I'm training hard, hitting the numbers and making sacrifices. The sacrifices are worth it because I’m making gains. My form is as good as it’s ever been, I have over-come the language barrier and settled in with my new team in France very well. It’s the opening stage race of the season (Bassor de Basque) and the season ahead is filled with possibilities. Targets which seemed implausible are beginning to seem realistic and distance dreams and aspirations are coming into focus. A winter of hard training and clean living is paying off.
The course today is hilly. Everyone knows the importance of good position into the major climb of the day. The race can be won or lost at this point. Many scenarios play in my head as we approach the climb but I never consider the twist of fate which awaits. I am nestled into my team-mates wheel as we jostle for position when my senses are overloaded with the unmistakable sounds and smells of an impending crash. I reach for the brakes but it’s too late. Boom! Head over heels I go. My landing is inauspicious – upside down and on my back. Instinct tells me to get back up and get into the race. I try to move but something is different this time.
It’s hard to know what to feel when you crash. You hear so many well wishing clichés – its part of the game, it happens, bones will heal, etc. Initially there is an out poring of sympathy from family, friends and well wishers. The first few weeks after the crash were very painful. I had limited mobility, poor morale and an unspecified period of convalescence.
Broken Scapula, Collar Bone and a two Ribs.
Once the initial pain subsided and the prognosis was clearer what was harder to deal with than the legacy of injuries was the thought of re-building fitness that took months to build, only for it to be destroyed in an instant. But as the cliché goes – ‘re-build we must’.
The recovery period, thus far, has been extremely tedious. My first sessions back were with one arm in a sling, in an adapted upright position, indoors and less than thirty minutes in duration. Each day I’ve progressed and I hope to resume full road training in the next couple of weeks.
The enforced layoff has meant I need to re-evaluate my goals for the season. The Ras was a major target for me before but now I will either skip it completely or ride it as preparation for races later in the season. The French season runs for longer than the domestic one so I have plenty of time to re-build fitness and make my 2012 season one to remember – for the right reasons.
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