We came back from Midnight Madness at 5 am, then up and in the car at 7 am to watch my friend Joe race at the Brentwood Grand Prix. I was pretty excited because I had never been to a race before, Dave was less excited – something about sleep I think.

The Brentwood Grand Prix was held on San Vincente blvd. which made a perfect 2.2 mile loop for them. It was a little lower then where I usually do my Thursday night rides (omg, those false flats!) but in a good spot not just for the race but to watch the riders warm up on the hill and back.

Joe had asked us to attend so that we could take pictures. This _seemed_ like an easy request but turned out to be much harder than we thought. His race (cat 3 mens, 33+) was at a much faster clip then the others we saw before and after. There was no coasting round the turn and they were shoulder to shoulder thru much of it. During the entire hour race (one frickin’ hour at top speeds!), we were only able to see him once and missed him in the camera frame.

There were 125 cyclists in this race, that sat at 30+ mph through most of it. During the final lap, speeds increased … Joe was at 38.6 when the cyclist in front of him clipped his wheel while looking for a hole in the group. Joe went endo, 30 riders went down and we celebrated by spending the day at the E.R.. Seems a broken clavicle was the trophy.

For the gear heads in the group, the bike that took a major owie is a Red Trek Madone 5.5. It is recovering nicely from what I hear.

Please note, this is a public service announcement for all those that feel cycling with their cell phone is, in fact, a wise thing to do.

Friday, I knew I did not have a lot of time to ride so I thought I would make the most of it by doing laps on San VIncente (false flats – work those muscles!) in a higher gear, head over to Helen’s to pick up a few things that I had been meaning to and then take the flats at double speed. I felt very productive and just a little smug. As I was coasting and mulling over my plan for the days ride, some guy passes me without calling out and actually looks over his shoulder at me, as he swings one leg over the saddle and starts doing circus tricks. Honestly, that woke me up and I realized that I was not doing what I was out to do. I buckled down to get back to work and started to peddle, passing clown boy and then forgetting all about him.

A few miles up the road, I dismount, make a call to Dave, “Hey Birthday Boy, want to meet me for lunch?” (btw, when its your husband’s b-day he still pays). I get back on the bike, scoot over to the left turn lane when I hear coming up behind me “Yeah, I’m out on the bike in Santa Monica” then THUD! as he slams into the back of the car that was waiting at the light for the turn

There are a few things that you should know:
1) He never missed a beat and continued on his phone call while rubbing his injured parts.
2) The drivers wanted to know what happened but since the cyclist didn’t think it was important to hang up, I felt that maybe he owed them more of an explanation than I did
3) And this should not be surprising.. he did not have a helmet
4) Its a day later and I still can not figure out how you can miss a large white car, or why he was in the middle of the lane instead of off to the right.

Rachael made her goal of getting to the Honolulu Century. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to the first SAG before fate stepped in.

The Century had 4,000 riders, with 2,000 from Japan. Rachael spent the last half hour before boarding the plane with her team trying to give them an impromptu lesson in Japanese road calls. Perhaps they weren’t aware that they should be calling “look out Rachael!”.

I still don’t have the details but at 16 miles from the start our girl went boom, then endo, then slide! In the midst of it all, there was a moment as she was sliding and thinking “I hate this part”. Note from mom, I’m not too keen on it either.

We were fortunate that this was not the first cycling accident in history. The SAG was staffed with paramedics and she has had follow up medical care which included today’s X-rays for the hairline fracture on her face. What mother doesn’t love to hear “Mom, the helmet saved my life”?

She’s a little stiff and has her arm in a sling. She’ll be getting off the plane and at the house in just a bit and I am waiting by the phone to let her know that i’ve signed us up for a 28 mile pancake ride for this weekend. Think she’ll be up for it?