One year anniversary of the crash

Yup, just another bandwagon jumping fool.

I think I'll start retroactive posts as soon as I figure out how far back I want to go and how much of my paper journal I want to transcribe. In the meantime let me show you what could happen...

My current title photo (above) was taken by a teammate, Mike Smock, a year ago this weekend -- 2nd Early Bird Crit in Fremont. I took off to join/form a breakaway then decided I was feeling real strong and would take over and pound it hard, big mistake. It was way too early, I was overconfident and got in way over my head.

Yeah, I was a real rookie, first year cyclist, I had only been riding for 9 months. I began riding a bike because of a rock climbing injury. Hurt my knee/ankle and Dr. put me on an indoor bike for part of my rehab. That was too boring so I bought a relatively inexpensive bike and I started commuting to work. A few of weeks after I bought the bike I did the Davis Double Century, had such a blast I ended up doing several other doubles. I took a cycling clinic and got recruited into a racing team.

OK, fast forward back to the Eary Birds, I broke off for about a lap then got caught in a crash, still don't know what happened. One minute I was in the lead feeling in "total control", setting up to sprint for a prime then next thing I know I'm waking up getting shots of morphine, getting loaded into a gurney and someone asking me "Who is the president?" I spent the following 2 days in ICU. A concussion, multiple fractures including clavicle, sternum, scapula, ribs and bruised/punctured lungs put me out of commission for awhile, a long while.

Getting back on the bike was a huge exercise in anxiety management. I suppose I could have stop racing or even stop riding and get back to rock climbing. My legs were healed though my upper body was then a mess. Anyway it was too late, cycling bug had bitten me hard.

This season I will pay closer attention to fundamentals of safer riding and racing, try to be more aware of what other riders are doing around me, try to avoid those who appear unsteady and try not to exert to the point of losing bike handling ability.

My old team, TeamCS, ended up making a recruiting image of that photo, pretty serious and heavy with the Boyd quote :-). I crashed minutes after it was taken.


My teammates were awesome. They picked up and packed all my gear, called my family, and visited me at the hospital later that day. Incredibly supportive group of guys. Well coached by team founder, Alan Atha, a Level 1 USA cycling coach with loads of experience. Unfortunately the team is based in a different city a couple of hours away which made it increasingly tough to make team rides and get togethers. This year, 2008, I've decided to stay closer to home and ride for my local club, The Davis Bike Club Masters.

Photo and poster: Michael Smock