Hi all,

It’s been a fairly long day here in the Pyrenees, so as you do I’ve just got back from my massage and quick trip to the supermarche for some supplies to get me through the evening. Love my lollies…

So it was up at 6h30 for a 9am start of Stage 2, 85km with rain and maybe 12dgr along with some sketchy little roads.  I resumed my position at the back of the peloton, looking to stay out of trouble and upright.  With a lumpy run into the finish I managed to hang onto to the back of the peloton dodging a few crashes as the race heated up.  The legs felt better so I was happy with that and the heart rate was a little more under control after a days racing.

After a small transfer we arrived at the start of the stage 3 TT, in Loudenvielle Peyragudes deep in the Pyrenees.  From here would attack the Col de Peyresourde on route to a Peyragudes Ski station.  So not really my cup of tea, 16km TT with 11 of it up hill but it’s all engine building so you just take it in.  Not sure how I got on, but not expecting anything more than near the bottom of the list for now.

Tomorrow is another day though with just rolling hills from Lavaur to Castres.  So fingers crossed the temperature changes back to summer after a bitter day in the hills.

Back soon, dinner time for now.

Cheers

Tim.

Below, how the FDJ staff look after themselves between stages.  Will leave the mechanic unnamed.

Hi there,
Day 1 done and a real day of French racing it was. Up n down all day enough attacks for a grand tour in one day, though ending in a sprint.
I had very little part to play in any of that, as I quietly rolled through the stage near the back of the pelo.
It’s the best place to when your in the ‘reprise’ as the French say, or comeback. Out of trouble and getting in the miles you came for.
So not a lot to report on, though one of our boys did manage to run 2nd in the kick which was good to see.
Tomorrow we have a real Tour of Southland style day, with a double stage 80km in the morning and a 16km uphill TT in the arvo. Don’t expect any fire works from here though, It’s just good old engine building I’m here for and that’s it.
Ok well I have an early start either way so time to go.
Thanks for reading,
Tim

Hi all,

Well it’s been a busy couple of days since having the cast removed. As I mentioned earlier with the cast off starts another process, strengthening a very weak and stiff wrist/hand. I have had a splint custom made with a silicon insert to give me some protection from the road vibration, along with many exercises and massage to help regain strength and movement.

This aside, I will be lining up at my first race since Paris Roubaix this Friday, La Route du Sud. The race kicks off in my old stomping ground of Albi, so I will make sure I get down to the bakery to see JP and the rest of the crew around town.

My training has been going well over the past week now with the cast off, getting in the odd long ride and some intensity. Though I have not tried to prepare specifically for this week as my next race following is not for another 5 weeks.

However I have been working on regaining strength in the gym. A lot of road cyclists don’t go anywhere near the gym these days, but I find it helps a lot with muscle balance and stability on the bike. It’s not always easy to fit into a training schedule when your racing, so you need to count it as one of your intensity sessions for the week.

Well I best be off, the rollers are waiting for me and a massage not long after. Gotta love recovery days. Will do my best to keep you posted on the race outcome.

For now here’s a couple of pics… 1. My latest efforts in the gym, fair to say I was down to 1 rep on this one. 2. If you haven’t already seen yesterdays madness at the Tour of Swiss, once again the dangers of our sport showing its takes no prisoners as many of the worlds top sprinters bite the tarmac.

Thanks for reading

Tim

photo credit @ Roberto Bettini

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Cheers

Guddy

Hi there,

Well it has been a fairly long 9 weeks, but it is over and the next stage of rehab is about to get underway.

I had a call from my specialist reception late Thursday to say I could take the cast off Friday, anytime after 8am.  So obviously I was there not long after 8.

Cast off, and one skinny white hairy wrist left behind.  Not the best look, but damm it felt good.

So I decided to take a rest day off the bike, and enjoyed some time at the Ventimiglia markets with my girlfriend, and then took to the beach to test out our new snorkles and masks.

Yesterday I tested my wrist on the bike and it felt great to hold the handlebars again though it was a little sore last night…. whoops.

Anyway the plan is still to race next week at Route du Sud in France, but will let you know how the week goes as the strength comes back.

Will be in touch soon.

Cya

Tim

Got my arm back, stoked

Hi all,

It’s been a blustery couple of days here on the cote d’azur, with high winds creating havoc along the coast.  Though back in the hills it has been a little calmer so what better reason to do a little climbing.

So it’s been almost nine weeks since my arm has been in plaster and as you imagine I’m itching to get it off.  Though as always the rehab does not end here.  Having your wrist immobilised for 9 weeks, means one pretty lean, weak joint.  So there will be a fair bit of work ahead still.

In saying this the past 3 weeks have been somewhat more enjoyable than the 4 before that spent pounding away on the erg. My weeks have been filled with gym sessions, pilates, and 3-4 hours in the saddle most days.  Fair to say I’ve been swinging on and off the back of the group on the climbs as the rest of the boys prepare for the Tour of Swiss, though the coffee shop in Ventimiglia has never been too far away either.

Also my girlfriend Sarah and I have been making the most of our new living arrangements this year just 5km from the Italian boarder.  The fresh food and coffee seems to be often half in price and double in goodness.  Somehow the Italians just seem to do coffee that much better, and it’s not overpriced like many other places in the world.  70c espresso’s now that’s what a coffee should cost isn’t it…

So apart from my daily caffeine fix things have been pretty low key around here, depending on dr’s orders tomorrow we will then know when the cast comes off.  Bringing me into the next phase of rehab which I will update you on very soon.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers

Tim

Here’s a pic from the bunch one day this week, Simon Gerrans (Sky) is taking the pic, Me, Ritchie Port (SaxoBank) Mark Renshaw (HTC) Cameron Wurf (Androni Giocattoli) Wez Sulzberger (FDJ) Tom Boonen (Quickstep) and Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)

Hey folks,

You may or may not have been wondering where I have been for the last 6 weeks, if you were thanks, if not fair enough.  Basically I have been MIA to be honest. I know I said I’d report in 5 weeks ago, but there hasn’t exactly been much to write home about.  After the news of no surgery and 6 weeks in a cast it took me longer than even I expected to get my head around the long road ahead I faced to get back to competition.

First I started thinking of other ways to hold onto any form possible.  So I tried the pedal boat…

Though that got a little expensive at 10 bucks an hour, when I normally get paid to turn pedals.  So I took to it on foot…

Then after a full 2 and half weeks off the rig, I felt ready to get serious again.  So this is where I’ve been hiding for the last 4 weeks.

I quite quickly hammered out all my music worth listening to, so then it was onto the TV series “Entourage”.  4 seasons in 4 weeks.  It got me through many sweaty brain cell killing hours of erg torture.

So yesterday there I was rocking on in to see the hand specialist grinning from ear to ear with the thought of getting my hand back.  He ended up being rushed into emergency surgery so I took the time to get the cast off and do a check up x-ray.  It took longer than expected so we wandered off into town for an arvo brew and I just enjoyed getting used to the feel of my hand again.  A few hours later that smile turned upside down once again.  The specialist liked the look of the healing scaphoid, but was not willing to risk anything and so just like that slapped another cast on and said come see me again in 3 weeks, then we’ll talk about a smaller plastic splint.

I guess it’s just about the expectations really.  Of course I know the importance of the bone healing well, but the initial set back felt very long.  Now 9 weeks in a cast is starting to feel veeery long.  I can get out on the road but it won’t be full gas training for a while yet.

So the season gets put back even further.  I still hope to start the Route du Sud in late June but the real start to my season will be the Tour de Region Wallonie in late July, with the plan on preparing for the Tour of Spain.

After a 6 week break from checking in on here, I will be dropping you all a line more often now, hopefully with interesting and positive news.

Thanks for reading

Guddy

I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve left a medical facility in the last 18 months without any idea of what I’m going to do next, and just headed for the nearest pub……

Yesterday I had a follow up appointment with the surgeon to see whether I was going to have surgery to stabilise the fracture in my left wrist. After discussion with other surgeons he had decided it was too complicated to operate and so I walked out of the clinic with a cast on my arm again. What will follow is 1 month in a cast and sling while trying to mobilise my elbow (which is also fractured but not as bad), then hopefully the cast will be downgraded to a splint. I understand this is not the end of the world, but am struggling with yet another set back, so Sarah and I are heading away for a few days to try and process it all.

On Sunday even though I hadn’t planned to ride Roubaix this year I was really g’d up for the race, eager to complete my job of protecting Fred Guesdon an completing the 260km of madness. It started sweet enough, everything was going well, the fans were out, the sun was shining and the atmosphere was buzzing! I met Roly on the startline and we were both amped to be there.

My role changed early in the race as my team missed the 19-man break away, so I was forced to ride the front in a block head wind for 50km. Having already used up a lot of juice in my legs when the fight started for the first section of pave I found myself at the back of the peloton, though I didn’t stress and took it easy to the first feed station. I spent the next few sections of pave recovering and dodging crashes. Then just before the Arenberg I started moving up the peloton to support Fred, as this is always the first decisive part of the race. Here my day turned upside literally, as I was caught up in  a 6-10 man pile up. As luck would have it it was on a flat, smooth stretch of road but a piece of road furniture had caused a ruckus.

I felt I landed pretty lightly and my bike was sweet, so I remounted remembering Kevin Tobatta telling me when I was a junior, “whenever you crash, get back on and give it 5″, so I did just that.  Except while attempting to pass Le tranche d’Arenberg I could only manage to hold the handlebars with one hand. I found a lift with an Euskatel Team Support car where I was later joined by Stuart O”Grady who was enjoying watching his team mate Fabian Cancellara’s amazing victory as I tried to ignore my gigantic elbow and wrist which were both increasing in size by the minute.

So I’m off, I’ll talk to you next week when I’m in a better mood.

Yours, a once again broken Guddy

Assuming the position...

I’ll keep this short.

Big crash, DNF, suspected broken elbow and scaphoid…

What can I say…

I will be back, though it may be a few days until you hear from me.

Tim

It puts a shiver down your spine, goose bumps up your arms, it is Paris Roubaix.

Threre’s nothing else quite like it, it’s war on bikes to be honest.  Once you take that start line in Compiegne you must be ready for battle.

27 sectors of bone breaking pave totaling 52km.  Only the strongest make it to the velodrome in Roubaix.

Today has passed so quick I have just got a moment to write on here at 10.30pm, so really I should get to bed.  But to be honest, I’m actually excited about tomorrow, which is quite different to what I’ve felt the last two times I started here.

My job tomorrow is to protect our leader Fred Guesdon for as long as I possibly can. So I will do that with all my power, but with whatever’s left I will be dragging myself to that velodrome.

Sorry it’s only brief but I will be back with a full report when I’ve recovered from tomorrow’s efforts.

Hope you’ll all be watching.

Cheers

Tim