DNF =
Doing nothing Fun?
Darn Ninja Fighters?
Dude, Not Funny?
Digital Noise Filters?
Don't Never Fall?
Duke Nuke'm Forever?
Did Not Find?
Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong.
It stands for DID NOT FINISH
What a waste of an Amp energy drink!
That (DNF) was my official place in the 2009 University of Wisconsin Whitewater Road Race. It was a 5.5 mile course through the "hilly" farm country of southern Wisconsin. Our group, the Cat 4/5's, was scheduled to do 7 laps around the course (about 40 miles). There was one substantial climb at the beginning of the loop and then a mostly flat course. It was a perfect day to race, the temperature was great, we had about 40 riders start in our group.
On the 4th lap I got a little behind the group going up the hill. Kyle (Ashleigh's husband) came by and pulled me back up to the group but it took a lot of energy for me to get back with everyone. As we came up to the hill on the fifth lap I knew I was in trouble, I looked at Kyle and said something like "dude, I can't move my legs." He just looked back and said "stay on my wheel!" and proceeded to take off up the hill to catch the group. That would be the last contact I had with anyone in my group until the final 100 meters of that lap. No, I did not catch them. On the contrary, I basically stopped racing and decided to just ride my bike the rest of the way around the loop (4 miles) and be done, rather than riding the last 10 miles by myself. It was actually a nice ride. I got to slow down and really enjoy the scenery, and avoid the horse poop that had piled up in the middle of the road since my last time around the loop. With about 100 meters left another rider came up behind me and we discovered that we had both been in the same race and had both been dropped. We joked about making a sprint finish for the line to see who could DNF first. That was the end of the race for me, but I definitely had a good time and I don't feel too bad about my blaming my poor performance on the health issues I had been facing the last couple months. It definitely knocked me off track as far as my fitness level goes.
It may have ended up being a blessing in disguise that I was sick, and therefore didn't train on my bike and therefore didn't finish the race with the main group. As they came around the last turn and started sprinting toward the finish line, something went wrong and about 10 of the riders ended up on the ground, with at least one landing right on his face. Kyle managed to avoid the carnage by riding into the dirt on the side of the road. But when we saw these guys getting dragged to the finish it was not a pretty site. So, I am definitely grateful that I was not a part of that. Thanks intestines, and Happy Independence Day.
Nice, calm riding for the neutral start (the guy with the red handlebars won the race)
Kyle coming around the turn at what looks to be at least 60 mph
The only guy in the entire race with a yellow bike (Kyle in the background, in orange and blue)
Kyle coming across the finish line in about 15th. Most importantly, he is not one of the 10 laying on the ground in the background, just beyond the camera's view. A quick nod to Jessica King for letting Kyle borrow her bike, thanks Jess!
Kyle and I have some very dedicated fans. They didn't even laugh or make fun of me for not finishing. Well, they do kind of look like they are laughing here.
