USAF Classic went well, but the morning after was not as fun!

Hey friends,

A lot has happened to me since May 1: the team and I killed it at the US Air Force Classic, I was almost killed the morning after by a car passing a bus and broadsiding me, I was back on the bike 48 hours later and on a plane to Nationals in CO 72 hours after the crash, I supported the Princeton team and road in the mountains a couple days, then the body started to recover from the trauma and really caught up with me so I am now off the bike and trying to rest as much as possible.

The USAF Classic was balls-to-the-wall from the gun, and I was in 50% of the breaks for the first half of the race because the team thought for sure something would split off (look at time 13:24!)  After we tried desperately to get something established, it became apparent that every team needed the PERFECT break, so nothing would work, and instead it would be an insanely fast 95 miles in just over 3 hours.  The legs were great, and my form was really showing through . . .

Then the next morning, on a recovery spin, I was hit from the left while pulling out of a gas station.  The car was passing a bus, just flying, and could not see me until it was too late.  I hit the windshield with the whole left side of my body, from my knee to my forehead, and sustained a fractured (distal third) collarbone, lots of bruises, and a huge gash in my forehead with a bunch of glass for a souvenir.

I was rushed to the ER where I was worked upon by my good friend Lou d'Amelio, the head trauma surgeon and main man at the Capital Area Regional Trauma Center.  It was so great to be around a friend, and he made sure I was very well taken care of.  I also called my parents myself and made sure they heard the news from ME.  After a lot of CT scans, x-rays, morphine (hey, I'm allergic--who knew?), and stitches/glass removal, I was back at school in time for dinner, answering dozens of concerned emails through my trauma/pain-med-induced haze.

Since then, I have traveled to CO for Nationals with the Princeton Team (SOOOO hard to watch those races!!) and even gotten in some hard training on the bike (mistake: the body let me know a day or two later, and I have been off since trying to recover).  I go back in tomorrow for more x-rays (I am going to try to get some JPEGS to post!) and a recovery update.  It looks like I can train (once my overall system is healed and ready, probably another couple of days) but racing is out of the question for at least a couple weeks.  My goal is to be back in time for Philly week, which starts three weeks from today.

Now I have been working my butt off at school, getting a robot and its report finished with my best friends in Sol Cycles (yes, we do all of our group projects together!) as well as studying for two finals in the next week.

Thanks a lot for your wishes, I hope to be back soon and then get stronger and faster than ever!