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Bump in the Road
This past Saturday I rode in the eastern foothills of San Jose with a couple other local athletes. We had two main climbs scheduled for the day: Sierra Road and Route 130, which takes you to the top of Mount Hamilton. Sierra Road is a tough climb, averaging 10% gradient and is always on display for the San Jose section of the Tour of California. Mount Hamilton has a much more shallow gradient, but is just over 18 miles long.Sierra Road was a grinder for me. The grade kicks up in some areas, so I never felt that I found a solid rhythm. Thankfully, it's not terribly long. Mount Hamilton on the other hand, despite being long, was much easier to establish a rhythm on. Unfortunately, the weather atop the mountain was not good - rainy, cold, and very poor visibility - so we turned back a bit earlier than we had planned. Wanting to squeeze a few more miles in, another athlete and I decided to climb Quimby Road, descend to the bottom, and come back up and over before continuing down Route 130. I only made it a quarter of the way to the bottom.The roads weren't perfect by any means, but they weren't abysmal either. Shortly after the road hit its steepest decline, I rode through a depression in the road and got catapulted over my bars. I was on my tri bike, so my body position was forward anyways, likely making matters worse. As with any accident, it happened so fast. I know I took the brunt of the fall on my lower back/butt and that's about it. I remained motionless on the ground fearing that I might have really hurt myself. Fortunately, the very next rider to pass by happened to be an ER doctor. He took a quick look at me and asked me where my pains were coming from and how I felt overall. Based on what I told him, he felt that I would be fine, but very sore over the next couple of days. He was right.My coach came and picked me up since I was in no condition to ride home. We talked about the crash and think that I got off easy with this one. Sure I'm sore, but I can still move around, albeit gingerly. I even got out yesterday for my long run! Once I got warm, I was able to actually "run." I never pushed myself, but managed 12 miles for the day.As of now, I have road rash on my lower back/butt, hip, left shoulder, and soreness just about everywhere. Sitting and sleeping, two of my favorite activities, are up there in the uncomfortable ranking. It's hard to find a position that doesn't bother me and/or keep me awake at night. Oh well, it's only temporary.This weekend is the Reservoir Triathlon in Morgan Hill. I'm not sure whether or not I'll be racing - it's a day-to-day thing. However, I have no doubts that I'll be recovered and ready to put in a great performance at St. Croix. This incident is just a little bump in the road.
Oregon, United States
Triathlon, Athletes/Active Lifestyle
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