After the crash things seemed to move fast, I stayed at the race HQ with the rest of the team for a couple of days and got to go in the car behind the race on Thursday which was a new experience although I would have preferred to be in the race it was interesting to be able to see the action from different view point. That night Jean Marie drove me back to Bricquebec, we had to turn around just as we left the HQ as I realized  I had forgotten my power metre, but then we were on our way back to my home in Bricquebec (Northern Normandy) when we got there, there were some crutches under a parked car waiting for me so I would be able to move about. I was taking a lot of pain meds and seemed to be sleeping better than ever :), I spent Friday alone. My Mum and Dad were skiing in the Alps which was lucky as it meant they could come and collect me the next day, after another deep sleep we began the journey home, on the way to the euro tunnel we stopped at a café in Bayeux and ordered the plat du jour ( dish of the day) my Dad was in shock when he realized he had ordered the head of a pig which didn’t go down to well. That night we returned to Derby where I was to begin my recovery back to form.

I saw the physio the next week, he told me it didn’t look good and I might need an operation but I was sceptical as I was making progress all the time and felt that soon I would be able to walk without crutches. The next week I saw my usual and more trusted Physio as he was on holiday the week before, It was the first day I was able to walk without my crutches after 2weeks I was super happy, the physio diagnosed it as very deep bruising and just a large shock to a very tender area, he gave me some exercises and I began them immediately, I began going to the gym and doing various different activities to try and strengthen the area which I injured (the Adductor) this included swimming and light 20-40min rides on the watt bike also easy weight work. I was making huge improvements all the time and soon I was able to ride my bike on the road.

To begin with it was slightly frustrating as I could only do an hour at most which compared to what I was doing in the winter is obviously nothing but I had to understand that it would take some time. My whole Family were extremely supportive and I couldn’t of asked for more from them, I threw my dummy out the pram a few times but they stayed calm and understood. My mileage increased and soon I was doing interval sessions and split rides (2 rides in one day ) to increase my load after about 5 or 6 weeks I was ready to begin training properly, I did some work with my coach behind a motorised bike and felt the form coming back quickly one of my final rides before I left for France was a 200km epic with the parrots group who leave from Lowdham in Nottingham I came back to a great BBQ prepared by my Brother.

I left Derby to travel back to France on Saturday18th April, my Dad drove me down to the Ferry terminal in Portsmouth at 3:30 in the morning. He left me their and I was back on my travels, it was an adventure in its self, I got the ferry to Caen and then a bus right through the centre to the train station, I didn’t realize that Caen was such a beautiful place but the centre was amazing. I waited for my train at the train station did a small shop to get me through Sunday and had a coffee then went into the station to catch my train to Valonges just 12km from where I live in Bricquebec I booked a taxi when I got their and waited for it to arrive.

Now I’m back and ready to race I’ve set my bike up and I’m training hard, my first race is Sunday, it’s an Elite National of 154km which sounds good to me !