I thought for a long time whether to do a write up after a disappointing crashing out of Race across the East. So, here are my thoughts.
Crashing is unfortunately a part of cycling, it’s just a fact. But when you love it, even the crashes cannot keep you away from doing what you love. Ask my mom, who has offered me a blank check to stop cycling after one of my bad crashes in the early 1990s. And here I am still racing 30+ years later. Cycling is for me the most beautiful sport in the World and I have a privilege as a coach to show the beauty of it to people who share the same passion with me. So just naturally you can expect me back in the trenches after the wounds heal up.
Ultra-cycling unfortunately is a sport of the highest highs and the lowest lows of any sport you can think of. At RAE it was merely minutes from feeling on top of the World after changing from salty & smelly jersey/shorts to fresh ones, to turning into a turn full of gravel and a moment later spitting blood and checking the rest of my body how badly hurt I was. As a few bruises were way too deep to continue, we had to decide for going to ER and 10 stitches were needed to patch me up.
I am feeling bad for my crew who did an excellent job as usually, for my sponsors who are expecting the best from me and somewhat for myself too, as lot of hard work has been put into this inaugural RAE. We were on a way to achieve the time I set out to do (36h) and that would mean being at least very close to the first place. I guess that’s a definition of an unfinished business, right?