It was the summer of 2011 and life was good. In anticipation of a late-season cycling trip to the Dolomites, I'd been steadily building fitness since January. One Saturday, bored of my local Cotswold rides, I drove down through Devon to run the spectacularly pretty but brutally hilly 24km Sidmouth to Beer coastal path. Despite the 2,000m of ascent, I remember gliding effortlessly along the cliff-tops that day with just the gulls for company, wheeling above me in a brilliant blue sky.
Back in Sidmouth, lounging in a cafe, I became aware of a strange sensation in my chest. It was as if an agitated finch was trapped in my upper ribcage. Still wearing my heart rate monitor, I watched my heart rate yo-yo between 70bpm and 280bpm. I ran 50m up the beach hoping it would reset. It didn't. In fact, I was now feeling positively unusual. Fearing the worst, I walked back to the café and asked the waiter to call an ambulance.
Two hours later I was lying in a hospital bed in Exeter, encircled by junior doctors taking turns to peer at me, then at the folds of thermal paper spewing from a nearby ECG machine. "The trace, it's all over the place," blurted one doctor with enthusiastic incredulity. "Can I go home?" I asked meekly. "You're kidding, right?" he replied. "It's your heart." I was in my mid-40s, fit and healthy, but I was about to be diagnosed with a heart condition, something I considered unthinkable at the time. It was an arrhythmia called atrial fibrillation, which according to NHS estimates afflicts around 1.4 million people in the UK, about 2.5% of the population.
In good company
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
CLASSIC BIKE COLNAGO SUPER
A trailblazing bike immortalised by Merckx and Saronni
"Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive"
...or that Bernard is doing his weekly shop
AN EXPERT'S TAKE ON... SADDLE SELECTION
Crucial advice to guide your next purchase
JUST A NUMB#R?
Approaching a landmark birthday, Charlie Graham-Dixon explores how ageing affects cycling performance and what can be done to stay ahead of the curve
RURAL PERIL
More UK cyclists are killed on rural lanes than on busy city streets. Rob Kemp investigates why and what can be done to keep us safe while riding in the countryside
A BLESSED RIDE THROUGH THE FOREST OF BOWLAND
Forgoing cloak, cassock and cross, Trevor Ward goes in search of the holy roads that helped make a Tour winner
Dame Sarah Storey claims road and 19th gold double
More success for Team GB's Paralympians in Paris, but Storey slams women's time trial course
Roglič matches Vuelta win record
Slovenian takes fourth Tour of Spain title after hunting down O'Connor's lead, writes Adam Becket
Williams crowned Tour of Britain champion
Welshman leads home resurgence at the stage race to crown an Israel-Premier Tech clean sweep, reports Tom Davidson in Felixstowe
CLASSIC BIKE CLAUD BUTLER OLYMPIC ROAD
Iconic British brand's Holdsworth-era road bike