Archive for June, 2007
On the other side of the world a 24hr flight away and six weeks on from taking a tumble, I’m back on the road pedaling around my old stomping ground of the Waikato. The temperature might be a little on the fresh side but I reckon you can’t beat the rolling farm roads here in the Waikato, for some solid training in peace and without having to ride the same route every week.
I have started riding up to an hour and half twice a day at the moment and it seems to be going well so far. I have my knee strapped every day try to take some tension off the patella as the ITB band and the rest of my quad muscle still feels like a rubber band ready to go ‘ping’. So I’ll be leaving the monitoring of that to the physio to keep working his magic, as I quietly begin building the muscle back to its original strength.
As you well know the days are fairly short here in the winter, ‘to be honest I’d forgotten after spending the last 3years jumping from summer to summer’ so the good buggas here at the TA cycling club have a training night every Wednesday under lights at the track for all those working folk who can’t get out before dark. It’s been going for quite a few years now and I can remember back in our school days we used to have ball racing round there until we couldn’t feel our feet or hands anymore. Though last Wednesday night was slightly different, as after 5 weeks of doing virtually nothing I found myself sitting beside my coach, Graham Bunn ‘Bunny’. We were on the front of a group and it was him telling me how long we still have to go in our turn, as we rode along at around 32kph and my heart rate continually climbing, I was glad to hear Bunny say that was enough, before I starting getting into the uncomfortable zone haha. I will say though Bunny is currently leading the D grade winter series here with an unassailable lead, so he’s in some pretty fine form at present.
This weekend will be time to start pushing the rides out a little longer and spend more time in that uncomfortable state as I work on bringing my fitness back to the level needed to compete in the pro peloton. Until next time Tim
Lunges, squats, side lifts, glut clams and the list goes on. These are the exercises that fill my gym sessions between twenty minute rides on the wind trainer, and daily physio appointments consisting of acupuncture, ultrasound, massage, stretching and more.
The human body is an amazing thing, and when it has an injury to overcome this is even more apparent. The outside of my leg has healed well, and the muscle seems to be following suit. The cut sliced right across the ITB band which has left a lot of scar tissue, and one very tight ITB band as it tries to repair itself. A lot my time is being spent releasing and strengthening this,so as knee problems don’t result when real training commences.
Today, thanks to Mike Lovell, I was lucky enough to use some of the facilities at the Waikato Rugby Union. With the guidance of my Physio Paul, we did a range of exercises on a machine called Vibra train, which helps activate and isolate specific quad and glut areas. Then a quick stint in the plunge pools to help the muscles recover and loosen up before another round of massage and back to bike. It sure would be nice though if other sports had these facilities on hand.
So all going well, I’ll be pedaling on the road next week, but this is where the road back to the peloton really begins. If things keep ticking along like the last week, I will hopefully be reporting from the colourful and unpredictable European pro peloton sooner rather than later.
Tim
Well, it’s been over three weeks since I found myself getting a little too friendly with a road side guard rail in Italy, but I am now back to my feet and feeling a lot better.
Firstly, a big thanks to my team FDJ for teeing me up with a business class ticket home, though transferring through the airports wasn’t much fun with one leg. While seated and getting treated up front, it was nice to know I was heading home to continue my recovery and begin the rehab.
Since being home, my days have been filled with visits to doctors and physiotherapists. A real bonus about coming home is being able to see my own physio, Paul Holloway, who I know well and he has been a great help organising and working on my rehab program, though I have been questioning it sometimes as I wince in pain as he forces more and more range out of my leg through different methods.
At this stage I hope to be back on the bike late next week, as I already have around 80 degrees of bend in my knee. For now, my exercise regime consists of swimming every morning along with some small exercises and stretching. With the onset of some cold weather, I’m relishing the indoor workouts before having to brave elements of a New Zealand winter.
Last but not at all least, what rehab program could go with out a bit of good old home cooking and baking, so a big ups to mother Di for all her efforts of late.
Tim
