Beasty's sweaty plaster cast - the road to recovery 2014/5/6/7.....

... a year ago today I was looking forward to my first race of the season up in Newry. It was to be on my daughter's birthday - she still keeps reminding me I never wished her happy birthday on the day itself, although tbh by the time I saw her I had no idea what day it was.

The rest is, as they say, history. Much of that history is recounted in this thread or the thread linked in the OP.

The last 12 months have been, to say the least, "challenging" in many ways. A lot of stuff I would not be able to remember but for the fact I actually posted about it on here.

Anyway, at least I am here to tell the story - the more I hear about what happened that day the more I appreciate just how lucky I am.

Initially I was talking about getting back to racing within 2-3 months. Those months passed and I was clearly in no state to do much at all on a bike. However I did start doing the odd Wattbike session and as soon as I got the plaster cast off my wrist I (very foolishly) tried the roadbike, only to realise I had no idea how to stop safely given the state of my arms!

My ambitions moved to simply trying to do the odd race before the end of the season, together with perhaps a couple of track league nights. It was only on finally getting to see a neuro psychologist 3-4 months after the accident that the scale of brain damage I had suffered started to strike home.

So then it was a case of targetting the John Haldane in Newry, due to be held today. Looking at today's weather I'm glad I decided to put off my return a little longer. However having checked about the Newry race I now discover it had been cancelled a couple of weeks ago due to some road works, so maybe I can think about next year for that one:).

Hopefully in a few weeks I will be back racing again. The back's continued to play up this week, and I've hardly done any road work since before XMas. However it is starting to improve and I did an hour on the WB tonight. Interestingly my normalised power was 193w, which is only about 16w behind what I did for 68 mins or so in Newry last March....

.... there have been a number of them on my "journey" to return to racing. With IVCA racing scuppered a few weeks ago, attention turned to the club league which provided an opportunity on Wednesday. We did a recce of the circuit on Tuesday evening. The sun was quite low which concerned me slightly as conditions were forecast to be similar on Wednesday evening. Heading round the circuit there were one or two fast corners which had more than a sprinkling of gravel, making me a little nervous. Then we came to a very narrow road - certainly not a regular route for traffic as evidenced by the grass/moss growing in the middle of the road. Having said that any traffic was very unlikely to disturb it as the road was barely a car's width wide. There was a slight incline and we were heading straight towards the sun. My mind was made up - there was no way I was going to start my return on Wednesday.

So today it was the 2nd IVCA race of the season, which I decided was a much more appropriate occasion for my return to racing. I've already posted about it here. It definitely felt hard, but I did try and go out of my way to put some effort in. The slight disappointment was I coudl definitely feel discomfort in both elbows as well as the wrist. The right arm in particular remained painful for an hour or two after the race. I thought I had left all that behind me a few weeks ago as I had built up time on the road, but guess the extra effort today contributed to the problems. However I did not feel it hampered me much and it's certainly not a reason to stop me racing.

Next up it's hopefully the track league on Wednesday. I may start doing one or two TTs in a week or two's time also.

Began the week with big hopes of making a mark either at the track or in the club league, but in reality all that I've proven is how way off I am in terms of "proper" racing fitness

A bit of an excuse at the Duane Delaney Track GP in that I am convinced a couple of those guys ahead of me in most of the events should have been in the next group up. Having said that my efforts in the timed events were pretty crap - would like to think a lot of that is down to technique

My time in the Flying 200 was a very poor 14.7s - I've done 14.1s at Sundrive in the past - really did not get enough speed up on the back straight with the tailwind and suffered when I did hit the home straight and headwind. Having said that I was 0.5s behind the person ahead of me so would never have moved further up the rankings. Taking into account the fact I almost certainly had a tailwind when setting that time of 14.1s, I was probably not much behind that performance. Think that put me in 7th after the first event

Really cannot remember much about the kilo dash, other than I finished 4 of the 6 in my heat

Highlight of the day for me was the scratch. It went off at a crazy pace with some of the youngsters really trying to lay down a marker. The group came back together again and then someone had another dig. This continued for most of the race, but by the last lap we were pretty much all together, with me sat at the back. The speed was certainly picking up and 3 youths broke away with the rest of us desparately trying (and failing) to keep up. I was still at the back coming into the final bend, but then started making my move round the outside. OK I had some drafting benefit (although I was taking the longest route), but I reckkon I beat my flying 200 time by well over half a second as I picked all but one of the remaining group off to take 5th place - about 6 inches short of 4th

The 500 was a complete disaster, with my start being particularly abysmal. If I had got it right getting up to speed I should have lost about 6s compared to my "cruising" speed - as it was I lost 9-10s or so. My start was all over the place - partly down to my complete lack of practice at standing starts for about 18 months. I also had concerns about the weakness of my right arm and I knew the extra weight gained since my crash would make getting up to speed more difficult.

Anyway, I finished 7th in the group and really have no complaints given the quality of some of the opposition on the day.

Then on Wednesday I made my long awaited return to the club league at Corkagh Park. I thought my position in limit have me a real chance. There were maybe 8 of us in the group but that dropped by half over the first couple of laps. I put in a couple of extra long stints, with at least one full lap leading. We maintained our lead over the other group for perhaps 10 mins or so over the (supposed) 25 min + 3 laps distance. Even over the next 5 minutes their group whiuch was at least twice as big as ours only made a few seconds into our lead. They made further inroads and I tried to up the pace but overcooked it and after my half lap stint I dropped off the group. I hung on for a couple of laps when the other group caught me but my HR was getting very high and I dropped off that group also. The limit group was caught with about a lap to go, but the race had already been extended by a few minutes by that time. If it had run it's proper length they would have stayed clear and I would have had the satisfaction of having helped them (there were 2 youths in the group) on their way

Next week I'm hoping to do the "friendly" track racing at Sundrive on Monday when I may experiment with slightly higher gearing, and will then have about a week off before my next race

... since I update this, so here goes:

On the medical front an MRI scan revealed no tears to the rotator cuff (which I had been fearing) - there is extensive arthritis though. Guess that partly comes with the (age) territory, but a few hard knocks to it hasn't helped. Now heading back to the physio regularly and trying to build up some strength in the shoulder. Was on holiday for a couple of weeks and it dawned on me when throwing stuff for the dog to fetch that I have pretty much lost all strength when throwing overarm.

Heading off to see the eye specialist in a couple of weeks - hopefully nothing serious, but something that definitely needs checking out

The track league evening followingf my last update included a scratch race with some of the faster ("B") group in. I stayed out of trouble as one or two of the 20+ field dropped off. Coming up the home straight every lap I took advantage of the unusual wind direction and on the penultimate crossing of the line I pushed on. Didn't know if anyone was getting on my wheel and fully expected to be swamped in the final straight, but no-one got near and I managed to push up the power curve over that final lap

The following week we had a similar race. I knew everyone would be expecting me to attempt the same and I didn't disappoint. The result though was exactly the same with no-one managing to get near my wheel! Pushed the power curve up a bit more that time. If I could put those efforts into the timed events I woudl probably knock over nearly 2 seconds off my Duane Delaney flying 200 time, and perhaps 6s off my 500TT

I then headed up to Ulster to make my return to competition in their Masters races. Didn't go to plan though as half way through the first lap I lost use of the Di2 on the rear shifters. Took a few minutes poking around the shifters and got them woring again, but the pratting about with it and only having 2 gears available meant the bunch had left me behind and I pulled in at the end of the first lap. The "entertainment" was not finished there though as I failed to spot a large pothole as I was starting up on my way back to the car - must have been doing all of 2 km/h when I came crashing down on my shoulder again - this time the bike took a lot of the damage with the bars breaking.

The following evening I did the Drogheda Wheelers Mark Mullen League on one of the "spares". Think I managed to hang on for a couple of laps but I was only there to check everything was OK after the previous day's "incident" and pulled in ahead of the track evening a couple of days later (nothing too much to note - came close on a couple of sprints in the points race but probably not enough to gain any points - the track endurance stuff is coming on very well though)

Today it was back up North for the Billy Stewart Masters Race put on by Apollo CT. My lack of confidence in groups told big-time and I was dropped on the first corner. I set some new post crash power bests getting back on by the next corner but had nothing left for the slight incline that followed.

Aiming to be back at Sundrive on Wednesday then may do the IVCA Age CP championships on Sunday. I know I won't last 2+ hours but it's all about building confidence racing in groups on the road - hopefully it will stand me in good stead for next year

The previous Rugby World Cup took place since the last IVCA track championships were on. They have in recent times followed Olympic principles with a 4 year gap. That means before yesterday I had been reigning 50-59 pursuit champion for all of 4 years and 2 months...

Got to the track early and after a warm-up we were into the sprint qualifiers. My time of 15.03 was a little disappointing particularly as I showed myself capable of going quite a bit faster when leading the scratch race later on in the day! However it was still an improvement on my only other timed flying 200 from the Duane Delaney earlier in the season when I was 0.7s slower. I know II went to hard in the build up to the effort and clearly need to do a lot of work on technique. that put me 7th in the event (and in a field of .... 7!)

Next up was the 500TT. I had a been blown about a bit as the wind got a bit gusty in the flying 200 so swapped the 5 spoke front wheel for a Zipp 808 and also dropped the gearing from 96.4" to 96.4". As last week in the Leinsters I had a bit of a wobble after about 5s, and my start was generally very poor. I managed to knock 0.3s off last week's time which put me in .... 7th (albeit I was only a fraction of a second away from the next couple of riders)

On to my "main" event - the pursuit. Everyone rode alone meaning no-one had a particular benefit from the wind. Although we had a tailwind in the hoke straight it was a little more sheltered there meaning the wind was generally working against us.

The IVCA are not too fussed about having computers and that meant I could at least keep an eye on how I was doing. I knew I could not get anywhere near my best outdoor time as that was set with wind condition that actually improved times, and was also 3 years ago when I was generally much fitter. I knew I would need to be crossing the finish line first time at 18s or so and thereafter be lapping at 38s.

I was off first. All seemed to be going well when I hit the finish line at just about 18s, although I knew it would have taken the Garmin a second or two to kick in initially. However another lap and I was still on track. However I knew by then I was overcooking it and it turned out subsequently that I had been going at an unsustainable 400w+ for the 2nd half of the first lap. I eased a little and managed to maintain pace at just short of 320w for the rest of the pursuit. I was pretty much at my limit, but also I reckon I could probably have managed another 20w (worth maybe 4s) if I had eased off earlier.

My time was just over 2m 54s. A little disappointing, but still apparently better than anyone else in the group, meaning I am now entering my 5th year of being the "reigning champion":)

Next up the scratch. Our group was combined with the younger group as there were only 2 entries from that group. We would though be competing for different championships. Arguably therefore we did not have to worry about those 2.

Distance was 15 laps or about 7km. Initially one of the younger group pushed on hard followed by another rider who I mistakingly thought was from our group. I therefore closed the pair of them down and sat on their wheels for perhaps 4-5 laps. then they eased up and someone else had a dig. That was closed down, and then another was off the front. I helped reign them in but as the sat up I found myself at the front. I basically stayed there but made sure I was not putting too much effort in.

2 laps out and another from our group had a dig. I had been pretty much in the first 3 all race and managed to get on his wheel. I had no idea how many more were with us, but knew my strength was to go from 400-600m out, so I went at 500. In the back straight into the wind I hit 56km/h. I eased back slightly to leave something for the home straight, but again had no idea if anyone was on my wheel.

Into the home straight and one of the younger group flew past. I let them go and focussed on the line ahead. I could feel others encroaching on my outside and at maybe 50m one drew alongside. I pushed on but he crept ahead to take it by perhaps 6 inches. Still another medal - this time a silver but I'm certainly not complaining

Final event was a team sprint. It was over 6 hours since my first race and this was a bit of a novelty - teams (of 3) had to be aged 135+ years in total (think ours came to over 160). One of our team had decided to leave early so one rider doubled up and led the 2 remaining team members out. Having already raced he still managed to drop me, making it akin to another 500TT. However I probably went just as quick as I had done on the real TT, although it was still slower than the final lap of the scratch

Delighted to have picked up those 2 medals. Clearly some work to be done on sprint events but y track endurance has really built over the second half of the season and is probably not too far adrift of where it was a couple of years ago. Hopefully it all bodes well for next year....

Yeah - it's all down to roundings - was 96.44 and changed it to 96.35....





OK - it went from 96.4 to 94.6:o

(was back up to 96.4 today though (not that it did me much good))

Had a steroid injection in the shoulder on Monday, meaning no cycling for about a week, and I'm officially on the "close season break". So thoughts turn to next year - hopefully that will be more "comeback" than "recovery". Definitely planning to retain a focus on the track, and here are the targets:

Flying 200 - sub 13.5s
500TT - sub 40s
2k pursuit - sub 2m40s

All will only really be achievable indoors, which will probably mean a bit more travelling (and I've already joined up with the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists in the UK!). I'll be more than happy if I get the pursuit and 1 of the other 2.

There are no indoor tracks in Ireland, and I won't get them at Sundrive (unless I get a particularly beneficial wind in the Flying 200!)

With that in mind I've joined up with the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists in the UK (they have no problem accepting non-residents). They have an Omnium event in February and indeed are doing their own nationals this weekend. Those events are at Newport. In addition I aim at doing my first GB Masters at Newport at the beginning of July.

So my season planner for next year, in addition to the track leagues at Sundrive, will hopefully be something along the following lines:

February - LVRC Omnium (Newport)
June - Duane Delaney (Sundrive)
July - GBR Masters (Newport)
September - Leinster Championships (Sundrive)
September - IVCA Championships (Sundrive)
October - World Masters (Manchester)
October - LVRC Championships (Newport)

I'll also be on the lookout for more events, and know the LVRC do a few dedicated training sessions at the track in Manchester

The main difference with this year (in addition to being better prepared as I'll be entering next year in much better nick than I started this year) is I will be getting a lot more indoor track racing in.

That actually starts next weekend when I'm heading off to Newport for my (UK;)) Team Sprint Championships (where I know I'll be well behind everyone else, but it's a chance to meet up with them all as well as spend a bit of time on the track, with 2 sessions booked in Manchester the following week). I'm certainly not expecting to hit my Flying 200 target next weekend as I've been pretty much off the bike taking a break since the World Masters. In addition it's an opportunity to "test out" my trek to Newport and give me an idea of what it's going to entail whenever I head over (which I have done a couple of time previously)

Everything seemed to be going well with the winter training until just over 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately as I was just about to disembark a plane the guy who had been sat next to me managed to drop his cabin baggage ...


.... on my head - almost exactly the same place that took the brunt of the blow last year. Initially I was a bit dazed, but thought I would shake it off quickly. 2 weeks later I was still feeling the effects and was currently feeling as if I was back to the position I was in maybe a year ago. Only now am I feeling as if I'm starting to get over it. I'm expecting further "recovery" to be rapid and hopefully I'll be back fully into the swing of things in the New Year.

I've not risked heading out on the road since that incident, but am planning to give it a go, weather permitting, tomorrow. I've have been on the Wattbike, and there's some good news there. I'm pretty much putting out the same power over shorter to medium periods as I was perhaps last February, so arguably am a couple of months ahead of where I was this time last year. Overlay the loss of 17-18kg, and my w/kg is actually up by well over 15%, with plenty of opportunity to push it up further.

Longer spins have not been really feasible as extended efforts have been making me dizzy. However next year's priorities will once again be the track and perhaps a few 10m TTs, which my current preparation is well suited to. I still need to get a lot of base miles in and that's probably going to be a priority in January.

CramCycle wrote: »

Did you get out? How did it feel?

Didn't - weather was a bit ropey, and so was I. Did an intense WB session that evening instead but was feeling very light-headed after.

Had planned cycling into work today but the downpour and high winds when I woke up put paid to that. Having said that I had a pretty rough day yesterday and scrapped a planned WB session as a result. May give the commute a go tomorrow.

Spent the weekend in Newport, being one of the first "overseas" entrants in the League of Veteran racing Cyclists Omnium championships. I was joined by Orla Hendron who had managed to enter on a day licence. Orla ran away with her category. Was a bit different for me, but the important thing was to get a bit more indoor racing experience. 6 races over 2 days against a relatively small bunch of guys of a similar age was the ideal opportunity to do so.

11 entered my age group, but it would appear 3 of them had second thoughts when they saw my name on the entry list. The fear of embarrassment of finishing behind me in any of the races resulted in them crying off....

So the first race on Sunday was the scratch. 30 laps (7.5km) and it was strung out from the start. Yes very fast, but that made me feel safer with all of us pretty much in single file taking our turns at the front. We managed to drop a couple leaving 6 of us in the lead bunch, but 3 or 4 guys got away shortly after my stint at the front and we had to work hard to get back on. I simply was not confident to keep close enough to the wheel in front and didn't have much left when it came to the final sprint so I trailed in 6th. However my normalised power was 294w over 10 minutes which I was more than happy with - certainly higher than I should have needed if I had held a wheel better.

Next up was the pursuit. We were held at the start and unfortunately my holder simply could not hold me straight so I must have lost a couple of seconds in the start as I dipped down onto the apron of the track. It didn't make much difference overall as I was 4s behind 4th place in a time of 2:46.91.

Final race of day 1 was the elimination. It was supposed to be an endurance event but turned into a sprint when they decided there would be one eliminated each lap - As Sunday would show I'm a pretty poor track sprinter, but at least I was not (quite) last in this event. So I finished day 1 in 6th place with my 2 weakest sprint events starting day 2.

The start of the TT was much better than the previous day's pursuit - this time I had Orla's coach holding me. He nearly dropped me at one point but the hold for the actual start was very stable. However my start was still very tentative and unsurprisingly I finished last in that event

The flying lap was a bit better with my time of 17.48 being slightly faster than when I did a flying 200 on the same track back in November. 7th place leaving me in 7th overall heading into the points race, 2 points ahead of 8th, 2 points behind 6th.

The points scoring in the points race reverted to the "old" basis - 1 point for 1st, 2 for 2nd etc. Hence the actual points scored would not count towards the total. That meant I didn't feel there was much point going for the sprints. We were combined with an older group and I reckoned there would be plenty of others more capable than me going for them. I suspected I was best off trying to simply finish as high as possible in the final sprint.

The first sprint I was dropped and worked hard to get back on. 2nd sprint I was again trailed but this time had some help getting back on. I stayed with the bunch for the 3rd sprint. With 4 laps to go the pace picked up but I stuck with it. 2 laps out and I was feeling strong and went for it. Must have picked half a dozen others off (mostly from the older group) and put out 426w over the final minute. NP over the 14 minutes of the race was 281w and my HR was only 4 off my max. Anyway I was more than delighted with that performance - my best of the weekend

Overall it was a great event and ideal experience for me. Hopefully I'm now well placed for the new season - it's the start of racing for me , whereas it was the culmination of the racing season for some of my opponents and I'm not complaining about my overall 6th place

I reckon after Orla's as well as my own experiences we may well encourage one or two more to head over for some of these LVRC events in the future, particularly as we hopefully progress to getting our own indoor track - these events are great opportunities to get some decent indoor racing in, and I certainly felt very comfortable and safe by the culmination of racing on Monday.

Those experiences made me appreciate starting from gates all the more.

Never held anyone for a start myself and given the state of my shoulder/arm I would not feel confident doing so at present (despite my bulk)