6 months ago Mike Aitken BMX legend cased a jump some time ago and slammed very hard onto his face putting himself into a coma. Days later Mike comes round but he’s not in a good way, 5 months later he’s back on his bike with a smile so broad as to make the scene touching to even the worst cynic.

Well. Anyone whose had a bad injury will know the pain, rehab or sitting around is the easy part, what gets you down is the unknown.

I can hear Mrs Lardy’s words right now, “your no Steven Gerrard, be careful”. Hmm. Next time i speak to her Im in A&E with an ankle the size of a pineapple and an uncontrollably twitching calf. Balls. And balls again. I know what ive done and the only thought in my mind is hows this going to affect riding. After a long evening spent in Lewisham hospital the diagnosis is not good, ruptured Achilles. Balls. Come back for an op tomorrow. Balls.

As the morphine haze lifted I could see the cast and the realisation started to sink in that im going to be off the bike for little while, im certainly not going to be earning any money (self employed) and im sure theres going to be a degree of pain involved.

Cue 10 weeks of sitting on my backside, leg up. Watching dvd’s, surfing t’internet, catching up with book keeping and the occasional excursion to go and watch the football. Next door started riding to work, cheeky sod, he’s rubbing it in. Anyway, emotions were all over the shop from pathetic self pity to manic elation when there was a bit of extra movement. Everyone I spoke to said riding wouldnt be a problem when its better but being the eternal pessimist, i didnt listen.

Ive been stretching a fully healed tendon for the past 4 weeks and can walk around without a limp (nice) but it does hurt a bit. Ive no strength in my calf. This is particularly disappointing as I have a roady split calf on the right leg and a skinny blob in the left. Financially im a lot worse off than i was and the hope of getting work at the moment is not that good.

However

Someone sent me a youtube link the other day which just about summed up why we do the things we love. Check the smile at the end.

BIKEY SMILE

Not being able to do the things you love really hurts. But then the realisation of how much you love and getting back to those things really is one of the sweetest feelings. I certainly wouldnt advocate self harm as a means of appreciating cycling, but the end result is the knowledge that I love this sport.

Went for a pootle up and down the road yesterday. Nice.

Yes, cracking clip that isn’t it? 😀 Hope you’re back on the bike soon!

Tell me about it. Hit a tree 9 weeks ago, anterior dislocation. My body went one way my arm the other. Didnt look good, physio said off the bike for 3-4 months etc. After 8 weeks I was back on the bike, I’m sure that Glucosamine/Chondriotin helped a lot as well. One thing I found was that I dont like walking, I found little enjoyment compared to when I’m out there on the bike.

could be worse, 2.5 years off serious biking, and counting………………

Spoon.

I feel for ya. Ive had 2 injuries which have seen me off for 7 months of the last 12 and thats felt bad.

Hopefully you will be back to it soon.

Sorry to hear that mate know how it feels. Currently half way through 2 or three months off the bike due to badly broken arm including surgery and a plate 🙁

Hope you get back on your mtb soon.

Lardy_biker… How many weeks/months since you did yours?

I’m in the same boat as yourself.. snapped my achilles only 2 weeks ago and having the same feelings and doing the same stuff around the house ;-(

Not looking forward to having the boot… summer is coming and all my mates are racing and getting out…. so want to be back on the bike….the feeling will be sweet i’m sure 😉

Lardy sorry to hear your pain but you’ll be back on it soon!!

When I was in my early teens (28 now) I dislocated my shoulder, NHS popped it back in and sent me home.
6 weeks later arm out of the sling and back to normal – so they said! Anyway over the course of about 4/5 years I dislocated my shoulder another 4 times giving me a total of 5 dislocations, some so ‘out’ that I had to have a general to get it back in.

This had a major knock on effect on my riding and confidence and I basically gave up.
When I was 17 I did it the 5th time in a non bike related accident and they finially decided to operate.
A few years after the accident / operation I was in a part of my life where I was down, fat and unfit and decided to give this cycling another go.
Through the last 6 years I have got more and more into cycling where now it could never not be a part of my life – In 2007 I did the Megavalanche and that was a major achivement for me so decided to do it again last year.
However whilst riding the mega course during practice I had a silly fall and dislocated my shoulder AGAIN!!
It wouldn’t go back so spent the night in hospital, got put under and they popped it back in. With all this I decided not to let it get to me this time and as soon as I got back from France I PAID for physio treatment on my shoulder. I was supposed to be off work for 6 weeks but was back after 4 (was working from home during week 3 purely because I couldn’t drive) due to GOOD physio and hard work I recovered much quicker. I gave up off road cycling till Christmas and have slowly been doing more and more. Last week I did my first uplift at Cwncarn. I felt so slow and careful at first but by the end of the day I was picking up speed again. These things take time but we can do it if we want!!

I got tendonitis in both my achilles during preseason training for rugby last summer. Got so bad I couldnt walk to the shower in the morning, and it was getting worse, even though i was paying a physio for 2 hrs a week (200e a week). The club recomended a different physio practice who managed to stop it getting worse but I still wasnt able to train or play. They sent me to a podiatrist where i got the news that the reason for the tendonitis was the way my foot falls. I was also suffering from arthritis in both my big toes as a result. She said that was it. No running at all, as it would cause deteriation of my toes and the tendons will never get better. So no rugby, no jogging, no triathlons or marathons (but cycling was ok, so not all bad). I was gutted. 30 years old and I was told I would never be able to run again. By this point I was getting more flexibility etc but still struggling in the mornings. The physio recomended a different podiatrist who gave me insoles to correct my footfall (previously told this would not help). By January i managed 4 laps of the pitch without too much reaction the next day. Wednesday night i played in a cup final infront of about 200 people at Musgrove Park in Cork (Munster’s second home), and although we lost, I was overjoyed inside. I still can’t go out for a jog or use a running machine (i dont understand why, but training with sprinting etc is fine, but constant pounding is not), but I can still play, and that is what really matters.

Happy days (and looking forward to next season and another final already!)

XCstu, about 12 or 13 weeks. The boot is a lot better than a cast.

TimP. I know how you feel. I was meant to do the marathon this year and enjoy halfs etc, but, the physio says if you want to ri=un your going to have to lose some bulk. Looks like a diet for the forseeable just to add to the pain.

The getting back on is the best feeling, I have had 3 operations to my wrist, shattered it 7 places…. I had the biggest smile riding when I got back on but just broke my ribs so another few weeks off…. not being on the bike makes me realise how I love the sport and cannot wait to ge back on again! but I must learn to not keep falling off, 3 years with almost 2 off the bike…

My rambling point summed up in 3 lines.