English
Well, the season is over for me in a dramatic end! Instead of doing the 4th and final 220 Evening Race at Dorney Lake last Wednesday I spent the evening in ER being poked and prodded after I came off the Focus Izalco Chrono. Lucky for the Focus I cushioned it’s fall so it only has a few minor scratches. My body on the other hand is missing some skin, has some impressive bruises and I still can’t straighten my left arm.
As always I catch the train to Slough from Paddington to get to the race and then cycle out to the lake. I was on my way out there and it was cold and wet and I was debating with myself if I should just turn around and go home rather than risking it as I have a real aversion to riding in the rain. I decided to ride to the race start and check it out, I also had some friends racing so wanted to say hi to them.
I was 500m from the start of the race and was crossing onto the path that goes along the side of the lake and slipped. The shock of hitting the ground was quickly replaced with a sickening feeling of what I may have done to the Focus. I ignored the gaping hole in my rain jacket and the blood running down my arm to pick up the Focus and give it a check over. After a few minor adjustments to the brakes I got back on and rode to the start. By the time I got there the adrenaline had started wearing off and I was starting to feel pretty rough.
I went and saw the St John’s Ambulance guys who cleaned me up and sent me off to hospital with a suspected fractured elbow. What followed was an interesting evening watching people from all walks of life come in and out of the ER, some with their entire extended families in tow. A sore arm as you can imagine is pretty low on the priority list in ER and knowing this I wasn’t getting cranky about having to wait, unlike some other patients who would pounce on the Dr’s as they came out to get the next patient. After X-rays, examinations and 3 hours of my life I won’t get back, The Dutchman and I were sent home with my arm in a sling and a warning to be more careful in future.
This is the first time since I was ill with viral meningitis and post viral chronic fatigue (PVCF) that I haven’t been able to do any sort of exercise for more than a week. For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you would know that I was told 4 years ago I would never lead a normal life again and that I would have to learn to live with PVCF and accept things like not being physically able to walk up a flight of stairs, walk more than 100m without sitting down to rest or structuring my day in such a way to accommodate the 12 to 14 hours of sleep I needed. If nothing else, this injury serves as a good reminder what a gift it is to not only have the will, but also the physical ability to be active and to do the simple things like go for a run when you feel like it.
My arm is getting better with each passing day and I am hoping to go for a short run by the end of the week and be back on my bike by the beginning of next week. I am leaving on Friday to spend a week in the Alps with 10 others cycling so I will either be able to do it, or I will be getting to know the van driver a lot better!
Happy training and be careful!
Cx