NORBA National Championships/NORBA NCS #5

Race: NORBA National Championships
Place: Mt. Snow, VT
Date: 8-17-2002

The race course for amateurs was a 6.6 mile loop that went straight up the mountain and straight back down. The start/finish area was adjacent to the expo area and the main ski area. After a small flat section off of the starting line, the course began the ascent up a dirt road. It then turned for a short, technical section through the woods before going downhill and crossing back by the expo area. Another dirt road hill awaited riders after they passed by the feedzone. The trail then sharply turned right to begin a long, technical uphill. Numerous roots and rocks littered the trail, providing a challenge at each turn of the pedals. The most interesting question on this portion of the trail was a left hand turn to a right hand turn over a boulder, over a bridge, and then through a rock garden. Many riders chose to walk it. The climb then steepened and continued through the woods for a short time before going back out onto a dirt road. The course went by small pond as it continued to climb up the ski mountain. A short technical section broke up 2 dirt sections; the baby head sized rocks caused more than one flat. After another short climb up doubletrack and a total of nearly 3.5 miles of climbing, the course turned down the mountain. After turning left into the woods, riders were hit with one technical section after another containing waterbars, huge roots, big rocks, and some big air. At about mile 4.5 brief respite was offered by a short climb up a service road before the trail dipped back into the woods. Riders were again greeted with technical treats. The last technical section contained several huge rocks with a hairpin turn. Many of the men went down there. The last 3/4 of a mile was fast, open, relatively flat doubletrack back to the finish line. The singletrack was very slick because of heavy rains Friday evening. Most of the doubletrack had packed down from its dusty state earlier in the week.

I lined up with about 25 other Sport Women of different age groups. Behind us were the Juniors. The announcer said that we would be given a 2 minute head start on them. Two minutes would turn into about 30 seconds. With the starter's gun, we were off. I was in the first row on the starting line and had a good position. Unlike last year, no one fell on me as we took off. I was fourth as we started the first doubletrack climb. I knew that a breathing attack would come, as it always does on a climbing start. About 3/4 of the way up the hill, I was forced off of the bike as my lungs seized up. Several other women were also walking this very steep section. Just as we reached the top, the first of the Juniors caught us. We were bumped around by them as we tried to remount. The Juniors were not very good at passing. which was a future forecast. I remounted and picked my way through the wet rocks and roots. I was forced to dab once as traffic in front of me came to a standstill. I quickly passed 2 women and a junior who were walking. The next thing I knew, my bike bucked me off, and I was flying over the handlebars. I landed semi-on my feet, grabbed my bike, and got back on. I flew into the open doubletrack that dipped down to the starting line. I felt a bump on my rear wheel. The next thing I knew, someone was trying to pass between a me and the fence marking the course, an opening no wider than a foot. I do not remember much of what happened next. I must have been launched off of my bike as the Junior caught my rear wheel. I recall someone pulling me and my bike off of the course and yelling "Rider Down! We need the medics!" I stared at my bike and saw the rear wheel was not in good shape. I laid down and tried to feel all of my body part. Arms and hands, check. Head and neck, owww. Back, check. Right leg, fine. Left leg--"Hello? Left leg? Are you there?" I could not feel anything below my left knee. I propped myself up and saw that my entire left leg below the knee was nearly as round as a basketball. Time to cry. I was not going to finish this race; my national finals were over. This was something I'd worked for all year, and it was not going to happen. I cried. One of the spectators put her hand on my arm and said that things were going to be ok. Fine I might be, but my race was over, which was devastating to me. The EMT's had arrived by that point and tried to get me to feel something in my left leg. I couldn't feel any of the places they were touching. "My poor broken bike! My race was over! I was not going to finish!" were the only thoughts going through my head until an EMT said that they thought I might have broken my left leg. That snapped me back into reality. My leg was still swelling. A big truck then arrived to take me off of the course. The EMT's put a splint around my left leg, put me on a stretcher, and placed me in the back of my truck. They also put my bike in. We bounced up a service road and then back down the hill. We waited several minutes at one of the course crossings because there were so many riders coming. Finally, they were able to drive through and get me to the medical center. About 10 minutes had passed since the accident. I started to feel the stinging of the trail rash on my leg. The EMT's slipped me off of the stretcher onto a "table" in the medical center. They took the splint off of my leg, which was the same size as it was along side the trail. They put ice on it and took a look at my cuts. In a few minutes, the ice started to work. The swelling began to subside. They no longer thought my leg was broken as feeling returned to my foot and to most of my leg. I looked down and wanted to cry again. I knew that I'd be off of the bike for at least a few days. They had me try to stand up, but I could not put much weight on my left leg. After about 30 minutes of paperwork and icing my leg, they released me with the option to go to the hospital or to go to the local emergency clinic that did not accept insurance. I opted for neither and hobbled back to our condo. A hot shower and ice on my leg along with a few hours of sleep seemed to help quite a bit. The swelling subsided on my leg a little, and I could see the trail rash I'd suffered. I dressed my wounds and spent most of the rest of the weekend on the couch. I managed to get out and see a few of the pro races, though.