Four days, and counting!

That's how long until my first race back, and I am a little excited! It will be my first race on the "weapon" and will hopefully make the last 7 weeks spent training on the ergo in the shed worth it!

I took the new bike out on the weekend to check the set up and make sure everything was all set for racing on. And, with only one slight mechanical issue requiring minor adjustment to the rear derailleur, it was perfect. Not only does this bike look fast, it goes fast! It was such a great feeling to a) not just be out of the shed on a bike but b) to be on a bike that just felt like it wanted to go fast! Seriously, I cannot wait to race this bike on the weekend.

Am also pleased to report that I wasn't as apprehensive about being out on the road as I thought I may have been. To bring some of you up to speed... about 2 months ago I was hit by a car while out training on my bike (car failed to give way to me on a roundabout). On the whole I was pretty much OK, except I had broken my left wrist in about 7 places in both the ulna and the radius. Other than that, some minor lacerations and a lot of bruising to my lower body. I spent 3.5 days in hospital- 2 days waiting for surgery and then recovering. The open reduction, internal fixation, where they put a metal plate and 7 screws in, took 4.5 hours. They had originally thought it was going to be about 1.5 hours of surgery but it was much worse than anticipated when they opened it up. The image on the left is a scan of the X-ray taken post-op.


After that there was a lot of frustration as I struggled to get things done with one hand! In the end I was in a cast for 4 weeks and a splint for 2. Once the splint went on, physio started to get the movement back in the joint which had pretty much seized up. I had about 2.5 weeks off training and then started to smash it up on the ergo 5 days a week and in the gym the other 2 days. The splint has been off for almost 3 weeks and the range of motion in my wrist has improved dramatically, to the point where I was allowed to get back on the bike a week earlier than anticipated. I still don't have complete movement in my wrist, but it is getting better and I am starting to be able to bear weight with my left hand again. It also stands up to being on the bike pretty well, so long as I steer clear of the big bumps!
The image on the right is the 3 inch scar on my left arm that makes me look like a bit of an emo! There were 12 stitches along there after the plate had been put in.



That's all for now. Next time should be a race report!!

Take care and have a great day ;)