
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
Denne historien er fra February 09, 2023-utgaven av CYCLING WEEKLY.
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Denne historien er fra February 09, 2023-utgaven av CYCLING WEEKLY.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på

UK SCENE WILSON WINS AT CLAYTON SPRING CLASSIC HANDICAP
Junior rider Atkins wins North Road CC 25

"I'm Geraint Thomas," he said politely."And I'm a bike rider"
The Doc salutes the Welshman's staying power and charm

AN EXPERT'S TAKE ON...STRENGTH TRAINING
The need-to-know essentials for cyclists lifting weights - Rob Kemp asks an expert

NOURISH TO FLOURISH
The nutrition you need to age-proof your performance

THE WORLD'S FASTEST DESCENDER
DOWNHILL MAESTRO SAFA BRIAN TELLS MARIA DAVID HOW HE MASTERED THE ART OF DESCENDING TO BECOME FASTER THAN EVERYONE EXCEPT, PERHAPS, TOM PIDCOCK

VISION METRON SL 60
Super-stiff, responsive race wheels that hold their line when the wind whips up

RIDDEN AND REVIEWED GIANT TCR ADVANCED O £3,699
Lively all-rounder that offers pro bike pedigree without the premium price tag

Six days of Paris
This is one of those images that makes you feel almost as though you're there in it, soaking up an atmosphere heavy with embrocation and cigarette smoke, those hanging lamps creating a ghostly glow across the arena.

Alberto Dainese's BMC Teammachine R
We take a close look at the Italian sprinter's Tudor Pro Cycling team bike

Pogačar has fun in the desert
World champion wins UAE Tour overall, with some chaos on the way