Or, how I crashed, stayed upright, chased back on, led out, and still finished 6th.

By Jaime Garcia (from the Merrill team newsgroup)

It was an exciting (crashfest) race this morning. A German tried to win in the tour yesterday, but couldn’t. Instead a German won today in Central Park. The first lap – crash by Craig Goodstein (Metro) on his own near the pool just before Harlem hill. Tony (Chuleta Falk) went on a flyer and had a nice gap, but nobody wanted a piece of us today. No takers on the first attack. VB countered, but the solo rider was brought back before lap 2.

Lap 2 I made a half hearted effort near Engineer’s Gate and had a gap, yet again all by myself. No other riders wanted to come. It was all together at Harlem Hill and everyone was riding a slow tempo. Huge pack and water on the westside caused the first major crash just after Tavern. Pot hole near the joggers lane took out a Champions Systems rider that flipped upside down, while still clipped into his bike right in front of Tony (this was the 2nd close call, I think). Tony screamed some profanities and went left into the jogger’s lane and barely avoided the feet and cranks of the upside down cat 4 rider. I meanwhile tried to avoid the crash to the right side and had a little gap that was quickly closed off by a VB rider rolling in front of me. I had no room to go left or right so I went straight for him with my wheels locked. I hit him right in the ribs and started to endo over him. I didn’t plan it, but I managed to unclip both feet and rodeo hopped off my bike to land on my feet. I took a few running steps and came to a stop still standing. I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! I looked around to see if anybody had seen my acrobatics, but not a frickin’ photographer in sight. Lou Maltese has been memorable for me two years in a row.

Your friendly rodeo cowboy/author riding the Harlem Skyscraper Classic.

After laughing nervously for a few seconds, I realized I could still ride–checked the bike, rolled the chain back on and the chase was on. There were 2 other riders about 20 yds in front of me and I bridged up to them near Cat’s Paw. We rotated a few times and were back on just after Engineer’s Gate. All that adrenaline came in handy for the chase. I didn’t want to sit in the back, because there were more crashes to come. I was mid pack at Harlem Hill. I made sure to stay top 10-15 for the rest of the race and told Adam (Duncan) to do the same or face DEATH IN THE PACK. There were crashes for each remaining lap.

There were a few more half hearted efforts by several riders to get away, but all failed. Tony was cheering with a lap & a half to go – too many close calls just fucks with your head. He said he just couldn’t take another crash. Lorenzo had an off day and was also sidelined. The last lap was the usual craziness. EVERYBODY ALL OVER THE FUCKING ROAD. People can’t ride a straight line. I heard at least 6-7 dozen spokes cry in agony as they were chopped in half by other wheels. The unavoidable sound of metal and pavement just sends shivers down my spine.

Winner Tim Nilson, also at Harlem.

Just before Tavern Adam was riding in the top ten on the right side of the pack. I heard my name about this time too and Timmy (Nilson) was telling me he was on my wheel. It’s hard to sit and be patient, but with just me as the lead out, I chose to wait and kept telling Timmy to be patient. Tavern came and went without incident at the top of the pack. As we were entering Horseshit Alley I was sitting near 10th place or so. I didn’t know if Timmy was still with me, but I was riding like he still was. Just before Summer Stage, I was on Adam’s wheel and we were still sitting about 10th wheel. I started yelling at Adam to start to open it up and he did. He was out of his seat as we crested the little hill and were coming down the descent in about 5th wheel now. A guy from Columbia (Matthew Casey) had jumped before Summer Stage and was just about 20 ft ahead and dying. Adam was still pushing the pace as we hit the hill and pulled off just before the right turn. Adam Handler (Foundation) was looking nervous and jumped before I could, taking the right side. I jumped with him and his frickin’ gears skipped. He just kept pedaling, but we had lost a little momentum. I started to jump around to his left and saw TIMMY coming around my left right near the cat. I just kept pedaling and managed to come in 6th. It was only about a bike and 1/2 between 1st and 7th place. The lead out worked well even with all the craziness. Good job by Timmy for staying alert and holding his position. We could not have done it without Adam ‘slam dunk’ Duncan. He started the train and led us to the perfect spot.

GREAT JOB SURVIVING TODAY!!!

MERRILL RULES!!!!!!!