I feel like I’ve been hit my a truck…

… and sadly, it’s because I was. Also perhaps sadly (though I’m not sure) I was on the bicycle, not on a motorcycle. Regardless — WEAR YOUR HELMET. BIKE, BICYCLE — WEAR A HELMET. It saved my life and my brain, even if the lack of a full face on a bicycle was a challenge.

On 29th Nov, I was cycling on Tramway here in Albuquerque. I remember gearing up, leaving (wearing brand new gear) and riding — after sunset, so lights and all. On my way back, at Lomas and Tramway, a driver in a ‘white SUV’ (according to witnesses) made a left-turn into me while I had right of way (not that that counts). We collided at an unknown speed, and I came off significantly worse. In fact, I am lucky to be alive by all accounts. The driver fled the scene.

After the jump, details.  TL;DR — I have an incredible partner in Heather, an amazing family, and huge support from my friends. I am incredibly grateful to all of them and while I have significant injuries and damage to my face, throat, pelvis, hip, and knee the recovery should be full if long and not too much fun.

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SMRI Round 7 – October 2017

First — the summary

Race Fastest Lap Position Difference
Amateur Middleweight Superbike 1:04.76 7th 1 lap
Amateur Thunderbike 1:03.796 5th 1 lap
Novice Middleweight Superbike 1:01.838 9th 1 lap
Novice Superstreet Heat 1 1:01.411 1st N/A
Novice Superstreet Heat 2 1:01.394 1st N/A

 

Missing May and June basically really meant I wasn’t running for any Championships (even if I was a bit faster) but I came close in Thunderbike; 3 points behind OCD Cycles Marc Beyer, though with rather more races for me…

Race details after the jump

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Round 6

Round 6 was held 17th September. I had got back from Italy and the Misano MotoGP race on Tuesday, so work had been crazy — so much so that I had absolutely no idea on Saturday what races I was doing on Sunday. Talk about some excellent preparation and planning — I hadn’t even looked at the bike since the last race weekend.

The race day started off with rain — heavy rain overnight had washed the track, then rain during the riders meeting, Sandia Speedway is very abrasive, and as a desert racing group we don’t run wets nor in the rain, so that pushed the day back. The track dried faster than the pits, but there were a few nervous racers out there (me included). It turned out I’d signed up for 6 classes (5 races) in my effort to get more seat time and more experience — with the cooler weather, pushing on more seemed more achievable, at least until the actual day. In theory, I also didn’t have back to back races but the rain threw a spanner in that planning; as they combined classes, my plan ended up being a litttle less viable.

In practice, I was running way off my own pace. Fastest lap was a high 1:05, which is 3 seconds slow. Wasn’t boding well! Racing … ah, racing is different!

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