Hi all

It’s been a full gas couple of weeks since the latest diagnosis of my problem, and really happy to finally see some progress.

After 10days of solid treatment with the physio and osteo, we packed the car and headed for Italy to under go a full biomechanical assesment at the Mapei Sport centre near Milan.  To make the trip a little less stressful we left a day early and I did a nice training ride from Gap to Briancon via the Col d’Izoard.  The next day it was onto Italy, where we were very kindly put up by Shayne Bannon and the AIS for the night.  Shayne had also organised for the session at the Mapei Centre for me, so can’t thank him enough.

A full afternoon was taken to do the assesment by Andrea Morelli who has been setting up pro’s for over 12years.  The assessment involved biomechanical analysis of movement and position on bike, muscle activation, force testing of each leg while under load, and finally adjustments of position with re-tests of movements.  It confirmed a lot of my earlier thoughts and also provided explanations for other issues.

There was no time to waste before testing the new position as after Sarah and I shared a long drive home from Italy on Tuesday night, I left for the start of Route du Sud in Pau the next day.

It may only be a UCI 2.1 level race but with the Col du Soulor, Tourmalet, Ares, Portet d’Aspet and Port de Bales in the the first three days it wasn’t the easiest race to come back to after 5months off racing.  Quietly I was sh*tting myself when I saw the race book, and thought it would all be over very quickly.  Though my condition was up to it, and it was just a question of keeping the left leg under control.  It wasn’t all easy travelling though, there were times when I found myself last man on the road huffing and puffing my way over the climbs, but 2 seasons of pro racing does do something to your body and mind.  I didn’t panic, ate and drank well and continued at my own limit and before I knew it I crossed the finish line in Castres not far from my old stomping ground in Albi.

Back to Aix this week for some easy recovery rides and I sure know I had a hard race in my legs, and really feel I am not 100% just yet.  We are now on the right track at least and hopefully with some serious work through July, I am looking to start the second half of the season full throttle.

Thanks for reading

Tim