I was in that second group, up until 71km, when a touch of wheels brought the guys right in front of me to the ground. Emergency braking prevented me from plowing into them, but some contact was still made, and I did quite an impressive display of an 54yr old doing an involuntary split. After untangling the bikes from each other, I was left behind, trying to straighten my bars/wheel, with the group disappearing up the road. I set off after them, but could not really get going. In the ride I noticed my brakes rubbing, and not even opening the brakes all the way stopped the rubbing. At the left turn at the fruitseller 4 way stop, I gave up on my chase, and just continued on at my own pace, smack bang in no mans land, no group behind me, and "my" group getting smaller up the road. Two young guns from L-O caught me and offered to "tow me back to the group", but they were to strong for me, and after a few kilometers I told them to carry on with their own race. I struggled on my own, with cramps starting to set in. Right on top the last climb at Windmeul the rest of L-O came flying past, but I had nothing left to get in their bus. I finished about 15min after the group I was in at the time of my fall, slightly bummed at "what could have been" When putting my bike in my car, I noticed the one brake pad was forced sideways in the crash, and was rubbing against the tire. This must have contributed in me not getting going properly again. 2nd fall/crash I was involved in, in three races.
