Oh the agony. Oh the embarrassment.

So kiddo had the cool idea to head to the BMX track to practice a little. I was actually a little surprised-- it was one of those obviously good ideas in the category of "Why didn't I think of that?"

So that's what we did.

Second lap I decide that I need to be pedaling UP the rollers. Isn't that what I was told? "Just keep powering through"? I think I remember seeing the fast guys just pedaling like crazy UP the rollers. Anyway-- now I can't remember.

I can't even remember what happened. I think I must have hit my knee on the handlebar. Then maybe my foot came unclipped from the pedal? After that all I really remember is thinking "Oh flapdoodle... I'm going to crash in the berm. I hope this won't hurt."

Then I became aware of a searing pain in my thigh, like a hot poker just being stabbed right into the soft, tender, meaty part of my leg.

It was one of those sudden surprising injuries that just takes your breath away. You don't dare stop just then because if you do you'll likely just sit down and burst out bawling the pain is so intense.

So I manage to wobble my way around the rest of the track and then I stop at the foot of the starting gate and take stock.

I have a tire burn on the OUTSIDE of my left knee. Outside? Who'd that get there? Where did my knee go? What? And my thigh? Oh wow. I look down, sure that I'll have to pull out the flaming arrow that was shot through my leg. What hit my leg? I notice that the point of the saddle is twisted to the left a few degrees.

What? So my leg got stuck under the front wheel AND the saddle? This is one of those weird anatomical impossibilities. I don't even understand how it happened but the point of my saddle stabbed the inside of my thigh. I guess I'm lucky I didn't lose my leg! But I sort of wish I did-- surely it would hurt a lot less than the pain I was experiencing right now!

So for the rest of the practice session pedaling draws a line of fire along the inside of my thigh. I take it as easy as I can.

Stupid, silly, little mistakes in technique always seem to hurt far worse than the actual physical injury. Then I started thinking about how old I am and if I'm behaving foolishly, recklessly. Last few races I've been talking with some of the "old" racers (early 30's) and they remarked about the possibilities of injuries and old bodies and it just made me feel like an ancient, has-been dilettante. Isn't BMX a kids' sport? What am I doing here? Am I going to break myself zooming around the track? Then I realize that it's just a bunch of indulgent self-pity as I approach my 40th year on Planet Earth. Every time I race BMX I'm racing against guys that are older and far far faster than me. I race the pure sweet hell of cyclocross. I'm not too old for anything. 40 more years and maybe I'll be too old to ride crazy crap. Not too old to just ride though.

Did I just have my mid-life crisis? Was that it? Is that what it's suppose to feel like?

Anyway.

I hope my leg will recover sufficiently so that I'll be able to race Tuesday night. The BMX racing season is fast approaching its end around here and I feel like I've just barely gotten started and I don't want to give up any more races than I have to.

Yeah... CX is coming up fast and I'm looking forward to that. First weekend in October and the Crusade series starts up. But I'm not done with summer! I didn't get enough of fun in the sun and hot days. It only stopped raining in June!

Well. Tuesday is going to be sunny. Time to race.