Monday 11 March 2013

Hello, I'm Crashy Cameron

We all know confidence is a must. And some would say there is no such thing as too much. But after six years of track racing in Invercargill, and not a single crash, I'm quite certain my confidence to ability ratio had become a little disproportionate. I was under the deluded impression that I could squeeze myself through any gap I wanted to and somehow - through a mixture of good balance and dumb luck - stick it. So when I went barreling between two bikes with little or no more than twenty centimetres separating them, it never occurred to me that I would finish up head-butting the ground and grinding half the skin off my hand in the process.

So my Elite Omnium Championships came to a very abrupt, and very painful, end, through no fault but my own. Lesson learned; I am not invincible.
It was a disappointing conclusion to my track season, but it's just part of the agreement we make when we jump on our bikes and race around slippery wood at forty degree angles. Shit happens.

I decided to make a detour on my way home from Invercargill and spend a week in Christchurch, for no reason other than to spend quality time with some of the people there and ride some different roads. A big Thank You to my main girl Maddi Campbell, Mumma Cazza and Murray the dog, for looking after me and playing Annabel Langbein in the kitchen each night. And also to Jason Crashy Christie for making the week even better. Injury and a general absence of road fitness meant that I participated in the Tour of Canterbury only as a spectator/tyre pumper/terrible mechanic, which was, in some ways, a nice change to sit back and experience the sport from an outside perspective. And with the weather that Christchurch presented on Day Two, no one heard me complaining from the backseat of the car.

So where to next? 
A full winter in New Zealand is far from appealing after the past two years' escapes to the North, so plans to chase the sun again this coming season are starting to come together... Now it's just a matter of bulking up the bank account so I don't end up stranded somewhere on the other side of the world, living in a house made of lycra and bike boxes. Until then, I will be racing the Benchmark series for Altherm, which should fill the otherwise vast and barren winter with some decent racing to preoccupy myself.

Ciao for now,
Cassie

 PS. Forget getting lean - recent studies have shown that the secret to climbing is carrot cake and deep fried Mars Bars. Ay Jason