So I guess you can say that no one really sees these things coming. I mean, I saw the 24 hours of Moab coming. I was ready for it. Trained, rested and ready. I had my mom and friends to help me with my Scott bikes, with my food, my Niterider lights, clothes and moral support.




What I didn’t see was crashing on the second lap and getting a trip to the emergency room. There I was stitched up very nicely after Dr. Love (no joke I swear that was her name) made sure I hadn’t done any damage to my exposed bone. It was just impressive that she stitched up my knee, as it was not the cleanest cut.

So, now what do I do? I mean, I can’t get back on my bike. The whole knee bending thing and ripping out the stitches that I so happily just spent 2 hours in the ER getting put in, wasn’t really doing it for me. So we went back to the race to see what was going on. I had no idea what I was going to do since it was hard enough to walk around.

But there I was. Cheering on other friends that were racing. A first time solo rider Liz, was in need of some good lights and since I had the best and wasn’t going to be using them I loaned them to her. It worked out. Her way was brightly lit all night. Also, for one of the guys from Crested Butte, racing on a team. He used my backup lights. At this point I would have given my bikes to someone in need.

I have to say I didn’t see it coming that this was going to be one of the hardest things I would ever have to watch. I am so glad that I could be there, though, cheering on, helping out, and hopefully being helpful, but….it never got easier to watch without having some sadness that I could not, and was not racing. This is my race. I love it. It is at the end of the season, and I have set the world record for the distance ridden by a women in 24 hours at this race. Was I content and happy? Not really, but I love this sport and it was better to be there helping out with some expertise than feeling sorry for myself at home.

So, no I didn’t really see this coming, but since I can look back now, I am hoping that some good came out of it.

Let’s just hope that next year isn’t like this one. Thanks again for all your support. I would never have been there in the first place. Here’s to keeping the dream alive!!!