Look closely you can see a hole in my left knee......
I was rider down at this past Saturday's Cyclocross race. It was a super muddy course after 3 days of constant rain. Right at the start I felt pretty bad, my legs felt like they had no power and I knew it was going to be a long day in the saddle. Then I crashed over the boards and landed right on my knee into the rocky ground. I got up and kept going as it was so muddy I could not see the damage to my leg. It seemed like just some small cuts from the rocks and there was only a little blood streaming down my leg. About five minutes later I was going full speed on the fastest part of the course and got wrapped into the course tape on my drop bars, which shot me straight into a plastic pole that marks the lane. This then sent me flying through the air as my bars locked into the pole and I was ejected over the front of the bike at about 20 miles a hour. Amazingly all of my impact on the crash landing came directly down on the same knee I had previously just grinded hard about 5 minutes before. This time I knew I was in trouble. I was going so fast and hit so hard I had a feeling there was no way my knee could not be ripped to shreds. It was so muddy I could not see the damage right away, but blood was now pouring down my leg. I finished the race soft pedaling for 3 laps and limped to the nearest hose to wash off my leg and see if it was bad or if it was super bad. I knew it was one or the other, Bad or Super Bad. Sure enough, Super Bad! I put a huge hole in my knee and it was deep and needed stitches for sure. I always know the level of the injury is bad when the medic who sees it first is amazed by how deep and brutal the wound is. If you shock the medic folks you know the level of injury is Super Bad. Now I am working on a comeback after my knee has been patched up. I am in a lot of pain and it is really frustrating to be hurt again after just feeling better after my ribs have healed from being broken 6 weeks ago. I will make a quick come back to riding and racing I am positive. I will be better, faster, stronger!
