A journey through Injury and Rehab.
Part 1 - Whatever goes up, must come down!!
April - Aug 21 - Uphill but strong
It all started by a chance encounter, a way to release anxiety and some belief shown by the ones who matter. Cycling became a seriously pursued sport thanks to Covid and a goal was setup to train through the year.
A good achievement in May and sustained training meant things seemed well on track for the race attempt in November.
Sept - Nov 21 - Nerves and Setbacks
Sept came with a good 300 km simulation ride. A lot of good data and a lot of mistakes that meant a lot of lessons were learnt.
An Injury on the second simulation ride in Oct meant looking out for the signs the body gives and also conditioning the body well for the challenges ahead.
In hindsight these small things piled up towards bigger mistakes; especially considering a switch of sports and intense training efforts. More on that later.
20.11.21 - The start of the drill
The Deccan Cliffhanger begins with great enthusiasm. Everything going as per plan till 350kms, about 15 hours into the ride.
The downhill battle begun. Cold and rain hit in Belgaum. A flat tyre and some chills downhill. Further down the road, there was fatigue kicking in. Riders along the way spurred the enthusiasm but at 1.00am the stomach gave way. 2 stops in the next 2 hours drained me out. The fatigue resulted in an abort at 443 kms.
Nov-Dec 21 - Post-mortem
Analysis. What-if’s. Could-have-been’s. Disappointments.
Hindsight is the biggest teacher, after all.
Various reasons of what would’ve gone wrong were analysed. A few conclusions were reached at. In hindsight, it boiled down to a mix of lack of preparation and experience.
But the feeling of not being able to complete the race was still sinking in; without knowing that what was in store was going to change the entire dynamics of the situation.