When skin meets the road

So 90KM fun run to Namur and back on Sunday. Its been sunny and nice all week. I had a full rest day on Saturday after 7 straight days of training, so i should have been fresh. On Sunday its pissing down and we're back to standard Belgian weather. I faced this trip with a little trepidation as the previous outing was a lot of hard work and at least it was unknown then. This week its fresh in my mind what is coming.

We set out in something just short of torrential rain. The first 40 minutes giving us a full and thorough soaking. I was cold for the first 20k and it was hard hard work and Philippe was way out in front for much of the way. I was struggling to get above the 30kmph mark on the flats and my legs felt heavy and it felt like I was cycling with the brakes on for the first hour.

My right knee was sore and I was getting cramp in my right calf. I'm sure it was down to changing the pedal cleat positions last week, this was in an effort to try and put the pressure point more forward onto the ball of my foot and to stop my heel rubbing on the crank. We got to Namur around 5 minutes outside the 3 hour 90K schedule. I was slow and fighting the bike the whole way out but this wasn't as bad as I thought.

On the way back I was getting a bit of a second wind around the 60KM mark and Philippe was pulling less distance in front and if I got the draughting just right I could stay on his wheel on the flats and uphill.

Disaster struck around the 70KM mark, we'd been in a good rhythm for about 10KM and I was starting to really feel good. Sitting right on someone's wheel you can't see in front, so you just watch the your front and his rear wheel and pedal. Philippe hit a big puddle with a hidden hole. I followed him a fraction of a second later. We're doing between 32 and 35kmph, so not slow. My front wheel washed out and hit the kerb. I'm up in the air and thinking 'this is going to nip a bit'. Crash right onto the road, still attached to the bike and then it hits the road and flies off my feet and into the middle of the road. Luckily no traffic on the road. All the hard points on the right of my body have taken a hit. Ankle, knee(below,on and above) , hip and elbow are all now minus skin. My hands are fine as I had gloves on and my head is intact as I have my helmet on. Bike handlebars took the brunt and handlebar tape is ripped away on right hand side and left hand brake lever is bent and some metal removed , same for left brake but less so. Apart from that its working.

Last 20KM were painful once the shock passed. I tried to get back on the bike as quickly as possible as clearly hanging about while soaked but with nothing broken isn't sensible as I'd just have stiffened up. I clocked off the 90km in 3:18 but there was some dispute over the actual distance as Phlippes odometer said 80 something and mine said 90. Regardless it was the same distance as last week on the same device and I was 4 minutes slower. So OK in my view despite the conditions, obviously apart from the fall.

I'll be out of action for a few days as my hip is swollen and still very painful. I'm also off to the UK for work tonight so options are limited. I have photos of the injuries and I might post later.