Today was the second last race of the road season for us and in keeping with tradition (albeit a very short tradition), I finished well back amongst the class- but I did stick to my commitment to finish every race I start.
As I sit here in my compression tights recovering from a rather painful ride, I'm being quite thankful that the wind which is now howling through the yard was pretty much non-existent this morning. The forecast had been for moderate to strong winds all day and we didn't see the first evidence of a breeze until about 10km into the race. It was a breeze that never really favoured the riders as it was pretty much a crosswind going out and coming back.
And the painful part of the ride you ask......it was about the last 6km. I had been dropped at the turn after having taken a couple of turns on the front- someone broke the unwritten rule of "no attacking on the turn." Small consolation as you watch the peloton pull away while you're struggling to get back up to speed. Anyhow I continued with another one of my "personal time trials" and as I neared the turn for our finishing little road loop, I felt a rather painful twinging in the area around my hip joints- both on the front and rear.
No matter how I shifted on the saddle or stood up to pedal, there was no relief. So I finished the race (not last I have to confess) but I had some concerns as to whether I could actually dismount and make my way to the car. I did manage to get off the bike in what was probably a less-than graceful manner to any who may have seen it; and make my way to the car. Hobbling like I just had both hips replaced, I thought that I better make an appointment with the bike shop to do a bit of tweaking on my fit. Today was the first race on the new bike and I never had encountered anything like that on the old bike.
I managed to swing myself into the car and drive home in no small amount of discomfort. The pressure on my hips just from sitting was causing me some serious pain. It took me about 4 minutes to get out of the car and open the gate so I could drive in- then another three minutes to park the car and close the gate. Once upstairs (another interesting challenge) I dropped the lid of a bottle on the kitchen floor. I then realised I couldn't bend over to pick it up. I had to find a pair of long-handled barbeque tongs to extend my reach.
Anyway, after a nice hot shower and putting on the compression gear, I'm starting to feel less like I have been doing some bull-riding and more like I should be able to at least walk out to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. And then I think maybe a bit of a relax in front of the telly for the last day of the Olympics may be in order.
Cheers- ride safe
BoaB
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