Amanda was at her Mum and Dad's and I was looking forward to getting out following a week off the bike to regenerate tired limbs.
I have protected my Madone all winter and resisted the temptation to take him out during the winter months to protect him from salt and mud, but following a dry period, I decided that this should be the first time I take him out this year.
I felt like climbing so I thought a route that I had used as training for London to Paris, which I had called the "Killer", would be ideal - although having done Exmoor and the Lake District since this route, it's killer status is somewhat diminished.
What a difference - I love my trek 1.2 but the Madone is just a completely different beast. Everything about it is fast and responsive, and it seems to want to go up hills.
The Killer route takes in two different ascents of Beacon Hill and the three steepest ascents of Old Winchester Hill.
Unsurprisingly it has a warning sign at the bottom but this is a fairly long climb with a steep start that then steadies off to around 7%.
I fairly bombed up this bit and even had time to ride one-handed to take some pics on the way up
Feeling suitably pleased I descended down towards West Meon and then turned right, up a short sharp hill and towards Coombe.
This stretch of road is lovely as it clings to the side of a hill in a heavily wooded area. The road was covered in debis and I can rememeber thinking to myself to be careful - only to come a cropper.
Turning left towards a farm building, my front wheel hit a patch of mud and slid away from under me, I nearly got control back but then hit the loose garvel in the middle of the road - down I went. It happened so quickly that I can't really remember what hit what but I picked myself up (very shakily) so see some (thankfully) minor damage to my bike, but as the shock subsided, more painful bits became apparent.
The shredding to my top was the first giveaway as I felt pain in the left side of my chest, but also pain around my right elbow and left thumb, both of which were swelling up as I watched.
Realising I was in shock, I sat down on a wall for a bit and started checking my phone and music player, all of which seemed undamaged. Relieved, I looked up to see a elderly gentlemen making his way towards me with a mug in his hand - This very kind man had seen me come off while he was in the car park of the Meon Springs Fly Fishery and had made me a cup of coffee - what a lovely, kind thought, and many thanks to him.
After probably 15 minutes I thought, "this is no good, I am about as far from home as I could be and I have got to get home before things really start to hurt". Getting back on I now realised that my right hand was also hurting just below the palm. Still, I thought, I have full movement in everything so nothing is broken.
The first obstacle to overcome was the ascent of Old Winchester Hill from one of the North Easterly routes which are by far the steepest - I used to think that these were horrendous but it wasn't too bad on this occasion and I got to the top with no issues.
Riding home was not too bad either. I got in and after cleaning my bike down, I got straight into the bath and found various scrapes, a nasty burn to my right forearam and a very sore left thumb.One week on and I have been back out on the bike with Amanda and have all but repaired...... all in all a very lucky escape.
No comments:
Post a Comment