Gregg Brekke Coaching Complete cycling and multi-sport athlete training

Race Report: Give Me a Break

July has been a tough month.

Missed the Lumberjack 100 MTB race due to a mechanical then spent a week in Tampa at a work conference with little training. Maybe I was a little bummed and/or overtrained, but I just felt sluggish and unmotivated the first half of the month.

I took plenty of rest days and recuperation rides and started to come around last week. Probably not on top of my game, but feeling pretty good going into the Vulture's Knob NEO Power Double Down Enduro race on July 16.

Having placed third at the first NEO Power race - the Reagan Park Time Trial - and having earned two more podium finishes at Vulture's Knob already this year, I felt like the endurance racing and training I'd done this season might translate into a category win at this race - a fast four lap, 30 miler.

It was a warm day so having enough hydration and electrolyte was going to be important. All set with hydration pack and extra bottles in a cooler (thanks Paul Donatelli!) we were ready to go. At the start I'm fourth into the woods of the Sport/40-49 group. Pedaling a swift tempo, a group of three of us get away from the pack. As usually happens, things stack up and force people off their bikes on the switchback climbs after "the cradle."

My heart rate is through the roof the entire first lap as I struggle to stay in contact. The over/under has been removed and a modified loop - running reverse and up the "under" approach was added. Thankfully, the "junk hill" climb has been removed. But I'm feeling the effects of limited racing and hard training over the last month and am hanging pretty near the edge with my exertion.

With a 50oz hydration pack and 24oz bottle on the bike I cruise through the start/finish and take another spot. But the first lap effort is taking its toll. I'm zapped and back off, getting my heart rate into low zone 4, to recover. I'm passed by a few category riders and let them go. No way I can keep that pace so decide to stick with my recovery plan. Using my 26-tooth front ring for all the climbs this lap, my speed drops by 2mph. By the end of the lap I'm feeling much better and pass one of the riders who'd gone around me at the start of the lap. He's hunched over his bike gasping from heat exhaustion...

Going through the start/finish to start my third lap, I drop the Camelback and still have a full bottle on the bike. I upshift to the 39-tooth front ring and set off for what is my fastest lap on the day. The field is spread out now and there is no traffic on the climbs or switchbacks allowing me to stay on the bike with good momentum. A good lap overall but I start to get passed by Elite riders - who are doing 6 laps - near the end. I'm slowing.

Feeling some tinges of exhaustion, I stop for a cold bottle from the cooler before beginning my fourth and final lap. Was sitting in around a top five spot and felt I had a little left to push. About 1/4 through this last lap, on the approach to "the Snake," I braked a little to slow for a twisty section. Not exactly sure what happened next, but think I went over a small jump and, due to the bump, grabbed the lever instead if the grip and locked up my front brake. Landing, my front wheel stuck solid and slid right. I was shot over the bars on my left side before I could react.

I hit the trail hard on my head and left shoulder. Lying in the middle of the trail on my back, I tried to shift my weight and quickly realized something was wrong. There was a crunching and grinding feeling in my left shoulder. Not wanting to cause any more damage - but being on a blind spot of the trail - I needed to get me and my bike off the course if possible.

With the onset of shock and a burst of adrenaline, I drag myself and the bike off the trail without getting off my back. OK, pain is setting in and pretty sure I'm yelling a bit. Within a few minutes an Elite rider comes up and asks if I'm alright. "No. Collarbone," I say and he shoots off course to a nearby aid station to notify the race organizers.

He comes back, tells me help is coming, and jumps back into his race. Thanks man. Good thing for him was that no other Expert riders had gone by in the time he was off fetching aid.

Within a few minutes there is an event staff person there along with a volunteer. The staff person (sorry, forgot your name - shock...) calls event organizer Rody and he arrives with another volunteer in a jeep about 10 minutes later. Rody is also an EMT and has a wrap and ice. He gets me wrapped up, with bike and gear packed up, and we head back to the staging area.

Glad for the ride, but there is no good way to to get out of the woods with a broken collarbone. Every bump shoots pain through my entire arm and shoulder. Dropping my bike at the car, they grab my phone and clothes and Rody drives me to the Wooster Community Hospital Emergency Room.

Morphine, x-rays and orthopedic consult take a few hours. Everyone at the hospital is awesome and, as far as ER experiences go, it goes fairly quickly.

The result: Oblique fracture of the clavicle (collarbone) and a destroyed Specialized Prevail helmet. No emergency surgery required, but the doc and orthopedic consult want me to go in for another look this next week.

Thanks to Jill for coming to get me. A special thanks to friend Jeff Woodard for coming along to get my car and take care of Gus. Teammates and 331-Racing folks took care of rounding up gear left behind.

Sure, I'll be out of the race scene for 6-8 weeks but eager to get back to mountain biking and cyclocross with so many cool people and good friends.