chertsey saturday

[kieran]

well in the name of points chasing to get my 2 points for 3rd cat I went against my better judgment and went to chertsey, to cut a long story short after about 3 laps I was in my first ever road race crash by those traffic cones after the finish line. 2 of us came down. I was the poor innocent sap caught behind the falling rider in front of me who had his front wheel hit by the back wheel of the rider in front of him. So yesterday I spent about 8 hours in Lewisham hospital waiting, getting seen, waiting again etc, eventually got home by 11;30pm.

Main injuries are cut ankle and bad road rash on hip and buttock (never thought I'd be writing about my buttocks in public) and the most serious is a deep cut to the elbow, with, as the doctor described, a chunk missing, so can't be sutured together but left open to heal upwards. Lots of sore muscles as well, neck shoulder, upper thigh.
Main thing is the bike is ok and even managed to cycle back to woking and then to home before stiffening up ( )

Anyway so I'll be missing Palace this week so good luck to Hal in getting your one extra point for 3rd class. I am so peed off as now I may have to continue racing after the holidays to get those 2 points as I don't want to start at bottom again next year .

Oh, the crash is all Sylv's fault as I didn't wear my lucky hot pants, (worn in all my other races)

So my advice is to keep away from chertsey 4th cat races, according to the organiser in his briefing before the race he said there were many entered who had never raced before; the guy who brought me down was a mountain biker in his second ever race (poor guy though I felt sorry for him, he punctured in his first and crashed in his second!).

[Andrew G]

Bad luck Kieran but I'm glad to hear you aren't too badly hurt. I'm certainly not keen to go back to Chertsey (definately a 4th cat race) as I think it's a nutter magnet.

Hope to see you back on the road soon.

P.S. Crash in Italy the medical service is far superior.

[Sylv]

Oh no - really sorry to hear that Kieran. Hope you heal fast.

[Simon C Izoard]

[quote]P.S. Crash in Italy the medical service is far superior.

[Paul H]

unlucky Kieran.

Dont worry about the points - you can get them at Hillingdon over the winter.

[Toks]

Sorry to hear about your crash Kieran. Take your time and get well soon. There's still plenty of races left so don't sweat it

[kieran]

thanks guys, current update, road rash is healing ok, but cut in elbow has become infected so on strong antibiotics and monitoring spread of infection. Updates to follow

[Steve B]

Damn bad luck Kieran!

Hope you heal quickly and get back to racing soon.

Steve

[-Adam-]

unlucky mate...

Its funny, you all say you hate Chertsey, i love it!

Crashes can happen anywhere, get over it!

[Andrew G]

[quote="AJC_Prima Donna Sprinter"]unlucky mate...

Its funny, you all say you hate Chertsey, i love it!

Crashes can happen anywhere, get over it!

[kieran]

Adam, that's cause you're:

a) a sprinter

b) NOT 4th cat


crashes can indeed happen anywhere but all crashes have a cause, and a 4th cat race at Chertsey has all the right ingredients for these causes to come together more so than at CP and Hillingdon (where the track is a constant width with grass verges).

[George]

Chertsey seems to be jinxed for us Agreeables,

I'm gonna give it a wide berth

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]you all say you hate Chertsey, i love it!

[kieran]

anyway, as promised, if anyone still interested , well the increased anti-bs weren't up to the job so I went back to A&E in Lewisham, and ended up spending 2 days in the RATU (Rapid assessment and treatment Unit - sounds cool!) on IV anti-bs, felt like a true pro with a drip going into my arm (but not EPO or my twins blood) Got out Wednesday evening and rash and ankle mending ok, just elbow causing problems still so I won't be back on the racing bike till back from holidays (3 weeks in the Juras), so a nice 5 week break in total in training/racing to taper for the late season

Oh, should I replace my helmet? no visible marks from crash and I didn't hurt my head? or am I just being cheap? (as I have to get new shorts as well, anyone tried Louis Garneau stuff?) the good old ACC top didn't get any damage at all.

[Stu Merckx Man]

bad luck kieren, i did wonder where you were at palace. hope your elbow recovers ok.

i still like chertsey, but it does seem to have more crashes than other places. i recon because its so wide and a non technical course people probably feel like they have the room to switch about, move about, relax their attention which causes wheels to touch, collisions etc etc.

i recon the reason palace has less crashes is because it seams to have a reputation for being real techincal, and hard, even in the 3,4s. this probably attracts less first time racers. also because its narrow, fast and techincal, riders are usually only 2-3 riders across which seams to be safer. if someone on the side of you makes a sudden, dangerous move you have plenty of room to get out the way or change your line. at chertsey i often fnd myself in the middle of the pack with 4 or even 5 riders either side of me. then say if somone on the outside makes a mistake or a sudden movement the chain reaction of movement seams to multiply with the more riders correcting themselves, then it leads to kissing wheels and crashes...i think...(tell me if im talking rubbish people)

so hope you get better soon kieran.

and i recon chertsey has it in for addiscombe too

stu