It was February 2019, and a decent cyclo-cross season had boosted my confidence for the road season ahead. With a new bike and new coach, I was aiming to gain my second-cat licence while also targeting the BC National Masters road race and circuit champs. My fitness was good, my weight was where it needed to be, and I was in Majorca to ramp up my training. But halfway down a descent, I found myself lying in the road looking at the sky – I still don’t know what happened. My first instinct was to get out of danger, so I went to stand up – and literally couldn’t. Pain like I’ve never felt.
Fortunately a motorist came along and called an ambulance. Later, my Wahoo Elemnt would tell me that I’d hit the road at 25kph. The impact, the doctor told me, had snapped the end clean off my femur. They operated and inserted three screws in my leg. At 53, I was ‘too young’ for a hip replacement – though it was physiologically warranted. As it was, with a bolted-together ball joint, my comeback would take far longer. Two weeks after getting home to Surrey, I was still in a wheelchair wondering whether I’d ever ride a bike again – but something deep inside me told me I would. Even though I’d heard it said, in relation to Chris Froome, that “no one comes back from a broken femur”, I was set on being the exception.
この記事は CYCLING WEEKLY の January 14, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は CYCLING WEEKLY の January 14, 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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