Old Man, New Bike, Big Race
June 5, 2009 at 3:57 pm warren113
Hi Guys
I’m the token old fella on the team, and although I’m like most parents and normally get all the good jobs – you know the ones – working to pay for it, maintaining the bikes, packing the car, towing the trailer and dispensing endless advice from back before disk brakes were invented – I thought it was time to enter a real event. Off went the entry, and Gracie, George and I are all entered and ready to go.
Friday went well, we got away from work on time, packed and on our way. After settling into our cabin at the Greta, it’s off to the pub for a meal and a few games of pool – which George won – and then time for an early night. An early start meant setting up camp in the dark but we are all getting pretty good at setting up the ezy ups so it’s not long before we are all settled in.
Race briefing comes and goes, and then we are lined up for practice. Having been given plenty of good advice that silly old men need – don’t crash, don’t fall off, don’t go too fast – and knowing this is the first race on a new bike that could actually deliver a good result if I knew what I was doing I took practice nice and slow to get warmed up. Better to get through the whole day safely, and just as well when my goggles fogged up. I managed to finish practice safely even if I couldn’t see most of the track for the last lap.
Race 1 and 2 were much the same, take it carefully and enjoy the track. Jumps are good, the step up was fun and even those big ruts were starting to be fun to ride. Just need to catch my breath, with the heart rate at maximum, the lungs burning and the muscles not strong enough it was great to see that chequered flag coming up. Perhaps fitness could be improved a little (ok a lot!)
Race 3 and it’s time to notch it up a bit, the bikes running well and the track is perfect so the only thing slowing me down is that little voice in the head that reminds me that I don’t want to get injured (ok, and perhaps a little work on line selection, fitness and riding skills). So we are lined up at the gate, it drops and off down the straight we go. A great start, not too many bikes in front and a good clean first corner all makes it feel good. Up the hill, round turn 2, off the dropoff with good speed and into the ruts at the bottom. Perhaps a little better line selection might have prevented cross rutting straight after those big braking bumps, because next thing I know I am on the ground after hitting pretty hard – so much for all the advice about not getting hurt!
Thanks Pete for picking up my bike, the ride on the 4 wheeler to the ambo kept me busy. St Johns were great, they managed to get all my gear off without destroying anything and then gave me the good news – a broken collarbone! So all we can do now is get some pain relief and wait for the trip to ChCh hospital. Cathy decided to wait with the kids for their last races, no sense in ruining their big weekend. Thanks Al for being their chaffeur for the day!
So after x rays confirming the break, and that nothing can be done except use a sling it’s back to Greta Valley for the night. Sunday started cold and wet, so we wisely unclipped the transponders and headed home.
Having endured a week of getting a hard time from friends and family – usually with words like silly old fool involved and regular reminders that it is a young mans sport, I am looking forward to being able to ride again in six weeks. In the meantime I will just have to be a proud parent and enjoy watching the kids race.
See you next time!
Warren 113
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: .
