So here’s a run down of my week. Brought to you by the words: Etape Caledonia, Deer, Clavicle, Surgeon, & Alps. And the number 21.7.
I like the Etape Caledonia. I’m not a big fan of pre-registration or the early start but these are small prices to pay for for closed roads, the scenery of Highland Perthshire and a brilliantly organised event. This year was important to me because I wanted to benchmark the value of 5 months of coaching against my performance last year.
Now I know that sportives are a very bad way to decide how fast you are but I’ve been working very hard so I was pretty sure I could beat last year’s 4:34 riding solo so working with a good bunch should make for happy timing… and it did. At 42 miles my average speed was 21.7mph… My delight was tempered with a little guilt as I hadn’t actually seen the front of a bunch or experienced the 41mph gusts first hand, but there was plenty of time to make a mends.
Unless of course I got hit by a red deer who running with the herd and unable to find an alternatvie point to cross the road decided that it should fly over me. Well that was lucky I thought as it did actually travel over my, very quickly assumed, aero position.
But the trouble with herds is herding and flying-deer had a less athletic mate. Now jumping-deer was no slouch, he cleared my bike… but sadly not my aero-tuck. Not quite sure what happened next but it hurt and it put a pretty terminal dent in my average speed…
Turned out be some pretty chunky bruising and a broken collar bone…
The medics checked me over before IMG race organisation got me back to Pitlochry and then delivered my bike to me so that I could make my way to A&E in Perth.
Prior to this it dawned on me that in less than 3 weeks I was due to be riding 5 long days in the Alps. I’m lucky to have good friends in the medical profession and it quickly became clear that my only chance of riding was if a surgeon was prepared to pin the clavicle. This isn’t the norm in the UK with most Orthopedic Surgeons preferring to allow the healing to take its own time – the odds against me were mounting.
My conversation with the Consultant was a negotiation. One that resulted in him referring me to a colleague who was a proponent of pinning.
Now I’m writing with the benefit of hindsight because I did have surgery on my collar bone 4 days ago and as cyclists I feel that there is something I must share with you – If you fracture your clavicle and you want to be active as soon as possible you must get it pinned.
It took 4 days to get to theatre so today represents an excellent primary comparison of the two approaches.
The 4 days without pinning were relatively pain free as long as I restricted the movement of the arm. I couldn’t place any weight on the arm or lift any weight. I could just about get my arm to the horizontal before the pain was prohibitive. I rode my bike on the turbo but couldn’t use my left arm at all. Sleeping was ok.
Today you would not know by looking at me that I’m nursing a broken collar bone. I have pretty much full movement, I can place about 50% weight on the arm when riding the bike (still on the turbo) and I can control the brakes and gears with no pain or restriction. I can lift a water bottle without thinking about it and am only reminded about it when it gets tired sometime in the late afternoon. Sleeping still isn’t easy
My resting heart rate is back to normal today so I trained at a pretty intense level without restriction.
There are risks of course – surgery under general anaesthetic comes with potential complications and if I were to re-break it before it was fully healed it could be messy but balanced against the ability to keep riding I was happy with the decision.
Post surgery care is very straightforward. I have to return in 6 weeks for a check, the stitches dissolve and the wound is protected by a clear ‘glue’ that makes everything very neat and easy to look after.
I love my new clavicle plate… which apparently is titanium. I’m pretty sure it’ll get me to the alps and allow me to function fully in the meantime.
If you find yourself in a similar position I strongly recommend you find a sympathetic surgeon and get pinned… not least so that you can go deer stalking….