I just moved this blog to a new, shiny and fast web server and thought it might be an opportune time to post on why I’ve been absent of late.
A few months back, I had some fairly chunky troubles with anxiety and depression. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it did sneak up on me and it hit quite hard. So I was off the bike for a few weeks there. It coincided with a change of job and a shift in my specialisation, which has caused a massive learning curve, biting further into my riding time. On top of that, getting back on the bike has been interrupted by a couple of periods of sickness and a painful recurrent shoulder problem, which has wrecked my sleeping patterns and required repeated physio treatment.
In the wash-up, I’ve missed a few key races, including the Ken Dinnerville Memorial Handicap, the Rocky Trail 12 hour, The Oaks Classic and a number of others. My power is down, my endurance has gone AWOL and I’ve lost a bit of handling confidence.
So, it’s not been a great couple of months, riding-wise. And then over the last week, I’ve been knocked sideways by a respiratory infection and as a result I’ve managed maybe 100km out of my usual weekly target of 350km+.
But Le Tour is here, and there’s an end in sight for the shoulder injury, and we’re past midwinter and back on the way to longer days and warmer weather. So things are looking up. I’m planning another Everesting attempt – my third – and trying to schedule in a twelve-hour chunk of time in which to take on Sufferlandrian Knighthood. Watch this space. And of you spot me out on the road, remind me about Rule #5, wouldn’t you?
