Well it has been over 2 weeks since this race now so I will keep it short and sharp. Derek and I rode together the whole time in this well run event. It is amazing how well matched we are on a road bike. The weather was perfect for this type of riding, a little windy at times especially on the decent from Onyx Summit.
After some issues with Derek's bike on the unkept 'Jack Rabbit' road (more like an easy MTB track) we were making good time. We climbed up the Oak Glen road pretty dam fast and well we were feeling pretty good aye. On the 2nd main turn into the downhill I was following another punter after Derek had passed him before the turn. It was a big sweeping left-hander and is a tricky one. Anyhow this fellow whom I was probably just a few meters behind started to hit the brakes on the turn itself and was drifting further and further to the outside of the turn. It’s a deceiving corner, one of those that gets steeper and sharper the further into the corner you get. Anyhow he drifted into gravel and instantly slammed into the ground at about 25mph (38 kmph).
He was yelling and sliding right in front of me, I was in panic mode, my back wheel was locked up and I was doing a sideways skid at some stupid speed on tarmac on tiny road tires trying to not end up ontop of him (my tire wore down to the weaving in one spot). Somehow with the wheel all locked I managed to clear his head by I swear no more than a couple of feet. It was a scary, real scary moment, I'm not sure how I managed to turn inside him at that speed but it happened so fast. Being use to a bike feeling that way (from all my Mountain Biking) had to have helped. Anyway as I was passing him and trying not to crash myself he was stopped by slamming into a metal road sign. It was a horrible noise. I managed to stop in the gutter without any damage to me or the bike. I was in shock somewhat and yelled out to Derek who came back up the road. It was the most horrific crash I had seen in person, except maybe a few DH crashes.
We reached the guy who was already on his cell-phone calling his wife for a pickup. He was a mess. Blood all down one side of his body and his face was real messed up with a massive cut under his chin. He was in shock. Anyway after we sorted him the best we could we got down to the checkpoint and informed them of the crash though others who had ridden past told them of the mess and that two guys had stopped to help him (us). I have no idea about what happened to the guy but I hope all is well and that he makes a good recovery. Geez if that happened to me I think that would be the end of road biking for me. When you do crash by god it can be bad. Lots worse than most MTB crashes.
The rest of the race was uneventful thank god. At the bottom of the Oak Glen downhill it was all on. A 30 mile uphill. About an 1800m climb with a few rolling sections but mainly downhill. Anyhow we went about our business and felt pretty good. 5hr 29mins after we left Redlands (the start) we arrived at the top. This was to our surprise good for 22nd place out of 511 starters. We were well happy with this and had Derek’s bike been fine and had the guy not crashed we would have have been at least 10 mins faster and 8-10 extra places up the ladder. It’s fair to say it was a very satisfying ride that’s for sure. We were pinned most of the time but no more than the last 500ft of elevation when another guy was trying to burn us off. In the end we had him and pulled away from him to be greeted by the Grim Reaper at the 8500ft high Onyx Summit.
All up we rode 114 miles (183km) and climbed 11500ft (3500m). Quite the day out and surprisingly for me as I did it without cramps and felt pretty good in the following days.
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