Three weeks ago I managed to fall, not far and not fast, off a rock climb in Buttermere. I was unlucky to hit a small (10cm x 10cm) ledge with my left foot in that fall. If I’d fallen 10cm less far or to either side I’d have missed the ledge, been embarrassed but totally unscathed, and would likely have simply got back on and finished the route as it really wasn’t that hard a climb. However, as it was I managed to fracture my ankle. Not a complete break, but a small chip from the bone where my tendon literally ripped a chunked off with the force of the deceleration! Of course there was loads of bruising too. In fact it’s the bruising that still hurts most. Although there’s still some reasonably bad swelling, so that might be around the fracture site.
Anyway, today – three weeks to the day – I tentatively got back on my bike, albeit on the indoor turbo trainer. I really need to get back cycling, and hard, as quickly as possible as it’s now less than six weeks to the l’Etape du Tour in the French alps! And I will have lost a lot of my fitness sitting around resting my ankle all this time. 🙁
The cycling motion was a little painful I have to admit. But it was bearable. I most certainly can’t stand in the pedals. That really hurts! So it’s all seated riding for now.
Surprisingly the most challenging thing is that I can’t get my left foot out of the pedal. The action of twisting my heal to free the cleats from the pedal hurts like hell! So I’m gonna have to learn to take my right foot out first – which is unnatural and tricky for a right-hander (footer?). Then I have to reach down to manually twist my left foot out of the pedal cleats. 😯
I’ve pretty much given up hope of being fit enough to aim for anything other than just finishing the Etape now. But having got back on the bike and survived I reckon I can finish. 🙂 So that’s good news. Although I reckon I might be using Laetitia’s wheel a bit on the day. But I guess it makes for a great story for the Etape Social Rider programme … it should kinda prove, I think, that just about anyone can aspire to do an Etape event with a reasonable amount of training and a positive mindset. 😉
Whatever happens on 21st July at the Etape, it’s good now to back doing something – anything – the boredom of forced rest was driving me round the bend. 😀