Race Weekend

Tomorrow marks the start of the two day Syracuse Race Weekend. There's a road race on Saturday morning featuring a relatively long climb on Oak Hill which my 3/4 field will do twice. The street sprint drag races are downtown Saturday evening, a fun and non-taxing event. Sunday is crit in the park day. It'll be a tiring weekend, if not from the actual racing, then from volunteering when not on the bike. The Monday parades and picnics will be a welcome day of relaxation. I'm not looking for any personal high finishes, but several team members have the gas to do pretty well. I'll probably be OTB in the road race after the first lap, do fairly well in the drag races, then be a moderately good team worker in the crit.

Last year, about five flat miles into the road race on Saturday, sitting in the middle of the pack of about 60 guys, I hit a big pothole square on. I quickly realized something wasn't right. The aluminum around the top of the two bolts in the face of my stem had snapped. The bottom bolt had bent, leaving the face plate wide open and my handlebars flopping around, sitting loosely on top of the bent face plate.

My first thought was about the best way to do a shoulder roll onto the pavement without breaking any bones, and then how to curl up tightly in a ball as the remainder of the pack crashed over me. Then a little voice in my head said, "Maybe you don't have to crash."

I grabbed what was left of my stem with my left hand to get a little steering control, and then started feathering the rear brake while keeping the bars from falling into my front wheel with my right. Riders around me yelled, "Hey, hold your line!" as I wobbled a bit. "MY STEM BROKE! I CAN'T STEER! GET AWAY FROM ME!" came my rather urgent reply.

I did my best to keep it straight while slowing, then when everyone had passed, I picked a section of ditch that seemed grassier and softer than the rest and headed for it. I hit the rear brake and stepped out with my left foot. It took a few hops on the foot, but I finally stopped, upright and with skin and bones intact. My race was over, but I hadn't gone down. Not too bad, considering how bad it could have been.

With that in mind, I have a nice new stem, I checked to make sure the pothole had been filled in, and I'm all set to race. It should be fun.

See you on the hill!