Delta 100k Ride

I was feeling so good last night after the long run that I decided to go ahead and do the Delta 100K ride this morning. Ronnie was willing to get the kids to soccer for pictures at 11:40 and I hoped to be done in time for their 12:30 game.
I got up at 6:45 this morning and checked the forecast. It was suppose to be 55 degrees at 8:00, sunny with little wind. In other words, a beautiful day.
I got to Delta Rehab at about 7:15 and signed up for the ride. I was debating on how much to wear and was watching Leslie bundle up. When Lana got there, we decided that I would be perfect in my short sleeve jersey and new cycling jacket that just arrived yesterday.
At 8:00 they made some announcements and let the long course riders head out. I knew the course was suppose to be hilly and it wasn’t long before we hit the first downhill followed by a climb. My legs were feeling great; that ice bath and nap were really paying off.
6.82 miles into the ride Lana and I crashed. I really am not positive what happened. We were riding along and then we were too close and we got tangled up. I was on the left side and was just trying to get away but her brake had gotten stuck on my handlebars. It was happening in slow motion and I knew we were going over but I didn’t know what to do about it. We skidded along the road and I felt my head bounce on the asphalt twice. The riders with us all stopped and they had to take the wheels off our bikes to get them apart. At that point I was really thinking I was just going to get up and finish the ride. When I tried to stand I got dizzy and things went dark. I laid in the road and they called the SAG wagon to come get me. I tried to get everyone else to go ahead and finish the ride but they all wanted to stay with me a make sure I was ok. Lana refused to even talk about finishing and rode back to Delta Rehab with me. Someone pointed out that I was going to need a new helmet. I was thinking, “No, you don’t REALLY have to buy a new helmet after a crash.” Then they pointed out to me that my helmet was in fact cracked. Oh well, I was wanting to get a new silver helmet and now I have an excuse. I got a small hole in the sleeve of my new jacket that I think I can patch with an iron on and the shorts of my bike skirt got a small hole. Me?? My elbow looks the worse and is cut pretty deep. My hip doesn’t look bad but it hurts the worse. I don’t even want to think of the bruise I will have in the next day or two. My shoulder, hand, and ankle also got roughed up. I really don’t feel that bad and am more disappointed that we didn’t get to finish the ride and everyone days got screwed up.
I talked to Lana and she is starting to feel the aftermath. I think her knee got pretty tore up. She also got holes in her new jacket and bike pants.
I am going to take my bike into the shop next week and just have it looked at and have the handlebars rewrapped, they got tore up in the crash.
I am thankful that both Lana and I were able to walk away from the crash without broken bones. I always have worn my helmet and KNOW that if I didn’t have it on today; I would NOT have walked away from that crash.
There is one last century ride this year on October 21st and now I am determined to do it. Ray and Tisha have offered to ride the Delta Ride route with me and Lana, and I hope to take them up on that too but I really want to do an official century RIDE!