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Padden Mt. Pedal, Indie Series #7
16 July 2006
Report by: Charlie Bartlett
coming into the last technical section of the 1st of 4 laps at padden, i did a front wheelie
(not really on purpose), thought i had it under control, but i did not. next thing i know i
see a REALLY bright, white flash and i'm laying in the trail a little way down from my bike.
a spectator is pulling my bike saying "we got riders coming, i got your bike, are you alright?"
that's a good question, i'm thinking to myself. other questions start to circle, what did i hit?
why does my arm and shoulder hurt so much? etc.
so i get up, feel a little woozy, look back at the fallen tree laying parallel to the trail that
appears to have "broken" my fall. i can see where my head hit the tree, and my arm, as my arm is
bleeding a little and i seem to have removed a chunk of bark and moss from the tree and ground it
into my arm and helmet. sweet. the spectator is trying to get me to sit down. i grab a drink of
water, test my eyes, focusing near and far, just like that sesame street skit... "near!" "far!"
all seems to work, so...
i'm back on the bike and back in the race. the new goal is to finish the race, i need to complete
padden and the final race next week to qualify for the overall series.. everything seems to work.
i wipe out a couple more times, nothing major, but i'm a little shaky.
i finish 13th (i think). and louis is thrilled to point at all the scrapes and the blood (there
wasn't that much) but they are all "papa mondan dike owwie" (papa's mountain bike owwie). upon
closer inspection, my helmet is cracked and my neck and shoulder are SORE.
overall, i'm good, i smiled to the end, the spot i crashed really wasn't that technical, as i went
thru it the remaining 3 times i was wondering how did i hit so hard THERE? whatever! at least i
wasn't going 30mph on the road and hit a guard rail and tumbled down into some bushes (see yesterday's
stage of the TdF), that looked painful!!
Results:
Sport:
Charlie Bartlett 13th 30-39
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