Post a Comment On: Transplant Athlete

Just a quick note to let everyone know what happened. I was on Rte 89 North of Flagstaff enjoying a tail wind and a wide smooth shoulder on a long straight road. I was in serious danger of being pulled from the official race due to a slow speed (more about that later), so I was exceeding 30mph and on a slight decline when I came upon the border of the Navajo Indian Reservation. The wide smooth shoulder I had been using disappeared into a small shoulder with rumble strips down the middle. I popped out of the aero bars and onto the brakes, but was unable to slow myself or turn before I hit the gravel part of the shoulder. I've managed to keep the bike upright in several training rides in similar situations, but my speed was to high and the gravel shoulder sloped into ditch. The skid mark was surprisingly long and that was my impression (at the time) that I was doing well to keep the bike upright, but gravity took over, I descended into the ditch and much rougher terrain. My front Zipp 202 dug into a bush, collapsed, and I vaulted over the handlebars. I hit my head as I tumbled down the road. and eventually came to rest on my back, tangled up in the bike. After meeting up with my RV and crew chiefs (plural), they decided to take me back to Flagstaff for X-rays and medical evaluation where it was determined that I had broken a rib. It was a difficult personal decision to DNF.