Getting back into it: Grey County Time Trial

So originally I had planned to make a weekend of the worlds qualifier events and stay at Blue Mountain for the weekend. After the P2A crash, I was told no racing for 6 weeks to let the bones heal, so that kind of wrecked those plans. I figured if I crashed in a TT, I would just give up on everything anyway, so I signed up figuring it would be ok.

The course was an interesting one for sure. 29km with 230m of climbing made it a hilly time trial course. Almost complete down hill on the way out, then the last 7-8km was all the uphill. The other odd thing about this event was the start times. I didn't get sent off until almost 8pm, which meant I was finishing with the setting sun. The organizers did an amazing job though, the course was great and completely closed off and everything ran super smoothly. Having Velofix there with bike fixes helped a lot of people to get their bikes to fit the guidelines for the UCI (stupid, stupid rules...).

I am certain the mirrored visor saves like 30watts only because it looks badass.

So I was off and my heart rate monitor didn't work for the first half, so I had no idea how I was doing effort wise. It didn't help that I didn't get a chance to do a hard TT effort in the weeks leading up to see what it felt like. Since it was all downhill, I opted to go easier rather than harder. By the time we hit the turn around my heart rate kicked in and I was able to pace myself well on the "flat" and uphill. When I finished they said I was 5th for the UWCT qualifier for 19-34 age group. Just to finish though felt like a huge mental victory, it felt like they said I set the fastest course time. After the last crash, mentally I have been in a terrible place and doubting everything around me that I have worked for. Just getting to finish the race like it was meant to be done (with your heart rate spiking over 190bpm) felt amazing and I know that it lifted me up.

Picture of the beautiful sky just after I finished!

So overall results were alright, but the real victory for me was finishing and doing about how I expected showing not much, if any, fitness loss. Depending on how the head feels with some harder intervals, I might start back in to road racing with KW Classic. Thanks for following along!

Garmin data:here
Results: here

Injury Update

First off I need to thank my family and friends for making this -so-great time as good as it can be. Especially my mom for making sure there is always something around for me that I can eat, and making sure I am taking proper care of myself.
Alright so things are starting to look better. All of the removable stitches are now out, with a few dissolvable ones still in my lip. I have been riding my bike again, but avoiding harder efforts to be safe with concussion healing. As far as my racing plans go, I am hoping to try the Grey County TT, but I will need to avoid the road race, and hopefully get back into racing for KW Classic. I have posted a picture here in case you haven't seen me to see the healing progress. Face has healed up nice, although with the lip swelling down you can tell I am missing teeth! Still have to avoid some foods for the time being while the mouth and bones recover but eating is getting better and easier. At least it helped me drop a few pounds at the beginning despite complete lack of exercise/training.

If it were Christmas time I could legitimately sing the jingle, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

Destroyed helmet. Didn't last me very long, and unfortunately for my student wallet, it wasn't a cheap one either. But protecting my brain is worth it.  

 I went back to a Giro Aeon helmet after my last big crash destroyed the helmet but left my head and face in perfect condition. (Catskills crash at 78km/h vs this one at 34km/h) The Lazer Z1 looks fast and has a lower profile, but I think this lower profile is what makes it less protective unfortunately.

Thanks for following along with the progress and hopefully your year has faired much better so far than mine!

Can Someone Please Remove This Curse? Gruesome Images attached

So last weekend was P2A. I was super excited because for the first time in 8 years I was finally in the elite wave. We had great weather and it had been pretty dry leading up to it. I rode super cautiously in the off road bits to stay safe. At about 40km (I have no recollection of what happened), but from talking to a few people it seems as though I might have rubbed wheels. How does that happen in a single file pace line? My best guess is that I was overlapping wheels a bit to shield from a northernly wind (riding straight east at this point), and maybe the guy shifted quickly over into me. I honestly have no idea, and if you know please comment and tell me. Clear, straight road, absolutely no reason for it at all. Catskills crash was the same way (that time a fluke front tire blow out) less than a year ago. I need some better luck!

Anyway apparently I didn't know my name or the year so I got sent via ambulance to Brantford General. Got imaged up and sent to Hamilton where they have a plastic surgery team to help stitch up my face.  Anyway I know from the success of the old show "Scars" (on MTV I believe?) that people like to see this stuff. So attached is a few pics. Only head, helmet and sunglasses got beat up. Rest of body and bike is fine. Cost of this crash: Lazer Z1 helmet, prescription Oakley Jawbones, over 20 stitches, 3 facial fractures, 2 front teeth, and a mild Concussion. (When I wrote that I sang it in the tune of 12 days of Christmas...) Luckily I didn't need any surgery for facial fractures. The dental process I have to wait and see what will happen there...

Anyway what does this mean? Well I am not getting paid to race, so I am stopping road racing for a few weeks (doctor suggested 6) to let my facial bones heal up. Depending on the concussion I will hopefully be back training soon. I might still try for the TT OCUP/worlds qualifier just because I will be by myself. I will keep the healing process updated on here for those following!

Ambulance bound.

Looks like before stitches and clean up, at hospital. 

A little thing my sister put together from my two days in the hospital.

Updated pic! Swelling is down and now most stitches are removed.