Lap Three... my ribs hurt because of what happened on lap three

the Baker's Dozen course was short and the laps were fast so we started off doubling up laps for each racer
Young Buck Thomas McKay lead the charge... putting in some painfully fast laps
then Cargo Mike took the baton and followed with some of the same
my times were good... but no where near what these kids were pulling
they are faster on the bike... faster and more technical riders... there is not much I can do about that
all I can do is deliver my best

on my second set of two I left out feeling pretty good
was starting to get more familiar with the course and was trying to trust the bike more
the voice of friend and fellow Clydesdale Chris Redlack echoed in my brain... trust your tires... hands off the brakes... don't waste so much energy
so... I was trying to trust the tires and conserve energy by flowing through the turns rather than hammering into the turn only to break hard and accelerate out of the turns
this seemed to be going pretty well... but I am not sure... as I never checked any of my lap times through the race

about 2/3 through the third lap a few turns after making a pass around another racer it happened
not sure exactly what caused it
but I went from arcing a turn to launching superman style from the bike
no time to yell OH SHIT
yet there was enough time for me to prevent one injury and cause another
rather than trying to break my fall with extended arms and risk a dislocated shoulder I retracted my arms to my body
then slammed to the earth like a sack of potatoes

it was a painful connection
I my landing was lucky... I did not land on rocks... I did not get pierced by a stick... I landed... well... I was not so sure where I landed... but I knew I landed hard... I felt like I had been hit by a truck
without much more than checking to see that nothing was broken on the bike or the body and I was back on the bike
breathing was tough...
my right side hurt... bruised or broken ribs... sore for sure
I ignored all the words in my head that had me wanting to quit
it was early in the race... this was my third lap... the first lap of my second back to back
I pushed back all the voices in my head that were trying to convince me to weasel out
I rode my bike...
that lap finished and I started another

not stalling between laps
not risking a chance for the demons in my head to get me off the bike

when that set of laps was over I took a moment to access things
bruised... maybe not broken
nothing seemed to be breaking the skin
sore... but not so sore that I needed to bow out of the game