The worst moment of any mountain bike race is when you see a huddle of people at the side of the road and someone you know calls out to you to stop because they know you're a doctor. Thankfully, this time it was my husband who ran out to me, so at least I knew that he was ok. Also, fortunately, my team mate was awake and alert despite going over the bars in a big crash and smashing his head into concrete. His helmet certainly saved his white matter. As people whizzed by, another teammate stopped who was a nurse and another guy stopped who is a ski patrol medic. Ben went and got our friend who is a paramedic who was at the start area. We had a great team. The volunteer fire fighter couldn't figure out how to use the oxygen tank... in retrospect, it's funny that the ski patroller had to show him how to fill the non-rebreather.

In the end, all were fine, but I only got to ride the first 1.1 km of a 60km race. But, it probably saved my ass, because I was riding despite being sick and now I feel awful. It drove home how important it is to review basic first aid if you're a doctor - no matter if you're a pathologist or a gynecologist, people trust you to know what you're doing.