ta2240
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Skull Creek/Scarred Helmets and Burnt Crotches
The race reporter did not show up again so here I go.
If you have ever ridden Skull Creek you either hate it or love it. With the land being a sand pit every time you show up to race it is a different course. They have just about ruined the entire property so trying to find 8+ miles for a race course was difficult. If you were not in the sand you were on HARD packed concrete type dirt. There was maybe 1/4 mile of woods and more sandy uphills than you could find at LA Dunes in Claiborne, La.
Saturday practice started out okay I did two really fast laps and then decided to go for a 3rd. I get about a mile from the start and hit an open sandy section that has a 15' drop off and the end. I had taken the far right side the first 2 laps with no problem so I hit the same spot again. I guess with all the traffic the bottom became really soft. I drop off the edge and suddenly I realize that it is a completely vertical drop. When I hit the bottom the front tire sinks in and I feel the bike coming over. I end up face down in the sand and I have a moment of thought. The thought was Oh Crap where did my bike go??? About that time BAM I get hit in the head with the rim that is still spinning. I could feel the spokes so I quickly knocked the bike off my head.
Somehow after knocking the bike off my head I find myself under it. I have one leg free and the other is somehow caught on the shifter. I am kind of in a panic because I can hear bikes coming and I am at the bottom of a blind hill in a very bad position. I start kicking the bike with my free leg but it wont move. I stop and try to figure out what is wrong and I see that my shifter had managed to get caught up in my knee brace. When I push on the bike it pull me and the brace when I pull it does the same thing. I cannot lift the bike case I am sitting on my butt and cannot get any leverage. About that time a bike come flying off the hill and clears me by several feet but then thank goodness a guy stops right at the top of the hill and asks if I am okay. I tell him I am stuck and about that time another guy comes off the hill but he stops also. They both lift the bike up so I can get the shifter out and I get up. One of the guys makes a comment about my pants but I just wanted to get on the bike and go. I thanked them, got on the bike and move out of the way. While trying to catch my breath I look down at my crotch area and I see what he was talking about.
Somehow while squirming around trying the get the bike off the head pipe was sitting in my lap. Luckily It did not burn through my riding shorts. I am sure I felt the heat but the adrenalin must have blocked it out.
Anyway, onto the race.
Worst race race every, I had 0 confidence in the sand and halfway through I wanted to go home and cry to my mother, and that is only because my wife would have called me a Wuss!
Erik beat my butt fair and square and he even tried to give me 3rd place but I wouldn't take it. It was a fun race batteling with him.
I guess I will have to wait a couple of weeks and then head to San Antonio to try and avenge my poor showing. Thank goodness Erik will be riding in the Rockies.
The race reporter did not show up again so here I go.
If you have ever ridden Skull Creek you either hate it or love it. With the land being a sand pit every time you show up to race it is a different course. They have just about ruined the entire property so trying to find 8+ miles for a race course was difficult. If you were not in the sand you were on HARD packed concrete type dirt. There was maybe 1/4 mile of woods and more sandy uphills than you could find at LA Dunes in Claiborne, La.
Saturday practice started out okay I did two really fast laps and then decided to go for a 3rd. I get about a mile from the start and hit an open sandy section that has a 15' drop off and the end. I had taken the far right side the first 2 laps with no problem so I hit the same spot again. I guess with all the traffic the bottom became really soft. I drop off the edge and suddenly I realize that it is a completely vertical drop. When I hit the bottom the front tire sinks in and I feel the bike coming over. I end up face down in the sand and I have a moment of thought. The thought was Oh Crap where did my bike go??? About that time BAM I get hit in the head with the rim that is still spinning. I could feel the spokes so I quickly knocked the bike off my head.
Somehow after knocking the bike off my head I find myself under it. I have one leg free and the other is somehow caught on the shifter. I am kind of in a panic because I can hear bikes coming and I am at the bottom of a blind hill in a very bad position. I start kicking the bike with my free leg but it wont move. I stop and try to figure out what is wrong and I see that my shifter had managed to get caught up in my knee brace. When I push on the bike it pull me and the brace when I pull it does the same thing. I cannot lift the bike case I am sitting on my butt and cannot get any leverage. About that time a bike come flying off the hill and clears me by several feet but then thank goodness a guy stops right at the top of the hill and asks if I am okay. I tell him I am stuck and about that time another guy comes off the hill but he stops also. They both lift the bike up so I can get the shifter out and I get up. One of the guys makes a comment about my pants but I just wanted to get on the bike and go. I thanked them, got on the bike and move out of the way. While trying to catch my breath I look down at my crotch area and I see what he was talking about.
Somehow while squirming around trying the get the bike off the head pipe was sitting in my lap. Luckily It did not burn through my riding shorts. I am sure I felt the heat but the adrenalin must have blocked it out.
Anyway, onto the race.
Worst race race every, I had 0 confidence in the sand and halfway through I wanted to go home and cry to my mother, and that is only because my wife would have called me a Wuss!
Erik beat my butt fair and square and he even tried to give me 3rd place but I wouldn't take it. It was a fun race batteling with him.
I guess I will have to wait a couple of weeks and then head to San Antonio to try and avenge my poor showing. Thank goodness Erik will be riding in the Rockies.