Rocky mountain high!

Simon and I went to pre-ride the Xilinx USGP track today and although the course is mostly flat and pretty straight forward, I still almost bit off more than I could chew...

We went over to the course with our gracious host Greg Keller and got in a couple of slow laps for inspection. The course is mostly really bumpy turf and some good bits of pavement. There's a cool part that has some whooptys and a mini-berm turn. It's just enough to pitch you into the air if you're going full speed. There are a few little fly-over bridges that were being built to allow the course to pass over some ditches.

So after a getting warmed up, I was following Simon and Greg into the whoops and it looked like Simon was getting some sweet air as he rolled through, so I thought I'd pop a little ollie as I rolled over the biggest one. All of a sudden I was pitched ass-over and getting piled up in the landing! I guess the takeoff was a little bumpy and I got pretty stuffed up as a result. I took my time picking up, checking myself over and looking for damage... I am ok, but I broke my front shifter. I hurt my ribs kind of too, but I don't think tha will hinder me in the race. Luckily, it's stuck in the big ring so I think it will work tomorrow as long as I set the limit screws on my front derailleur so it can't shift down to the 39t ring unexpectedly. I'll ride the other bike and hope for no more problems...

Afterwards, I realized how lucky I was. Two other guys had crashes there, one breaking his collarbone and Simon actually rode out a sketchy nose wheely as he landed right in front of me and nearly ate it himself.

It's better to be lucky than good, and at least I was lucky today. I'm really hoping I get a bit more good luck throughout the weekend...