Well, here I sit, the day following the final stage of the 2008 BC Bike Race, and I'm still trying to come to terms with all that transpired in the last week. The short version is to follow right now, with a daily breakdown coming in time...which is exactly what I'll be taking right now, time.
Time to heal, time to deal, time to appreciate, time to relax, and time to find that fire again. It's been a tough season so far.
Here is my best, in hindsight, explanation of what lead to the premature ending of my BC Bike Race experience.
-My broken finger lead to an inability to properly grasp my right hand grip
-This in turn lead to an intense blister right in the palm of my hand
-This forced me into an altered handling position to try and alleviate the pain
-This was one contributing factor to my fall from my bike into a pile of rocks
-The fall lead to a hematoma of my hip and a strained abdominal muscle.
This all happened on day two, with just 3km to go in the stage. We were just over 200km into the event, with an additional 350 to go.
(This pic has been taken one full week after the initial fall)I managed to make it to day five before officially calling it a race. The abdominal pains kept me up at night and would bring me to tears on numerous occasions. To cough or sneeze meant I had to completely compress the entire right side of my body, as it felt as though my lower right abdominal muscles would erupt from within me otherwise.
(This pic was actually taken just a few hundred meters after my aforementioned bike crash)I can certainly take away a ton of positive experiences from this event, but for now, I just need to clear my head of any and all racing/training thoughts, ambitions and goals. I just need a bit of time to mentally relax and to physically recover. I feel completely destroyed on so many levels right now.
Todd should be posting blog reports in the coming days as well.
Thanks so much to everyone who made this race possible for us, Bryan Tasaka - Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing, Marc Campbell - Helly Hansen, and Dean Payne - BC Bike Race. You guys all rock, and the race was a phenomenal experience, even with the issues I faced and the fact that I did not finish the entire course...357 days and counting...
GR
17 comments:
You're doing a great job Gary! You're doing what you always wanted to do. Don't be so hard on yourself.
hey gary! it hurt then, it still hurts, it will hurt for more time to come. however in time to come, you know you would recover a stronger racer. keep that in mind. you did great while it lasted. take a well deserved time-out for now. cheers!
Hey Gary- everybody wipes out sometimes! You have always had the "go big or go home" philosophy so it only makes sense that if you crashed you would have crashed well... Well done Gary- keep smiling...
Erika
You have an amazing ability to endure and this is just a small example. You gave it a go when pretty much anyone else would not even have started!
i have two words for you man ... training wheels ... :P wait .. make that four ... bubble wrap :))
i'll tell u what. every time you fall off your bike in future i'll give you a smack upside the head. you won't fall off too often .. guaranteed :P
seriously, you can't write off a year over two races. what about chuckanut, miwok, momar and that tiddlywinks game you won..?!!
grab a coffee and a donut on saturday and hang out while tom and all those other boobs wheeze through kneeknacker :P
dc
Dude, I know how you feel. During the 2005 Transrockies my knee was in such pain that I made the cry face on the bike...you know what i am talking about! The one where you are wanting to cry yet no tears are coming since you sweated it all out but it only last for a brief moment before your brain comes to terms.
You'll be back full on next time...it was still a great experience I bet!
Thanks for all the comments guys...well except Duncan, as always!
Seriously though I greatly appreciate the words of wisdom and support. I'm recovering better than I had thought and will hopefully be 100% in the very near future.
Right now I'm just looking forward to some hiking time and maybe a run by weeks end.
GR
Hey Gary,
It sounded like you pushed on when most of us would have thrown in the towel... as well look at it this way during Raid the North you saved Todd and now he has returned the favour... tough go but there will be another time... we were all cheering you on in Stratford, ON
A couple of beers and some time off will heal a lot of wounds. Way to give it your all.
Hey Gary,
While you are relaxing just remember that you have inspired a lot of people and everyone is cheering for you. Reading about your struggles remind me that perseverance is the key to success. Keep pushing, keep smiling and see you in Shawnigan for the MOMAR.
Devon
This is cumulatively more people than I thought even knew my blog existed!
Thanks everyone! It has taken race experiences like this in the past to force me to train harder and to try and get better. I loved my BCBR experience, but it also exposed my weakness in mtn bike specific races. A wake up call that I can't wait to work on for future events.
It's too damn nice to be inside sitting on my butt...I'm off to go play outside!
GR
G, rest up buddy! If anything is going to pay off huge it's taking all the time you need to heal and to recover properly. Have fun outside, but take it easy (easier than you think!), looking forward to seeing your smiling face at the next MOMAR. :) kmag.
What you need is a nice running vacation in Banff!!
G - when it rains, smile and get wet. You inspire me everytime you race... and kick ass. Thanks, man.
oh yeah, you complete me.
TC
Queasy! That describes my stomach while looking at your hand and hip. And a bit giggly--the fact that you started the race all banged up makes me laugh: hardcore dude! Sorry about you hip.
Kristin, Deanna, Leslie, thank you!
Tom...you had me at 'When it rains'
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