Nursing my injuries

It's three days since my big 'off' and I've got to admit I've been a wimp, and haven't ridden since. My hip where I lost the skin is agony and I've been struggling to sleep. It's difficult to keep a dressing over the open flesh and my trousers and boxers just rub the raw exposed bit every time I move. It's effectively like a second degree burn because I've lost the covering skin and some dermis. I couldn't play football yesterday.

Also, lots of other bits of my body are now hurting, particularly my shoulder and thigh. I'm so glad I was wearing a good pair of gloves which also have windstopper material, as these have saved my hands and fingers. I learned the importance of always wearing gloves many years ago through falling off my mountain bike on numerous occasions. I used to do a lot of manic trail riding through the local forests, and falling off was a regular occurrence.

The picture above is from the Paris-Roubaix. The pro riders seem to crash all the time in their races and just have to get on with it. Broken bones are common. I'm reading a fantastic book at the moment by Graeme Fife called Inside The Peloton. He describes how Paul Sherwen fell off 9 times during the Roubaix in the old days before modern pedal cleats. After his final fall he lay in the cold, wet, grime, tangled in the bike, feet still strapped to the pedals and decided to quit. 'Bugger this, I'm not getting up again' he thought, only to find a group of bystanders bodily lifting him up and sending him on his way. He finished 15th. Awesome.

One of the things I preach to medical students is to ensure that they learn from their mistakes, and only make them once. At this point I'm hoping my wife won't start laughing and use words like 'hypocrite' and 'do as I say, not as I do'. So, I'm going to be more wary of adverse road conditions, and just take it easier on the corners until I've got a few more hundred miles of experience on this road bike. Mental note...this is a bicycle , not a motorbike.

I mentioned that my rear derailleur was knocked out of alignment by the crash. I was worried that the mechanism itself had been damaged, but on inspection it seemed to be OK. Therefore I decided that there must be a subtle crease in the hanger. After all, it is presumably engineered to be a deliberate weak link to prevent much more expensive damage to the derailleur or the carbon frame. I detached the hanger and on close scrutiny confirmed that it was very subtly bent. I but it in my bench vice and using my plumbers wrench tweaked it back. I've reassembled everything and it all looks to be as new, and the gear change is slick and as it should be. I'm not taking any chances, so I've ordered a new one from Wiggle. If I fall on the big day, I don't want the weakened original hanger to snap off completely.

Finally, the buckle on my shoes had been dragged across the road and mangled. It doesn't quite work properly. It has one of those ratchet type mechanisms that you get on ski boots for tightening the strap. I need a new one from somewhere but haven't found a supplier yet. I can make do in the meantime.

So, Sunday afternoon. British Summer Time is here, the sun is shining and I'm going to go for a nice relaxing ride of 30 miles or so. Rest day tomorrow, then I'm going to do 50 miles on Tuesday after work.