The last month has been a difficult one for me in terms of cycling, having suffered a setback just a few days after the National 10 Mile TT Championship. I had put in 2 big days on the bike Monday and Tuesday after the 10TT, and my right knee was experiencing some dull aching. I just shrugged it off as a normal niggle that all cyclists get every now and then. On wednesday evening I went down to Mountbatten Centre (Portsmouth) for a circuit race, and about 15 minutes into the race felt some sharp stabbing pains on the side of my right knee, this pain grew over the course of the race and whenever an attack stretched the bunch I was grimacing and fighting to keep contact. In hindsight I probably did more damage here and should have pulled out, however I did finish the race and somehow took 10th. I was worried though.
Thursday morning I went out for a short tester ride, short being the operative word. I turned round after 5 minutes, again grimacing with pain. I was advised to go and see a doctor, she wasn't particurlarly helpful and told me to just take 2 weeks off training. Thanks doc, that should sort it... Next piece of advice... Go see a physio. I got in touch with Sarah Tombs, a member of Zappi's CC who is also a sports massage therapist, and she diagnosed me as having ITB Tendonitis. This is a condition brought on by muscles which feed into the Iliotibial Band becoming extremely tight, and causing the ITB to pull on the side of the patella (kneecap). I was treated with massage, painful massage on the muscles most likely to be causing this, and it soon became clear that the main protagonists were my Glutes and my Frontal Quads. I started doing a sequence of stretching every evening, and using a foam roller on the ITB and quads. I was soon told no more training, and it was becoming clear that it would be a race against time to be fit for the Ras de Cymru, arguably my biggest race of the year. So I put in some more shifts at work, and let the treatment run it's course.
After 2 weeks I wasn't very hopeful, and Sarah advised me to see another doctor, one who specialises in sports injury, he confirmed Sarah's thoughts and also diagnosed ITB Tendonitis, he also advised checking my bike position, cleat position and saddle height. I compared my new bike with my old bike and mostly it was the same, however the saddle was clearly too high... I took it down by 8mm, I also adjusted the angle of my cleat on my shoe. Hopefully these would help. Another week of massage and my muscles were beginning to feel looser and more comfortable, so I tested myself again on the bike. It was clear that I was nowhere near fixed, but rather than a stabbing pain it was just a discomfort, and this told me that the massage was beginning to work, along with the position change on the bike.
Eventually on Tuesday 12th June I finally began easing back into my training, over 3 weeks since my last training session, and a month since my last race. Needless to say my legs did not appreciate the time off, and I took a battering on a local training ride that evening. I took that week steady, doing mostly 1-2 hour rides and looking out for any discomfort in my knee, of which there was some, but none as persistent as before. All looking promising! So having tested my knee in training I now decided it was time to test it at race pace, I was supposed to be doing the Kalas Cup 2-Day race that weekend, but decided that was too much, too soon. I instead headed down back to the scene of my injury, Portsmouth. This was a 2-stage race, a short 1km TT and a 50 minute circuit race, all on a flat circuit with no hills, perfect to test out my fitness and the recovery of my knee.
A field of 40 riders signed on, and some strong guys turned up with Peter Hansford Racing, Pedal Heaven RT, Felt-Colbornes all bringing teams to the event. I was expecting a battering of epic proportions. The time trial went better than expected with me taking 8th place, 3 seconds down on the winner, Tim Elverson (Pedal Heaven RT). My knee held up fine in this fast explosive TT, and I was looking forward to the circuit race. It kicked off early in the race with a large group of 15 riders all taking a lap after 15 minutes, I was safely tucked in here and made it round with very tired legs after less than a third of the race. I sat on the back trying to recover for a few minutes before another group clipped off the front, after a while I made an attempt to bridge the gap, despite my burning legs... Somehow I got away with 2 others and we opened up a 15 second advantage, with the lead group a further 12 seconds in front. We spent the whole race agonisingly close to the lead group but never made the junction, with those guys taking a 2nd lap, and my group finishing just behind the bunch. I just got rolled in the sprint from our group so took 7th on the stage. Two consistent finishes meant I had done enough to secure 4th place on overall General Classification. This was one of my best results of the season and far exceeded my expectations for my comeback race.
With my knee now feeling 95% better I have gone back to full training, with 2 hours steady on Sunday, a hard 3 hour session Monday and a long steady 5.5 hour endurance ride in the sun on Tuesday. I'm now confident I will be racing at the Ras de Cymru, and even think I might still have the legs to pull off a decent result. Now really looking forward to getting some form back, and pushing on towards gaining my 1st category licence. 133 points gained, 67 to go.
I'm racing again tonight at Mountbatten, wish me luck.
Ciao.
