Spinning in Spring

Spinning in spring:  Well the clocks have now gone forward, the weather has improved and all us budding Bradley Wiggin’s have been out and about on the roads annoying motorists (I must admit I went out in the car on Sunday morning and couldn’t believe how many lycra clad loonies were out and about!  Wish they’d hire an exercise bike instead and stay indoors!).

Unfortunately however, I was not able to join them this weekend as two weeks ago I thought my unfulfilled potential as a top class tour rider was over (in fact it was already over about 20 years previously and had actually never started).  Anyway two weeks ago after a day of gardening on a lovely Sunday afternoon as the sun was slowly setting but still giving off enough warmth to lure me into a late ride I managed something on a bike that I had not done since I was a child…I crashed and went head over heels over the handlebars, luckily I was on a quiet country road and no cars, tractors, sheep or cows were about; but unluckily I still managed to completely avoid the lovely soft verge a few feet to my left and landed with full force on by back.

Now when I was a child I had done this a few times as you do on a BMX.. but quite honestly I don’t remember this type of accident causing this much pain and lack of mobility, I know I am a few years older and you are made of rubber as a youngster but seriously?!…The cause of the crash was a problem with the front wheel, the problem being that the axle sheared and it came off, I knew it wasn’t quite right before the ride and the bike was actually due to go to the bike shop the next day to have a service, it didn’t make it to the bike shop, it got thrown in the shed by my supportive partner who came to pick me up and I have not looked at it since.

After the accident I phoned friends and went on Strava to tell everyone my cycling season was over, such was the pain!……..thankfully I appear to have made a miraculous recovery as predicted by my doctor whose thoughtful diagnosis and examination comprised of telling me to see what still hurt after two weeks as I should have improved by then (and they wonder why I haven’t been to see them about anything in the last 10 years!)

I am now looking forward to going back on the bike but not the outdoor one, apart from the fact that it has no working front wheel and my unicycling skills are not the same as Billy Smart’s, I don’t think I am fully able to face the open road just yet.  So it will be back on that wonderful, solid, dependable, stable Spinning Bike in the safety and relative warmth of my own home…I shall make sure it is pointing towards the sofa so if I do manage to go over the handle bars I shall have a softer landing this time!

Yours (painfully) the South West Team