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

So on Sunday I headed off to the IVCA race. As I approached the sign-on location the weather progressively worsened. By the time I got there it was pretty miserable and my back was stiffening - so I turned round and headed home! I did a 25 minute WB session that evening and yesterday was out for a 2 and a half hour spin to help rebuild some base (with no particular issues other than the shoulder and wrist playing up after an hour or so). I'm aiming at a couple more lengthy spins ahead of returning to racing next week

Tuesday was the final IVCA midweek event of the year, a 20km circuit TT. This was to be only my second "proper" TT of the year. Alas my shoulder and in particular wrist suffered as it did in the previous outing in May. I ended up spending a couple of short spells sat up to relieve the arm a bit, although by the end I was barely gripping at all with my right hand. Still the legs had a half-decent workout

Then on Wednesday it was my first club league event since another TT, albeit on the roadbike to protect the arm, back in April. This was a Corkagh Park race over 30 mins + 3 laps, the "B" race within the club league

Managed to sit in throughout, although clearly was not finding as much shelter as possible giving myself a bit of room by sitting a couple of feet outside the main "line" for most of the race. NP over 34 mins was far better than anything I've done all year at 277w. I didn't position myself well for the final sprint and finished 4th. Another 20m or so and I reckon I could have got 2nd, but again it was the wider workout I got that pleased me.

So onto today. I've a couple of marshal duties between now and the end of the season and this was to be my final RR of the year. Alas it was not to be as someone deliberately rammed the back of my car (not once but twice) on the way over to sign on for the IVCA race. Was in shock after that and after a visit to the local Garda station to report everything (the other driver drove off making it a hit and run) I headed back home. At this stage I don't feel as if there is much in the way of physical damage, but with all the damage already to my neck, shoulder, arm and back it may take some time for any symptoms to become apparent if there was any whiplash.

The weekend had been planned with military precision. Originally I had entered all 5 events at the World Track Masters but after the hit & run incident a couple of months back I had cut it back to the first 3 events. The scratch on Saturday, the TT on Sunday, and the pursuit on Monday.

Wednesday was spent travelling over to Manchester. On Thursday there was a start gate session at 4pm, followed by an evening of Europa League football at Old Trafford. Friday was all about setting up in the "team" pen and a 2 hour open session in the evening. However I kept that session short, using it as a warm-up and testing the pursuit and bunch race set-ups.

Then onto Saturday. I had been very nervous about indoor bunch racing against unknown opponents as my confidence had taken a big backwards step with the RTA. I consoled myself with the option of simply hanging off the back and dropping out if I got twitchy in the race. First though there was Colin Lynch's world record to witness.

I had a Dolan Track Champion bike "resident" an the Velodrome and had set that upon the turbo. However when I was going to start my warm-up I saw the seat post clamp was cracked. The onsite mechanic did some quick repairs, but what I did not realise was the clamp is integrated into the frame, so basically that frame is now kaput

Then the turbo didn't work. I found a screw on the floor and tried fixing it. Alas there was also a washer missing so I needed to head back to the mechanic to get something to hold everything together!

There were over 40 signed on meaning in my heat we would have 21 riders going for 12 places in the final. The last thing I wanted though was to race again that evening, so getting into the final was never part of the plan. However I was not going to turn down an opportunity should one arise

The race was short - only 20 laps (5km), and I quickly settled in. I knew the 2 safest places were either somewhere near the front or somewhere hanging off the back. I went with the former and stayed in the front third or so until about 6 laps when 2 guys pushed on. I joined them but one was quickly back into the bunch leaving the 2 of us out front. The bunch was back with us after another 3 laps or so though. Still I had time to sit in and recover. Then with 5 or 6 laps to go I found myself at the front. Didn't really want to be there and slowed down for a lap or so before a large group came round and broke away. I pushed on for a couple of laps but it was clear the front group would swallow up all the qualification places so I rolled in last (well at least ahead of the guy who DNS!)

Sunday morning, 3am, I wake up. The left ear is playing up. It's swollen and sore. This has now happened 5 times since the accident. It became a very uncomfortable night and indeed I was not really up to much throughout the day. Another trip to Old Trafford did ensue as my TT was not going to be until nearly 7pm. By the time I came out of the match I was pretty much resigned to not racing. Headed over to the track anyway but was not feeling very well.

Monday morning I was due to sign on about 9am, but woke up around 2, this time the other ear had, almost literally, blown up. Another uncomfortable night ensued, and again I was in no condition to race

Again I headed off to the track. One of my teammates had a problem. His stem meant his bars were illegal. My Scatto bars are shallower and I lent them to him. That must have jinxed him as in his repechage he came up against one of the Irish guys. They came together in the final bend and my bars took a bit of a battering - not as much as my teammate though.

Anyway, now on the ferry heading back to Dublin. the way this weekend's gone I guess there's a fair chance it could sink....

(in the meantime I might just scour the velodromeshop.net to see what they have in frames and bars)

A bit of retail therapy has been prescribed so a replacement Dolan Track Champion Frame is now on order along with some track bars....

In other news I went back to the eye surgeon this morning. He had to do some further laser surgery as the retinal tear had not been completely sealed last time. Was very painful this time. At least the ears are starting to settle down.

Hopefully I'll be back on a bike some time over the weekend (assuming the nosebleeds don't get much worse!!)

....last weekend in Newport

1st up the sprint. Time was a pretty poor 14.32s making me slowest in my age category and ensuring rapid exit after the first round and reperchage. Then it was the points race - 10km with sprints every 10 laps

The race started with 15 participants. I stayed with the group, albeit once or twice having to close gaps, until the 1st sprint. I was trailing at the back and the 3 leaders pulled up after the sprint. They didn't look properly and forced another rider higher up the track. There was yet another rider outside all of them and as we came into the back straight he lost control as he was forced up to the fence. It all unfurled about 10m in front of me and initially there was a feeling of panic. The rider came off and quickly slipped down the track bringing down a couple of other riders. Unfortunately it was the shallowest part of the track and his bike was slower coming down. I was high enough up to miss it all but there was carnage as other riders crashed into his bike. One guy was very seriously injured and there was a 90 minute wait as he was attended to on the inside of the track before the ambulance eventually arrived to take him to hospital. Alas it all brought back bad feelings for me particularly as head injuries and a broken jaw was mentioned along with other possible fractures to his ribs. News the following day was not as bad as I had feared and hopefully he'll make a full and rapid recovery.

The race restarted but there were only 10 of us left in and I focussed pretty much on self preservation. We received a lecture from the commissaire after the event as one or two riders were still being a bit reckless in not looking before changing line.

Got dropped a few laps before the penultimate sprint but got back on as the eased up after it. Think I finished 8th, but most importantly in one piece.

Sunday started with the pursuit. Wasn't feeling too good probably an accumulation of an unhealthy environment at the London 6 Day on Thursday and a very warm and close atmosphere within the Velodrome on Saturday. Sinus problems were not helping and I was pretty bunged up that morning. Anyway I was always wanting to do the pursuit and TT as they were solo events. Had geared down for the pursuit and managed my pacing a lot better then normal. However I still felt quite fresh at the end and could have gone a lot harder. Was certainly disappointed with my time which was just shy of 2m 50s as I'd been hoping to knock 10s off that. However I did seem to be suffering from a bit of a head cold and guess I can't complain too much about the time.

Stayed with the same setup for the TT and again was a bit disappointed not to go a bit faster than the 43s or so that I recorded. However my power records were half decent and I seem to have lost a bit of time in both standing starts (which were held rather than out of starting gates)

I then packed up and headed back for the evening ferry as I really didn't fancy the scratch race given the events in the points race and the way I was feeling.

Still have another LVRC event planned for Derby in 3 weeks, then in for the sinus op the following week. Went to see the shoulder specialist this morning and am now also booked in for some keyhole surgery at the end of January. 2 lots of surgery will certainly curtail my winter training but with the World track masters moving to LA next year I think I will be prioritising the GBR Masters and IVCA and LVRC championships all of which take place from the end of June onwards. Hopefully I'll have time to regain racing fitness by then.

So the disappointment of not racing today adds to a number of other disappointments and missed targets during the year. After a promising start things went downhill half-way through the year at the GBR Track Masters. I really thought this was going to be the "comeback" year, but continuing physical issues (affecting eyes, ears, sinuses, shoulders and back/sciatica - even recently succumbed to a black big toenail!!) suggest otherwise. I'll probably get on the Wattbike ahead of the sinus surgery next week if the back eases, then once over that operation I'll try and get some base miles in ahead of the shoulder operation at the end of January.

That all means a bit of a late start to next season which is probably not a bad thing. There will be no World Track Masters for me in 2017, but my season is still largely back-loaded with the GBR Masters in late June/early July, IVCA Champs probably in September and the LVRC Champs in October. Hopefully I'll be firing on all cylinders by the time these events crop up.

Did another WB session a week after the operation, but that made me realise I really wasn't ready for anything strenuous. Indeed when I got back to work a couple of weeks ago I was simply not up to anything when I got home each evening. So it was not until earlier this week that I managed to get back onto the WB, with a couple of 30 minute sessions.

Today I got out on the road for the first time since the sinus operation. I was noticing my breathing more than usual, but that was probably because I was trying to breath through my nose more. I'm clearly still quite congested though and it didn't feel much, if any, better than it had before the operation. I'm sure it will continue to improve though

Whilst I've been off the road bike I had noticed the shoulder was not as troublesome as previously. I was wondering if it was actually starting to improve. Any hopes on that front were dashed today as it became quite uncomfortable perhaps 10 minutes in. I had to rest the right arm regularly during the ride, and the shoulder was noticeably worse than it has been. I guess it confirms I've made the right decision to try and get that sorted next month

Then there's the eyes - they have been bothering me for some time now and I saw the specialist early in November. I was not due to head back until February but due to increased instances of "floaters" I had to pay another visit to the specialist last week. He said everything's OK at present but it's a "dynamic" situation so I would need to head back before the next appointment in February if I encounter more problems.

Hence there remain a number of health issues I need to be conscious of, and it's a matter of trying to tick over for now - certainly until after the shoulder operation.

Had a few after the big accident, but they had settled down then became much more active after the guy rammed into the back of my car in August

Had a detached retina over 30 years ago. They can be caused by bits of the retinal wall coming away and creating a tear as it tugs at the retina. That tear can then grow resulting in the retina coming away from the wall of the eye.

Back in September they found a retinal tear (the other eye to the one suffering the detachment). I suspect that was caused by a piece of the retinal wall coming away and tugging at the retinal wall. They did urgent laser surgery to try and seal it there and then, but had to do a bit more a month later as it had not fully sealed. It's possible that the laser surgery disturbed more stuff and I've noticed a few more floaters in that eye since then. However a couple of days before I saw the specialist in November I noticed a very large floater in the eye that suffered the original detachment. Since then I've notice much more "activity" in the field of vision in both eyes. Partly it's a "sweeping" motion which may indicate something that's still attached to the retinal wall, and if it comes away could potentially cause another tear

The other factor is age, and these things are much more common as you get older. Clearly though the amount of trauma my head has suffered over the past 3 years has not helped