Hello all,
Well, I know many of you have been waiting for this post, some more than others, especially considering everything that has taken place in the last 10 days. I've written and re-written this post in my head at least 100 times, and I don't want to delay any longer. So, I'll cut right to the chase and get into it.
As many of you know, I had been preparing for my trial regarding the lawsuit that stemmed from the accident that took place over 3 years ago between me (on my bike on a training ride) and a vehicle. Again, as many of you know, the accident left me with a broken right clavicle, requiring surgery, as well as a few broken ribs. I'm not going to get into all the details of the case, however, I am going to give you my biggest takeaways from what happened over the course of 3 and a half days of trial.
1. I lost. The driver was found not guilty.
2. What I thought I heard at the time of the accident regarding the driver texting and driving was inaccurate. The evidence produced at trial showed she was not, so I am sorry that this entire time people had the impression she was. My intention was not to demonize her, I simply thought that's what I heard. I was wrong.
3. I had an absolutely excellent attorney in Mike Keating, a man who was truly by my side every step of the way the last 3 plus years, always believed in me, and put forth an excellent effort, one that I thought had won the day for me. I was extremely fortunate to have him in my corner. He truly believes in the equality and safety for cyclists on the road, and is a beacon of hope for cyclists who have been injured like myself.
4. For as much as we as cyclists want to truly believe that we are looked at as equals on the road with motor vehicles, we simply are not. We are held to a higher standard of care, we are looked at as a nuisance, an unwelcome invader on the roads, at least in the western suburbs of Chicago, and for those reasons, made to feel like we don't belong. Its for those reasons I encourage every one of you who rides outside, to continue to do so, to continue to fight for space on the road with cars, and to petition your local government officials to put bike lanes on roads that are known to be well traveled by cyclists. We have just as much right to the street as any car. Don't let this verdict deter you from getting out there and getting after it. Train hard, ride hard.
Not even 48 hours after the verdict was delivered, I was toeing the line in Barker, NY, getting ready to start the Great Lakes 100 mile Duathlon. 1 mile run/84 mile bike/15 mile run. The day greeted us with threatening skies, colder temps and a stiff wind. A wind that would be hitting us directly in the face on the last 12 miles of the bike, twice, as the bike was 2 loops. As the gun went off, I had no time to lament the ruling from the jury, because your head has to be in the game when you are staring down 100 miles of racing. As we completed the first run, the rain began to fall, fairly steady, meaning extra caution on the bike. I came in the first run just ahead of a pack, and grabbed my bike, feeling pretty good.
The key to the bike would be a change in my race effort - coming from more of an Olympic distance background, I couldn't hit the accelerator the minute my feet were in my shoes. So, the mantra in my head was "don't hit the button, don't hit the button". Which worked great until mile 2 of the bike, as the rain and a crosswind started to pelt the side of my face, and suddenly, I hit the button. This same mantra was going off consistently throughout the bike leg, as I would have to remind myself stop hitting the f'ing button and save something. After the first loop I was sitting in second, and felt decent. I grabbed my special needs bag, switched out bottles, took a bar, and hammered down. Big mistake. I mean almost a race ending mistake.
As I tried to force the bar down my throat, I was hitting the button again, and the push and pull on my digestive system, with blood not knowing where to go first, was not super happy with me. I rode really hard from mile 42-50, hoping that my stomach would settle, turning into a tailwind, and allowing my body to relax more. It didn't work. By mile 67, the bar I ate came right back up, along with some of my fluids, which are super critical in races that are this long. I was concerned to say the least. I gave my stomach about 10 minutes, then tried to drink from my bottle. It was staying down, as was water, so I slowly sipped my 3Fuel, sipped water, took a couple Salt Stick tablets, and kept going.
I hit the last couple miles of the bike fairly hard, as the head wind was picking up. I didn't look behind me, but I didn't want to chance anything, so I grabbed a gel, got it down, drank some water and got into T2. I felt exhausted. The effort on the bike, and the GI issues had taken a lot out of me. I was still in second, and staring down 15 miles of running. I took a minute to decide - do I keep going, possibly risk falling completely apart, losing more than my place, or do I harden the Fuck up and finish what I came here for, what I have been training my ass off for? The answer was simple - get on your running shoes, and move.
As I started to run, I felt a groove start to develop around mile 3. Then, my stomach started talking to me again. By mile 5, I couldn't ignore it otherwise I was going to be running in something I definitely didn't want. So, I stopped, took care of business and got back to the run. And by run, I mean run. I didn't stop again the rest of the way. I saw first place at the run turn around, and there couldn't have been more than 90 seconds between us. The wind was blowing, now at our backs, so I took that nice lift, kept steady and with the twists and turns of the run. I had a hunter's mentality going, dosing out more effort every mile, knowing the leader was most likely doing the same.
I gave that run everything I had, and by the time I hit the last mile, all I could think of was the finish line. I tried to catch the leader, but hats off to him, he held on like a true champ and won. It was the absolute best 2nd place finish of my life. I was elated, relieved and proud. I was extremely happy that I stuck it out, happy that my fitness was so good to make it through the mistakes I made on the bike to get in a decent second run, and even more excited knowing that I was aware of the mistakes I made, and how to correct them for next season. Yes, I am absolutely planning on doing both Great Lakes 100 mile races next season, not to mention an Ironman. Or 2. And some 50K running races. Yes, this race opened my eyes to the world of distance racing and the great feeling that comes with it.
There are so many people I need to thank for this race, for this season, its been a real treat, eye opening, humbling and lots of fun. My coach, Jennifer Garrison, I can't say enough. Thank you isn't enough. You didn't just put the plan in place, you believed that there was more in me that I saw, and you brought it out of me.
My sponsors, Inov-8, Gobie H2O, Athletic Recon, SKINS, Rudy Project, the Bike Shop Glen Ellyn -Rich and Drew, can't thank you enough for everything with my bike, and so much more, RX Bar, Serfas, all of you, I know I'm missing some, but all of you were instrumental in this. And a big thanks to my Gram, my source of inspiration, my nieces for the constant source of laughter this season, not to mention great homemade cards after my races to congratulate me, I treasure them all. Thanks to my friends and family - you know who you are, you guys kept me UNSCARED, and motivated me to do more. I am humbled and thankful for all of you.
I do want to add - for those looking for a long course tri or du, please, please check out this race. There are 2 of them - one in June in Ohio, then October in New York. Extremely well run, well organized, safe, fun, challenging, everything you want from a long race.
That's all for today. Gotta watch the Bears. Its football season. I'm looking forward to watching more of it.
Stay Strong,
Guy
