Moose Roubaix carnage

The Moose Roubaix takes place each fall in Jackson, Wy and is an underground, no entry fee, no prize money, 23 mile road race on a mix of about 60% pavement, 10% chip seal, and 30% rough gravel roads. The race motto; "you crash, we dash" proved to be very appropriate last night.

In my first Moose Roubaix, I crashed my road bike going about 23 mph on a rough section of gravel road when I washed out in a sweeping right-hander and went down on my right side. My bike and body paid the price: My right hip to below my knee is solid road rash and I have a contusion the size of a tennis ball on my hip. My right forearm is pretty raw too. I haven't given the bike a thorough once-over but my right carbon shift lever and brake hood are toast and my rear deraiileur is severly bent in. Oh, and I ruined a perfectly good pair of bib shorts and my favorite fingerless gloves. Ugh.

Before the crash, I was having a very good race. I was with the lead group with only 2.5 miles to go and had clawed my way back to the pack after being dropped on the initial climb. I had stayed in the front third of the pack and tried to conserve energy where I could in case I was still with the lead group when we hit the final 2 miles of pavement. And the strategy was working! Riding the washboard at 22 to 26 mph is crazy! You don't have time to pick a line...you just have to point it and try to bunny hop the big holes at the last minute or just pray that your 25c tires hold.

So my first Moose Roubaix was memorable one. I am pretty stiff and sore today and Moose Cross is this Saturay. Yikes!