Horrible Crash & State Crit

Saw this on cyclingnews and Toyota United site. If you read the bottom you will see that Fausto Muñoz Esparza was paralyzed from the waist down at Tour of the Gila. I am going to send this guy some $$$ and you should too as he has a wife and 3kids that he was supporting racing his bike.

Private donations are also welcome and may be submitted to
Wells Fargo Bank,
Attn: Fausto Muñoz Esparza Donation Fund,
1201 N. Pope Street, Silver City, NM 88061 USA.

Letters of support may be sent to C/O Thomason Hospital, Patient: Fausto Esparza, ICU/12, 4815 Alameda Avenue, El Paso, TX 79905 USA.


State Crit-

Still haven't seen any results on this race. Saw Turbo won the 1/2s. Don't know who won the Cat 3s cause I didn't stick around. I had fun in the Master 35 race. It was hard and fast. Thanks to my teammate Mark for lending me a bike for the races Sat. My bike broke after Tuesday's RMR. Did I mention that Tuesday night we avg'd 29.7mph. Yes you read that right 29.7. I couldn't believe it. That's probably why i was shaking after the race on the sidelines. It was an epic effort for me. It was fast. Funniest thing during the race Bill Demong was like what's up Brian while we were in the break. He was talking like you would at a coffee shop or something. All I could do was nod and sound like a blowfish trying to hang on. That guy wins World cups and a couple time Olympic Nordic Combined and has a VO Max of 90 something. Great guy too bad I couldn't talk to him. There are alot of talented bike riders here in this valley.
I was just riding around after the race after doing a couple of laps on the State Crit course at RMR. Somehow my rear derailleur was sucked into my wheels. The rear hanger bent bad and the frame is toast. $3000 bummer right there. That Scott frame was very comfortable for me. The Cannondale Super Six that Mark lent me felt great on Sat though. Lots of pressure riding in a crit with someone else's bike. I tried not to think about it though.
Chris Best, Chris Best, Chris Best got the W in the Master 35+ race on Saturday from Team DARE. Way to go Chris. This guy just came out for like his 2nd race of the year. He's a beast. He's a track guy and said it felt just like the track race out there. Lot's of jockeying and banging bars those last couple of laps. I was on the outside on the 2nd to last turn and the guy in front of me moved outside a bit forcing me onto the dirt. I opted to go straight instead of turning and was out of the race at that point. I was probably sitting 8th or 9th wheel at that point but you had to be at the front 3 to have any hope of winning. Chris led them coming out of the last turn and powered to the W.

My good buddy Paul Terry took a flyer with a few laps to go and had a pretty good gap. I just remember sitting in the middle of the group coming up the fast homestretch and seeing a RED dot off in the distance with a few laps to go and realized it was Paul tearing it up out there. I was hurting in the draft and could only imagine what it felt to be out in the wind solo off the front. We avg'd almost 26 on this course....there were a few times where we just were going like 16mph after some fireworks. I was off the front for a bit with McKone and that hurt. I know Rodney Smith from Contender pulled back one dangerous move early with a huge effort. Also, I heard Sean Hoover pulling a move back at one point in the race. It was good to see Scott Martin out there racing after hearing he had twins. I don't know how father's find the time to train. Especially self proclaimed Mr Mom.

Saw skaters Ignacio Lopez and Andrew Love there as well Saturday. Andrew placed 4th in the Cat 4s and Ignacio was 2nd in the Cat 5s.

Cat 3 race was a huge disappointment as I had a problem with my seatpost. It sunk down and I looked like I was speedskating out there with the knee bend that I had riding around. KK (Kirsten Kotval) said what's up with your bike. I was like it's not mine and my post slipped. Always tighten those things after you adjust them I learned that day. I debated for a few laps on whether or not i could stop and get a free lap. I figured I couldn't but KK said I would problably hurt my knees riding like that or I could stand for another 45 minutes. I stopped and Gary said I could jump back in but I would be a lap down. I adjusted my seat quick but now it was too high. I was going to ride but would have hurt myself with that setup so I just packed up and headed home. I was so bummed. I went to Contender to get my bike lined up from the fit I had there. Then I went to park near the Old Mill buildings near Big Cottonwood and I rode up Big Cottonwood to get out my disappointment. Worse things could have happened as I heard there was big crash in the 1/2 race. I made it up Big cottonwood in record time (for me). The wind blowing up the canyon I'm sure that helped. It was nice and scenic and pretty warm at the top. I rewarded myself with a huge Garlic Burger from the Cotton Bottom post ride. That made me feel alot better! :)