We got there around 12 and got about 3 runs in before we lost track of each other. I went to do some more runs and about halfway through had my front end wash out on a rock. I slid on my right side and my pedal poked a small hole in the back of my right leg. Not too bad, so I went down and wiped it off with a alcohol wipe. Next time down my front end slid out on the same rock except this time I planted my foot and the pedal did what you see above. From the pain i know I was going to be cut pretty bad but when i looked down i was shocked. It doesn't look that bad in the picture, but up close and in person the thing seems like a giant hole. I got down the mountain on my bike ok, letting my buds know that I had to get to the E-room.
when i hit the bench with the medics i started getting light headed, sweating, nausea started to set in, my vision started bleaching out and it was Good Night!!!. i woke up looking up at the two medics.
My head cleared as quickly as it went out but i had a hard time convincing others of that... i hit my head on the asphalt on the way down but it didnt hurt too bad. I got a ride back to my truck and just as Robin and Robert were going to take me to the hospital, Robins friend Steve said he could fix me right up. He is a PA (Physicians Assistant) in the emergency room, live a mile away and would have no problem stitching me up!! the guy saved me from waiting in a emergency room for 4 hours. so cool... i got fixed up and went with the crew to get a hotel room and them went to dinner. It was pretty good, but the company was better and i got silly after some vodka and wine. Slept ok but my leg hurt a bit at 4am... once i got up, however, it was fine. by the time we got to the course there was a monster line at the lift. Monster!! so i got a run in by myself and did another with robin before practice was over. We then walked down the run during racetime to look at lines. i found and made one work but that made me forget to stay to the inside of the next turn which blew a couple of seconds. Other than that one turn, and still not feeling super comfortable on the course, the run felt ok and i finished 6th of 12, most importantly beating my arch nemisis, luke Whereshisshaft?
The course was pretty fun with lots of rock gardens comprised of smaller sharp rocks and some roots in the woods. it also had a drop of about 6 feet i small hip in the woods, a big cheese wedge step down at the bottom and lots of off camber turns and blown out berms. The weather was great- sunny cool in the am but warm afternoon and surprisingly no much considering how much rain they had from a tropical storm coming up the coast.... overall the weekend ended well and was good despite my battery dying and needing 3 jumpstarts and not winning the frame given away at the end of the day (i waited 3 hours for some chick to win it- but good for her if she actually rides it next season.)
Thanks to Matt De Lorme for all the awesome pics over the past couple of years.
results link
http://www.gravityeastseries.com/VerticalEarthResults.pdf
I also finished 3rd in the Powerade series at snowshoe despite not being at the final... in amateur (expert). cool
