3 out of 6

 After I moved back to my home in Bricquebec I settled in quick and started a hard weeks training. For the first week I was on my own which was no problem, it was very windy most days and I did most the training on my own. My Italian house mate ( Davide) returned to Bricquebec on Thursday 5th Feb, we spoke about our winter away from France and the upcoming season but he was tired after a 12 hour train journey from the Alps and soon retired to his room. On Saturday 7th Feb was the team presentation at the local cinema like the year before, it was good to see my team mates, it was a quick affair unlike the year before when I was left with cramps after kneeling down for so long. On the Sunday I went out with the local club ride, and for the first time in a while did a bit of sitting in the wheels which was nice we went out and did a loop toward Cherbourg (the big city) and then came back. The next week I had an easy week I started riding my new Orbea bike to try and find the perfect position before the racing began on Saturday

 

I had it spot on by Thursday apart from the possibility of descending 1 spacer to bring the front end down a bit. It was Friday afternoon when we headed off to a new base for the week in the Vendee region, we arrived at the HQ about 20:00 and all sat down and ate our evening meal together as a team. The next day was race day, the first of a series of 6 races known as La Plage Vendeenes, I lined up and the race got started, it was strange to begin with as I am now riding with my brakes continental style (Front brake right, back break left) I kept doing big skids round slippy corners thinking I was using my front break. As the race progressed with the flat windy conditions it was very important to be near the front in the cross winds, I had started near the back and payed the price in the first crosswind section getting dropped in a smallish group, but we soon made it back to the peloton only for the group to split again but after a while of riding through and off we got back to what was left of the peloton again, a couple of groups had gone up the road and already established a big gap so the race was over in our group, after the eventful first 3/4 of the race I hadn't really had chance to go in my back pocket and eat something so when the pace eased I was starving, I had to ask our team captain for more food. I finished toward the front of the group and that was day 1 over.

Day 2: It was colder and there was to be a small hill early on but the peloton hit it at a quick pace and the race started to split big time I got caught out again and with a lot of my team mates in what could effectively be called the 2nd peloton, I worked at the front for some training and finished another days racing.

 

Day3: I was feeling good with 2 race days in my legs and a nice relaxed rest day the day before, I mentally prepared myself and started on the front row always sitting toward the front in the race, when the important attacks started to happen I was at the front following moves and on a small rise there was a big acceleration with 3 of the best amateur team in France going up the road, I crossed over to it with another rider but as the pace went up again I was looking straight down at the road and clipped the riders back wheel infront of me, my left foot unclipped from my pedal and I veered off to the right and landed in the stone ditch, I lay their winded as the peloton passed by and soon enough medical assistance had stopped to help me out, they tried to get me to stand but I couldn't, the saddle or the frame had gone straight into the right side of my crotch. They put me in the ambulance and drove me back to our team van where I managed to get changed with some help.

 

When the race was finished my team boss (Jean Marie) came to check I was ok, I explained to him I couldn't walk and he made a plan to drop the rest of the team back at HQ and then take me to hospital after, as we approached it wasn't clear on how to get into the car park so we drove around for a while slightly confused but eventually after asking some people we found our way, I tried to stand up again when we stopped in the car park but just fell on to Jean Marie so he put me back in the car and got me a wheelchair, it seemed like forever waiting to be seen and I really needed a wee to the point where I almost didn't care about the x ray result anymore, we got called up only to wait for another half an hour whilst I was trying to focus on other things than the fact that I felt like I was going to burst at any second. Finally I got taken to the x ray room which thankfully was a pretty quick procedure, and after the nurse took me to the toilet, but unfortunately it was occupied so we had to go back to my waiting room, eventually a guy came in and gave me a container which I filled right to the top, I did get a bit worried at one point and thought it might overflow. The doctor came back and explained nothing was broken, it was a tendon and it would be a month before I could start to ride the bike again.

 

In all honesty I think that's very cautious, I've  been on crutches since Wednesday and already I'm  starting to be able to use my leg and walk a little bit so I can't see it being more than 3-4 weeks until I'm back racing. It could have been a lot worse and it's all a big learning experience, I will keep head strong and come back stronger soon ! :)