FLCC> Cookies dominate as teamates sacrifice themselves

[Amanda and Mark Shenstone]

It was a spectacular crash that should have been 
videoed!  Don and Scott  both got major elevation 
as tthey left their bikes behind  and tumbled into 
the grass.

Mark

--------------------------------------------------
Amanda and Mark Shenstone
Graceful Gardens
PO Box 100
Mecklenburg, NY 14886
607.387.5529
http://www.gracefulgardens.com

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sandy and Don Fitterer
  To: flcc at icycle.org
  Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2007 10:15 PM
  Subject: FLCC> Cookies dominate as teamates 
sacrifice themselves


  Straight to the good news... Ernie Bayles wows 
the crowd by winning the combined field of 123's 
and Masters. Don Sprole finishes 2nd and is the 
1st 123. Bill "Rhino" Erickson is 2nd in the 
Masters field and Mark "Marko Shenstoni" avoids 
the carnage on lap 11 to finish ahead of local 
talent Scotty "Pile driver" Hannon. LiLynn is 
making progress in the women's field and stayed in 
contact with the peloton significantly longer than 
last weekend. LiLynn attributes her success to the 
long rides she does on Saturdays.

  I survived. My bike did not. This ends a 
multi-month discussion with Sandy about whether or 
not I should buy a new race bike. For the record, 
I was the one on the fence as to the purchase, not 
Sandy.

  Fortuitously, for Ernie he started his breakaway 
on the same lap that several riders decided to 
convert their relatively safe horizontal velocity 
vector to a far more dangerous and short lived 
vertical line with gravity providing a very strong 
influence. I'd been marking Mark most of the race, 
going to the front of the pack just before the one 
small hill on the course and then sliding back 
through the pack conserving energy until Mark 
would pass me. I would then increase my effort to 
stay close to Marko. This worked well until the 
11th lap when just before the descent metallic 
noises and shouts of panic emanated from the 
riders directly in front of me. Marko moved to the 
left side of the road towards the double yellow. I 
bore right intending to ride into the grass if 
bodies started to fly. This was the wrong choice. 
The rider directly in front of me fell to the 
right and landed flat on his back with feet 
pointing towards the edge of the road and his head 
aiming at the yellow line. Bunny hopping was not 
an option and I didn't even try to brake. I 
unclipped both feet, put all my weight on my arms 
and watched my Zipp wheel slam into his side just 
above the hips and below his ribs. The bike lost 
20mph of forward motion causing the head tube to 
separate from the rest of the bike.

  I have been swimming lately and was very 
comfortable being horizontal and hovering over the 
asphalt. My goal was to reach the grass and 
minimize road rash. The Total Immersion swimming 
lessons came in handy; extend the arm, keep head 
in line with the body, push down on the lungs to 
raise the hips, lead with the elbow and bring the 
trailing hand down past the goggles, twist the 
hips, extend for the wall and execute the flip 
turn. Bam! I made contact with my back as I 
rolled, left knee down and then standing up, no 
worse for the wear. Meanwhile Scotty was creating 
his nick name by flipping over his handlebars and 
landing right on top of his 125lb team mate! No 
road rash for Scotty and his buddy now understands 
the definition of the WWF pile driver.

  The guy I hit lost some flesh on his arm and a 
123 racer broke his collar bone. There were pieces 
of rear derailleur on the road but I am not sure 
whose bike they came from. Meanwhile, Ernie has 2 
companions on a breakaway and I shout 
encouragement from the sidelines. The main group 
comes by and slows down to gawk at the carnage. I 
am sure our delaying tactic contributed to Ernie's 
win. Scott jumped back into the pack and I clopped 
along a 1/4 mile to the car. Ernie shelled his two 
companions and was now on a solo break away. I 
waved my front wheel and handlebars to show him 
what happened and earned a smile in return. Again 
I am sure this contributed to his success by 
keeping his mind off his own pain.

  Don S attacked at the bottom of the hill on the 
last lap and made it to the finish line seconds 
behind Ernie and only 2 seconds ahead of the pack 
sprint. Rhino was only a few places behind Don.

  Mad Dog, Say it ain't so Joe, Stevi Moto and 
Charles will have to fill you in on their earlier 
race. Sounds like they had a great train at the 
end of the race that only needed a few more watts 
to get them over the line first.

  Please feel free to send checks and money orders 
to the Fitterer Frame Fund Foundation. All 
contributions are tax deductable and I promise to 
register as a charitable organization. Ernie was 
so impressed with my sacrifice that he was the 
first to give me $100 (or maybe it was a $10 for 
gas) and a new set of tire irons.

  Cheers,

  Don



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