We left just before 9am to start the 3hr journey south to Boezinge in Belgium (pretty much spitting distance to France) for the Dwars Door de Westhoek a UCI 1.2. About half way we stopped for a bathroom break at a hotel just off the highway in which i’d learn upon arriving at the race start, i’d left my wallet equipped with cycling license. Luckily for me I still had my passport on me so I was allowed to race as I had proof that I was an actual person. It is probably also one of the only times where it is good to be a poor student – pretty sure if someone had stolen my wallet, they would be disappointed to find no money in it and a very limited amount on the credit card!!
Crisis avoided, I got to the start line in what I thought was pretty good shape! Stayed in the first few rows of the bunch until the first climb where my lack of hill climbing definitely showed... a 1.7km climb 16% at the bottom and av 4.8%. After I successfully hauled my butt up it, there was a little decent with a left hander...Coming into the left hander, a girl moved out and I told her I was on the outside of her.. She swung out a bit more and I got pushed out, my front wheel getting caught dead in one of the joins on the road. My front wheel pit stopped and i flew over the top of the bars, landing hard on my left side. No skin off, so I can still bathe with little pain – bonus! Just landed straight on my hip, elbow and ribs... In total, my race was just over 15km.
I was kindly helped out by the Red Cross team who loaded me up with ice packs and made me a nice comfy bed whilst I waited for the race to finish and the doctor to come and have a look at me. They even washed my jersey for me as it was covered in gel after both of them exploded on impact in the back pocket of my jersey!! Talk about quality service :P
They insisted that I got my elbow and ribs x-rayed so went to Hospital when i got back to the Netherlands. Another doctor said that my elbow probably wasn’t broken and my ribs could be fractured but I didn’t want to get an x-ray done as treatment would be the same regardless if they were broken or not.. PAINKILLERS! And lots of them... So fingers crossed that they are only bruised and I will be able to laugh and live a lie full of humour again in no time :P
It now looks as though my left hip is pregnant (slight exaggeration but you get the idea), i’m able to move my elbow more comfortably :) but my ribs are still a pain...oh well, at least I still have one un-injured side of my body to sleep on, so not all is bad!!!
So looks like some R&R is on the agenda for the next couple of days, but hopefully i’ll be back fighting in no time :) I’m going to take some of my own advice and HTFU, its going to take a bit more than a couple bruises to set me back!
My next race is meant to be on Wednesday but think I may be giving it a miss for safety’s sake. The post Tour crits are also on in the next couple of weeks so really excited to ride those, it should be massive!
I’ve also just finalised a little trip to Italy for a week to ride the bergs with long term mentor and friend Vicki Whitelaw in lovely Luino before she heads off to the Plouay WC in France! Can’t wait! I will also be able to see my coach who will be over there watching another one of her athletes Ed Bissaker riding the Jnr World Track Championships! Will be good to see another friendly face and show her my improvements!
Until next time, do some extra km’s on the bike for me :)
xx
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