What a weekend

First I wanted to followup on Thursay nights race. I ended up taking 2nd in my class and I was pretty happy about that and was therefore feeling pretty good going into the 12 hr race on saturday even though I had not been on my bike as much as I would have liked prior to my first endurance event on a SS.

DEA and I headed down to the race at 7AM and arrived at 9. The race is set at the Pats Peak Ski Area in Henniker, NH. The set up was nice for the size of the event. Besides the 6, 12 & 24 hr races, there was also a DH race and an XC race set for the weekend.


We hung out until the riders meeting then proceeded to get suited up for the start. At noon the horn blew and we were off. The race starter with a Le Mans start/sprint across a lawn to our bikes. Our sprint was more of a walk with purpose. We figured we'd let the guys who were all full of it get out in front. Neither of us had pre-ridden the course so all we had to go by was a topo map. That only tells you so much though.

We started out on a gravel road that led to a trail around a snowmaking pond. This turned out to be the only flat part of the course. We then ducked into the woods for some singletrack and began to climb. Over the next mile and a half we zig zaged across the ski trails as we climbed the mountain. You then descend a bit and start another climb to the highest point on the course. A good chunk of the climb is up a ski trail and then when we thought we were done it headed back into the weeds for some more climbing on some "fresh" singletrack. It was loamy and soft and I wondered how it was going to hold up as the race went on. We then began to descend and it was some technical twisty "fresh" singletrack. After a bit we came out on a washed out access road that took us to the bottom of the ski area and back to the start/finish area. We completed the first lap in about 40 minutes which was pretty good considering the amount of waiting we did as riders stacked up in certain sections of the course.



DEA and I atrarted the race out running a 32X20 gear but decided after the first lap to head to the pits and swap out the 20 tooth cog for 22's just to make the climbing a bit easier. Basically if you are not going up you were going down faster than you could peddle so the gearing was for the ups and not the downs.

After the pit stop we were back on course. The pit stop actually worked out nice as we were now spaced nicely from the rest of the other racers and had pretty clear sailing. At about 1/3 of the way through the second lap we had just finished the first of the two long climbs and strated to descend a ski trail known as " lovers Lane". DEA was in front of me and after only about 50 yards of descending something went terribly wrong. In an instant I was over the bars. I have no idea what caused it but the bike stopped and I didn't. I was doing my superman impression, but have not mastered the landings so good. I hit the groung hard. Really hard. My left shoulder blew up as did my left elbow. I knew the pain all too well. DEA hiked back up to me and another friend we were riding with went for help. I was feeling pretty bad, dizzy and thirsty. I found some snowmaking equipment to sit on as I did a damage assessment. Since I have dislocated both my elbows in the past Iknew that my left elbow was out. I was able to get it reduced and back in place. My shoulder has also had some history but this felt a bit diffeent than previous dislocations and fractures.

There was some tape along side the trail used to mark race courses and DEA fashioned up a nice sling. I was starting to not feel as dizzy but decided walking dwn the mountain was not a good idea. At that time a John Deed 4-wheeler cart came up with two first aid folks. I got a ride down in the cart to first aid, my race was over. DEA continued on to meet me at the bottom. I got to first aid and got checked out. After getting inspected it looked like I had an AC joint seperation. Basically the end of the clavical or collarbone had pulled away from the shoulder joint and was sticking up causing a deformity or a nice lump.

I was given a new sling and an ice-pack. DEA had not arrived yet so I walked over to the main base lodge where we had set up all our stuff and grabbed a seat. A few minutes later DEA came in suprised I was not still in first aid. He was ready to head home. I told him no way. I wasn't going to be an excuse for him to end his day early. I think he was half disappointed as I think he was already mentally thinking we were going home then.




I told him to get back on his bike and I would hang out and see how it went. DEA took two more laps to make a total of 4 which made him official and we called it a day. We packed up our gear and got in the van and headed home.

What a shitty day. We got home about 7PM, a little over half way through the race and ate some chinese food. I was feeling a bit depressed as we are now in the heat of the race season and had been feeling pretty good so far this year. I spent the rest of the evening watching the day's stage of the Tour while munching ibuprofin.




This morning I talked with my orthopedic surgeon and sent him some pictures of my shoulder. He said it looks like a classic AC joint seperation, probably a grade III. Looks like I have some more time off the bike and another visit to rehab. That is getting old. The 24Hrs of Great Glen is 4 weeks away and I have already paid the entry fee. My hope is to be back for that race, Not sure yet how realistic that hope is as my shoulder and elbow hurt like a SOB right now. Hopefully I can get on a bike and at least peddle some in a week or so to not completely get fat. Don't really want to spend the rest of the summer riding the spinning bike in the basement.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 1:33:52 15:19 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:02:11 10:09 pace
Distance (mi ) 6.13
Moving Speed (mph) 5.9 avg. 17.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,414 / -1,149

Avg. Heart Rate 153 bpm Zone 4.1

Temperature (°F) 75.8°F avg. 78.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph) SSW 6.9 avg. SSW 9.2 max.


Thats it for now.

JJ