also there were 8 other english guys who went out with john barklay, we went out with Ian whitehead.
the race was about 48 miles, round a 3 mile loop of part of a town, and a bit into the countryside.
the pace was really fast with the likes of eric rowsell and andrew fenn ripping it up at the front. i got pushed to the back pretty quickly. i knew this was just making it harder for myself so i made my way up nearer the top 20 places and settled into a nice, but fast rhythm. this carried on for about 5 laps or so before disaster struck!
we were approaching one of the many tight corners when the guy in front of my touched wheels with someone in front of him or something, and slammed on his brakes. i then kissed his wheels and slammed on my brakes which sent my back wheel up. i was about to go over the bars so i let go of the brakes, but this meant kissing his wheel again, as i fell i was a bit anxious, but i know from much experience what to expect, so i just went with it and tried to relax, if thats possible!. im not sure quite how i fell, but i ended up doing a series of backward roles, which i think must have stopped my getting any serious road burn. 2 people also came down with me, one of them rolling over my bum, giving me skid marks
. when i stopped rolling i landed with my feet over my head, and with someone elses bike on me. i lay there for a bit waiting for the pain to strike somewhere on my body. my knee was the only thing hurting, and it was reasonably badly cut. i got taken in to the ambulance and got it cleaned up and bandaged, and put some ice on it to stop it swelling. i wasn't too badly hurt, and think i got off pretty lightly considering. the other 2 riders seemed ok. one of them got up and carried on racing, the other, who's bike was tangled on my had some road burn, but nothing too bad.the bike was ok, handle bars bent round, the back wheel slightly out of true, and a puncture. in the end andrew fenn won the race, i think its his 3rd win in a row in belgium!
injury porn to come soon!
i will write up the other report a bit later, it was far more successful!
