was a 9 speed wheel, and not the 11 speed one his bike had.

I went back to the car, where I took the photos at the top of the post. I put on the patches that Gene gave me and placed my intact arm and leg warmers over the patches. I put on a hoodie and jeans. I brought over my track pump for Jules to use after the race. I seen the last lap, I missed a great escape from five Limit riders. One rider dropped off the escape a lap before they were captured. But the other four, stayed away for until the final lap.

Could Jules win the race on my wheel after being sidelined for a while? Nope, 15 year-old Sean Murnane took an unsurprising victory from a bunch sprint. Jules rolled in with the second bunch.

There was some good chatting afterwards. The Semi-Scratch and Scratch races were on after the Limit races. Jules couldn't fix his tyre and I gave him a lift home. Patrick gave me some plasters to use after my shower. I discovered that my wounds were on my sleeping side. I raided the first-aid kit in the office the next day... still no new bike delivered.