Ouachita 2010!

Well, Ouachita 2009 was an absolute bust for us! We (Karen, Loreen Matson, Kerry Rascher, and myself) made the 8-hour drive down to Odin, AR to race in the Ouachita Challenge. It's absolutely beautiful country down there. Karen and Lo were entered in the 60-miler. Kerry and I were stupid enough to enter into the 80-miler. We pulled into our luxurious 1970s resort The Shangri La at about 5pm, met up with Keeven and Sonja, then headed over to eat the provided pasta dinner and get our race numbers.


blah, blah, blah, we ate, registered, got bikes gear ready, went to bed, got up, and lined up to start the race.


Let's just get to the race... The race started at the local high school. We road maybe 2 miles on pavement then another 3 on gravel. Most of this was uphill but not too bad at all. Then we entered onto some double-track that was more climbing. At this point, Karen, Lo, and Kerry were somewhere behind me. I was making good time climbing up the field - maybe going too hard from where I had started - I could see the lead pack in front of me.


After more climbing on the double-track we hit a long straight section of downhill. We were finally able to let it rip a little. However, about half way down and at about 20mph the guy to the right of me hit a stick about 2" in diameter. The stick broke in two and half of it shot right into my front wheel. Yep, I immediately turned into Superman and flew over the bars, landed on my shoulder before doing a couple flips on the ground. My bike actually flew over me and landed about 6 feet down the trail! I immediately felt the pain - it f'n hurt! Everyone around me was very cool and asked if I was allright. What was I going to say, "no, I'm a wuss and I'm going to cry"! Heck no, I caught my breath and jumped up like a gymnist.


I waited for Karen to come by (she is a Nurse Practitioner) to check me out. She stopped her race for a couple minutes to look me over and confirmed that nothing was broken. She even pulled the stick out from being wedged between my fork and wheel.


After sitting there for a bit and contemplating my situation in this 80-mile race, I gathered the following facts: shoulder hurt like a #$#$, I busted my camelback bladder when I fell so I had no water, I broke 1 spoke and bent another, and I had a throbbing headache! With all of those facts, I grabbed the bike and was calling it a day.


You'd think the story would end there but it doesn't. After getting back to the high school and having the EMTs clean up my cuts I drove out to the first aid station to see other racers come through. I was hoping to catch Karen and the crew to cheer them on.


I got to see quite a few people I knew. Sonja came through, Matt Hoffmeyer came through, but where was Karen, Kerry, and Lo. Finally they call came out of the trail together. Kerry had fallen and was bleeding very bad on his arm. Karen used her nursing skills and savviness to tape up Kerry's arm with duct tape. Kerry needed stitches pretty badly.


There were two hospitals close: Hot Springs (45 mins away) and Mena (30 mins away). Since Hot Springs was on our way back to STL we all hopped in the car and headed to Hot Springs. the race was now over for all of us. Lo had already had 2 flats and was out of tubes anyway. Plu Karen and Lo had spent so much time helping me and Kerry, their race was over anyway. Kerry wound up with 10 stitches.

I went to to see the great Dr. Matava yesterday and yes, I tore a ligament in my shoulder and have a separated shoulder. Now I'm off the bike for 3 weeks and prone to arthritis when I'm old!! Fortunately, it wasn't bad enough to require surgery. That would have really sucked donkey balls!

So, Ouachita Challenge 2010 here we come for some sweet revenge!


By the way, in case you hadn't heard yet, the amazing Keeven finished the race riding on his back rim with no tire or tube for at least 4 miles after getting 3 flats. I belive he still wound up 5th in the 80-mile single-speed class. Right on Matt!