Holidays in the Borders

I've had a great past week - no cycling at all and plenty of relaxation and family time in Coldingham, just over the border into Scotland. We were really lucky with the weather- a few sharp showers but overall plenty of sunny intervals (as they say in BBC weathercaster-speak). The break was just what I needed given the tender state of my wrist and I was able to get away with doing very little to put any strain on my recovering bones (thanks to FHB & GF). The kids also had a great time - the beach was a 3 minute walk away, the shoreline was gently sloping and the scenery was stunning. Here's a picture of the view we woke up to every morning (minus the kids - we didn't make them sleep outside overnight, honest)!


I feel that I'm slowly putting on a bit of weight, what with limited cycling on the turbo and a newfound enjoyment of the relaxing effects of alcohol. I like to think of it as a "Reverse Wiggins" that might make me more powerful on the flat. This week is my last free week before I start a new contract and I will get to see the last week of the Tour on TV. Overall it's been a little dull so far I think. There have been some highlights - Cav obliterating the opposition, Contador's surges, the odd peloton split and the ever-present possibility of a break sticking and meaning something (bad luck Hincapie) - but overall I feel the lack of mountaintop finishes has served only to dull the opposition until the penultimate Ventoux stage. There is one massive plus though - Bradley Wiggins has been simply superb. He's a pretty cool and laid-back character and his climbing has been top-class this July. I really hope he makes the podium on Sunday - he fully deserves it. I'm sure he doesn't really miss beer all that much!

Tomorrow is time for another therapy session at St.George's Hospital - it will be the first time in 6 weeks that I will be removing this hard thermo-plastic style cast to do some rotation and flexing rather than simply to clean the cast and my arm. I can't wait!

Screwed up

hmmm, screws, wires, general anaesthetic, bandages and slings - kids call me 'slingsby' - typing with one hand again, pain and painkillers, lots to get done but an inability to do anything. yup, i'm back to the start again, one day after the op to stabilise the bones in my wrist. off to st.george's hospital for a post-op check again tomorrow. fed up, but at least my internal hardware is titanium!

no turbo for at least a week, new job starting soon, moving house imminently. not ideal...

No progress, in fact the opposite...

So, just after four weeks into the fractured wrist and broken finger scenario I went for another x-ray at St.George's Hospital. On the plus side my little finger on the right hand is healing well, and I now have about 75% of the range of movement back. Hopefully over the next few months this will progress to about 90% or more.

The left wrist, on the other hand (!), is a bit of a disaster. The fracture to the scaphoid bone does not show any signs of healing - in fact the fracture has enlarged. There also looks to be an 'irregularity' around the lunate bone. Before all this I had no idea how many bones there were in the wrist:


Quite a few! Anyhow, the upshot is that I am scheduled for surgery in four days time to have a screw put into the scaphoid, and in all probability another put into the lunate. The scaphoid might require a small bone graft which will be taken from somewhere within the wrist - I forget where, but the fact that it doesn't need to be taken from the hip means they only require a pretty small shard of bone.

So at least another six weeks in the cast. All being well the healing will be stronger due to the screws in the bones. I don't want to focus on the long-term complications that could arise. Instead I have tentatively planned for the Giro di Lombardia sportive in mid-October as my return to any sort of decent form. It seems a really long way away!

Still, being at home unable to do very much does mean I get to see all the kids' end of year activities, in particular the sports days. All three did really well - our daughter is definitely the best 'team player' and all-rounder of the three, one of the twins has revealed a previously-hidden talent for speedy running and the other (who's talent for running was already obvious) has improved even more. Both the boys came first in their sprints - we were very proud parents! They can't throw or catch a tennis ball though - they leave that skill to our daughter!

More turbo time beckons, whilst I also have to try not to become embroiled in arguments on cycling forums. The latest 'discussion' involved me trying to explain the merits of a Powertap to another forum user who kept saying that they must be crap because Pantani and Russell Downing didn't use them! Such blinkered and ill-founded opinion really got my back up for a day or two until I realised that there was no arguing with this poster - he'd never used any power measurement, never would, and wasn't able to form a coherent argument. I guess that summarises internet forums though, and the wide range of 'characters' that drift through them!