English
I have to say that up to now just about everything has gone right for Team Wiggle Tandem. Our sponsors and crew have been phenomenally supportive and with a steady diet of training and the honing of our knowledge of records and each other as riders, it couldn’t have been too much more on song.
However neither of us is in the first flush of youth and inevitably injury has come upon us both as we have ramped up the intensity and the hours. In the space of 10 days the collective Team Wiggle Tandem medical sheet has racked up a knee injury, a slightly torn left Achilles and a crash resulting in heavily bruised chest and hip.
Specialist knowledge and treatment is absolutely key to both containment and eventual treatment of any problems that have cropped up during this project and Peta McSharry at Sports Massage Zone in conjunction with coach Colin Bachelor of Total Cycle Coach have swung into action to make sure that with only around a month to go until the Side to Side, everything humanly possible can be done to keep 2 aging bodies together and improving.
A switch to Speedplay pedal systems for Jez seems to have vastly diminished the strain on his right knee. The process of active pedalling analysis included video analysis on a static trainer and slow and careful adjustment of the cleat and stroke pattern until the pain began to easy, fascinating stuff.
The left Achilles tendon tear will prove more problematic but even so I have to say that I am not too disappointed in either what level of fitness I had exhibited last week in Snowdonia with two 8 hour rides and a 10 hour under our belts, even after a heavy crash into a stone wall that left me gasping for air.
Now in Nice on the Endura training camp, there are an awful lot or bike riders kicking their heels as huge storm waves batter the seafront and the walls of the Roche Marina Hotel, making long rides a waste of time for the boys, especially those desperate to avoid any situations that might lead to injury before tomorrow’s Tour du Haut Var race. Jez however, being the ‘wee hard man’ of Islay still put in 5 hours while I could appreciate the interior comforts of the hotel and a little remedial work on the ankle.
So what happens if injuries plague the team right up until the day of an attempt? Well such is the nature of record breaking that if 100% of the circumstances aren’t 100% right on any one day…you just don’t go. I am still slightly envious of the young bucks around us who tomorrow will line up to duel with the cream of French racing but the more professionals we come into contact with as Team Wiggle Tandem the more it’s apparent that there is still huge respect and regard for riders who train and ride for those old and well regarded records and playing the long game is all part of the romance and the science of record breaking.
Keep riding. Be safe
DH