I thought that title would get your attention so here goes…
The 2025 racing season is slowly coming to an end, writing this now I think I have four races to do and that’s it. At the beginning of the year I said that I was hoping to record personal bests throughout all my TT distances and to be fair I was being a little hard on myself as they were “pre-crash” PB’s and some of those were on ridiculously fast dual-carriageway drag strips.
I got fairly close to my 10 PB…30 seconds close.
I beat my 25 PB by 30 seconds.
I got within 11 seconds of my 50 PB.
I took 7 minutes and then another 10 minutes off my 100 PB.
I rode to Roth.
I clocked at least 100km per day for a month in Majorca back in April.
I PR’d up every climb in Majorca, including Sa Calobra.
I won Nottingham Half Aquabike.
I completed the original lap of Majorca (312).
I rode round Norfolk (220miles) in a day.
I won St Neots Olympic Aquabike.
You’d think I’d be happy with that but the eternal sceptic inside of me looks to improve. In fairness I’ve still got a 25 to do (tomorrow), a small issue of a 12-hr TT next weekend in Wales, a 10 TT the following weekend and then Vitruvian Middle Distance Aquabike at Rutland Water in mid September, and then we’re disappearing to Majorca for a few days before the impending knee operation at the end of that month.
Beyond that…who knows. The operation has an element of the unknown attached to it as the journey since the day of the crash has been nothing short of unbelievable. Being moved around from one Orthopaedic surgeon to another, listening to their weird and wonderful ideas, and then listening to their excuses not to operate (and their suggestions to take up a different lifestyle), it’s not filled me with any confidence that the next few years are going to be any different.
On the other hand the surgeon is very confident that the operation will be a resounding success, he even stretched to say that there maybe a possibility of me being able to run again. So, on the other hand I’m feeling quite hopeful that the recovery from this operations will be quite quick and I’ll be able to get back to my usual mad capped ideas and bike tours and races. Maybe even a few ParkRuns in 2026?
I’ve already been down to Oxford for my Pre-Op assessments, blood pressure, height, weight, taking bloods, questionnaires…that type of thing and I’ve not heard anything back so I’m presuming I’ve got the all-clear for admission in a just over a months’ time. One thing that made the nurse a little more focused was the ECG – the result came back as “abnormal” and although she said this was fairly common you could see she didn’t really want to say anything further than that. I knew however, that my heart has a “T-Wave” – a triple beat every now and again. I don’t get any physical reactions from this like palpitations, I just know it’s there because the volume of my heart is a little bigger because of endurance sport, and my valves struggle to keep the return pressure as they have to work hard to maintain the high stroke volume, so every now & again the triple beat is thrown in there to help out. They call it “Athlete’s Heart” – quite common amongst fit people I’m told. Like I said – I’ve heard nothing back so I’m guessing they’ve double checked my records and they’ve probably seen the history.
Post operation I have a few immediate goals – one of which is to continue writing my book. I’ve yet to give it a name as these things have a way of turning up as you continue writing. It’s a bit boring really if you’re not into cycling or sports but nonetheless it might be a good thing for someone who just wants to read (or listen) to some dodgy cyclist who’s seen a few things in their cycling career. I can talk a good race as they say so I’m fairly sure it’ll gain some interest!
Another goal is to read the Road Book collection that’s been gathering dust on the breakfast bar behind me right now. This collection of Almanac cycling folklore since 2018 has been sitting there begging me to read it but I’ve never really had the time. I have in fairness but I just busy myself with my coaching, podcasts, other peoples’ books and white noise distraction such as wall-to-wall cycling coverage on the telly.
Coaching!
Well there’s a turn up for the books – what started several years ago as a way of me helping a handful of athletes hit their target races, has turned into a thriving community where 30+ athletes ranging from Triathlon to Ultra Running, from weight loss to super-fast elite cycle racing are part of a a single community where we support each other on with no agenda. I’ve spent far too much time where my so-called best friends have never praised my successes and are far too fixed on their own. In this community I make sure that each and every athlete is praised and welcomed in whatever level of sport they want to partake in.
I’ve sat here in recent weeks and have honestly been overwhelmed with the comradeship and collective positivity. I really didn’t even imagine the Hashtag Brand has taken off so fast and has been welcomed so much. We’ve won several events outright. Individuals and Team prizes. Each and every athlete has achieved so much and it’s amazing to think I’ve had a hand in that…along with the Hashtag Community supporting them along the way.
I’m not resting on my laurels though, I’ve got plenty of continual professional development lined up for when I’m convalescing. Ranging from Psychology to Nutrition, I want to learn more and with that I want to impart this knowledge with the athletes making them more well-rounded as athletes and the amazing humans they all are.
I think coaching evolves and if you choose to stay where you are you’re already obsolete so I intend on chasing for more knowledge to stay ahead of that curve…and it keeps me from watching mindless daytime TV!
