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Decieded to have a go at the red round Dalby to see if I could get round in under 2 hours. We have been camping at helmsley for a couple of days so I was up early and arrived at Dalby about 9:40. Saved myself £7 by being a member of singletraction, which was nice.
Got out of the car and rolled a tab, put the bike together, smoked said tab and headed off round the red route. I decieded to follow the red arrows completely without any shortcuts on the black or on the forest roads. Set off bang on 10:00.
My legs had woke up by the top of the first climb so I proceeded non stop, dropping the remote seatpost for the decents and flicking it back up for the climbs, all was going well up to about 10k, I think it was 10k, post with 10 on it anyway. Slammed the post down and knocked the pro pedal off and pinned it down the hill in a Steve Peat Stylee, ok maybe not that fast but you get the idea. Flew over a little left hand hip jump and landed on a berm, then tried to throw it round the next right hander and caught a slightly off camber line. At this point the bike decieded to part company and dumped me on the deck. My head bounced off a rock and my right shoulder and hip took most of the impact, think its fair to say it knocked the wind out of me bit. I was on my own so rolled off the side of the track in case anyone else came along. Layed there for a few mins trying to catch my breath when I noticed my left finger hurt, havent a clue why as I landed on my right hand side. Removed my glove and the last bit of my left ring finger was flapping about, didn't really hurt at this point as I was in too much pain from landing on the other side. I managed to get hold of said finger and put it back into place, this made a horrible crunchie sound and made me feel a little queasy. I then sat for a bit longer before gathering my bike and re-attaching the peak to my helmet.
Thought about going back to the car at this point but once I was back on the bike I felt ok so I opted to carry on. The finger was still hurting but I use one finger braking so it wasn't really a problem when riding. Pressed on this time concentrating on being fast up the hills and trying to make up time that way rather than pinning the downhill secrtions although by the time I got to the last decent the adrenaline was flowing so I managed to nail that without falling off again.
Got back to the car at 12:35 so it took me 2 hours and 35 mins, which I'm quite pleased with considering I spent about 15mins sprawled across the trail. I'm still sure I could get under 2 hours if I knock the cigs on the head and stop falling off. I was on 2.4 tyres aswell so the racing ralphs might knock a couple of minutes off if I fit them.
Anyway it'll have to wait a while before I try again as I've just got back from Helmsley and been to the hospital, the finger is broke across the last knuckle and they have strapped it up so I cant ride the bike 🙁 Fracture clinic in the morning so I'll find out how long before I'm mobile again then.
Ouch. Take it easy for a few weeks and get back out there.
Good luck with the recovery.
Broke my little finger on the last knuckle last year, they'll prob advise a mallet splint. I had it strapped up for a month and it's still wonky now. I can clench my fist but the end of the finger has perminantly dropped, so I cant extend it fully. Make sure you stick to what they say and do the physio they tell you, good luck!
A month !!! Noooo
Its got some plastic finger cup thing on at the moment, I was hoping to be back on the bike in a couple of weeks. Better did the turbo trainer out then and keep my legs working.
It was strapped up for a month but I was out riding again after a week! Important things fingers tho, don't underestimate the injury.
If it's any consolation, I thought your story was a good read. I felt I was with you. 😉
Ouch! And you carried on i would have been straight back to the car.
I was plannning on tryng for a sub 2 hr Dalby this wkend, so i best go carefull.
I'm still trying to crack a Sub 2 hour dalby.
My best so far is 2h11 on a Giant Reign. My new bike climbs a bit faster so I reckon I can do it this year.
Sub 2 hours on my rigid ss last summer and that was after a warm up lap with trailer attached and a couple of beers ! you must do better sounds as though you need to do a skillz course. 😉
🙄
[b]Oh Cock[/b]
Just got back from the fracture clininc, its worse than I initially thought, a lump of bone has come away at the knuckle. There was talk of surgery but thankfully the consultant changed his mind. I've got to wear a mallet splint for at least the next 3 weeks then go back for another look. He's re-set the bone and x-rayed it in the splint, hopefully it will mend quickly.
I might try some spinning classes or set the turbo trainer up in order to keep my legs in shape, he was very clear about no mountain biking until he sees me next time, didn't mention anything about trekking down fireroads on the singlespeed though 🙂