From Michele...

A bit long, but enjoy the read if you have the time! I had nerves on Friday morning because this was the first race I was going into thinking, "I am going to stick. I feel good and have been riding well. I am not going to get dropped on this race." There were also so many DBC women going to this race. This was our highest turnout so far, and I'm sure more to come! The roll out to the race course was sketchy! I kept saying, "Easy, calmdown..." to the women around me. It felt so weird. I'm used to riding in a pack of guys and this was a bunch of women. The energy of the pack was so different. When the moto dude got out of the way and gave us thego ahead, we took off. We were gaining ground on the group that wasahead of us and I made the comment, "What happens if we catch up to the group ahead of us?" The moto dude went in front of us again and thepack slowed. My concern was the rollers. This is where I usually get dropped. See a hill and kiss Michele goodbye. I was hell bent on not getting dropped.We started climbing and I was okay. I actually had to stop pedaling tonot run into the back of the rider in front of me. After that I chilled a little bit more on the climbs to avoid unnecessary over excursion.All 7 of us DBC riders (in group A) were staying up near the front and looking good! I completely forgot that we were a field of 50, becausethere were never more than ~15 riders in front of us. We would come upon the outside and slide back in the middle, just to wash rinse andrepeat. And it was SOOO nice to see other DBC jerseys. About 2/3 of the way through the first lap, coming out of turn, thefront of the field accelerated. We all ramped up and stuck with it...but then bikes were suddenly perpendicular to my forward motion.Someone crossed wheels in the middle of the road, freaked out, grabbed acouple of fist fulls of brake and the chain effect started. Leslie wason my right and Cary in front of Leslie. The initial rider went down...I saw Cary go down and Leslie pile on top of Cary. I saw it happeningand my brain said, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay..." over and over,that's all I could think/hear. My front wheel T-boned the bike that"jumped right out in front of me". I remember seeing the ground getting closer and closer. I felt impact on my body and remember whip lashing and hitting my head. When the pile stopped moving, I opened my eyes andpicked a water bottle off of my chest. It was mine... I shoved it back into the empty water cage, got up and started looking around. All thatwas left was one SugarCRM and three DBC- Me, Leslie, and Cary. The motodude was there helping get us out of the road. He said we had to check our helmets, and if they were cracked, we would not be allowed to ride.I knew I hit my head, so I did not check my helmet (Okay, BAD Michele!But I didn't want to risk not being able to finish.... I did check my helmet at the chip removal station and it was not cracked.) Moto dude was too busy helping Cary to notice that I hadn't checked my helmet. I picked Leslie's bike off of her and moto dude helped Leslie up. Carywas staying on the ground. Leslie and I inspected our bikes while motodude tended to Cary. Cary's bike was not rideable as she said to go.Leslie and I tried to 3-person pace line with the one SugarCRM lady. (Ithink that was her kit, but not 100% sure.) I think we were all in shock and pedaling with just adrenaline. I kept thinking, "Breath, staycalm," while trying to figure out how much time had passed and would the three of us be able to catch back on to the pack. I was pulling andthen motioned for the next person to come up. The other lady came by meand said that it was just the two of us. I slowed and looked back forLeslie, but could not see her at all. What do I do? I know the race ismost likely over for me, so do I wait for Leslie? The other lady yelledat me to follow and keep going. We went for a bit longer and then Icould start to feel my leg and arm. I glanced at my leg and saw the blood and thought, "Oh, just great!" I let her go and decided to justpedal slow on the bike for a bit and evaluate how I was really feeling.I decided I was okay and accepted my fate of finishing a lonely ride bymyself. The SugarCRM lady was never out of sight. Starting the second lap I was trying to catch back up to her. I was gaining on her slowly. Justbefore the first series of climbs, she looked back and then turned around. As I passed her, she said, "Have fun!" My thought was, "That'sone down." I went through the rollers and got around to the "oh sosmoothest" stretch of pavement that I have ever ridden on in my entirelife! I was thinking, "I hurt and there's no way I can do a third lapon my own. I'm bleeding, that's a good excuse. I can stop after 2laps." I got to the finish line and there was Robin, Brian, and I think Rod yelling at me to keep going. And then I could hear a lady cheering my name from the other side of the road (Thanks Carolyn!). That's all I needed to keep pedaling. On the third lap, Leslie caught up to me and it was so nice to ride with her for a while. She was stronger and pulled away. I had been passed by several small groups and two different large men's fields. Thanks for all the shout outs of encouragement from my fellow DBC teammates! I was so happy to see the 1km sign for the third time!! I had enoughsense in me at the de-chipping station to watch the guy with theclippers. "Scratch my bike a die," was all I could think. Oh, someoneis just a wee bit irritable... Lessons learned: 1) You can survive a crash and finish the race. I'm okay and so is my bike. (My bike is being inspected and checked over though. 2) Crashes happen. And when they happen right in front of you,there really isn't anything you can do but stay loose and don't put your arm out. 3) Don't be a goof like Michele and check your helmet when the motodude tells you to. 4) I can stay with the pack on rollers and small hills!!!