Gateway Cup Weekend--Good and Bad

This is why cyclist shave their arms and legs! It is not for wind resistance. Can you imagine trying to clean these wounds with monkey like hair?

Henk Vogels was here this weekend. He will be riding in the ToM in a couple of weeks. He has won a stage in the Giro and raced in the TdF as well
The picture speaks for itself.

Do you think that hurts?

The first two races of this weekend's Gateway Cup started out very good for me. I had tons of friends come to watch Friday night at Lafayette Square and I didn't want to let them down. The race was good and for the most part, wreck free. I came around the last turn saving some for the sprint and ended up 9th out of 95. I got paid for 9th and it felt good to do well in front of a big crowd. The disapointing thing is that I should have started my sprint sooner and I would have placed in the top five. The race was 22.6 miles long and averaged a really fast 26.3 miles an hour.

Saturday was another good day as a I felt great throughout the race. I kept well hydrated unlike others in the race and it showed on the final few laps. I came out of the final turn in a great 6th position only to have two guys go down in front of me causing me to go wide around the carnage, basically killing my sprint. I did get going again and still finished 12th getting paid again. It was disapointing as I was in the exact spot I wanted to be in. In the photo you can see me stretching trying to get a higher place. All those guys were behind me at the last turn, missing the crash keeping their momentum and I still almost caught them. Frustrating, but a good race for me.

The next day at the Hill was not so good. I was caught in a crash about 5 laps in. I didn't go down but had to chase the group down after unclipping. I was then spent. Then about 20 minutes into the race, still with the main group I decided to get a drink on the flat stretch between the first and second turns. I had a bottle in one hand and then all the sudden, the bikes in front of me slowed down. I couldn't react in time with one hand and hit the guy in front of my and then hit the pavement going around 23 miles an hour. It hurt like hell. My elbow was in severe pain, just gushing blood. A guy from Hub went over his bars over me fracturing his wrist. I'm sorry dude. I ran back to the ambulance with my bike were the EMT immediately said I had to get that sewn up at the ER. My brother Todd drove me to the ER while my Mom took the girls home. Todd pulled some strings and got me into Barnes Jewish really quickly. They took pictures called the bone doctors and assessed that the arm and elbow were not broken. The joint was not damaged either. That would have required surgery! Todd sat with me the next 6 hours until we got out around 10pm. Luckily we had the fast treatment! Some people were outside waiting that were there when we got there. The docs were cool and treated me well. Now I am a world of pain with 16 stitches in my elbow and two huge road rashes on my right side. Take a look at the photos and imagine the pain. I took a picture with my cell phone before it was sewn up that I hope to post someday. It was really nasty. If you play, sometime you will pay. When crit racing, it is not if, but when!

Mom, the girls and I went up to Ucity to watch the last day of races and show my support for my teammates. They did well yesterday and today, with Dave G. taking first yesteray and Trent taking first today and 2nd yesterday. Jordan and Daring got paid as well. Good job guys. I am lucky to have good teammates as they were all concerned about my wreck. Thanks again for helping me out Mom and Todd. It is good to have family around.

I am now off the bike for a week or two. Luckily the bike is still rideable. Luckily I wasn't running my new Mavic Sls.

Ouch!

Wyman