Luck was not on my side at last week’s Green Mountain Stage Race. In the last 150m of the 72-mile circuit race I was sitting pretty about 7th wheel when the genius to my right thought it would be a good idea to switch lines aggressively. He took three of us out at 35+mph. I started the next day—the queen stage—and felt great over the first two climbs. I was really looking forward to the summit finish at App Gap, but that was also not to be. On a dirt road section 60 miles into the race, my front wheel went into a deep pothole and slid out. I hit the deck again. Just bad luck this time. I would have continued but my rear wheel was punctured and the wheel van was 15-minutes behind us. I watched the race from the referee’s car. That sucked.

I’ve got a bruised knee and shoulder and plenty of road rash after those two crashes. Hopefully I paid some good luck forward for next season.