<\/a>My collarbone was fixed the next day with a plate and a baker's dozen screws. \u00a0The collapsed lung has managed to reinflate and time will heal all the rest of the broken bones. \u00a0Prognosis? 4-6 weeks until I can ride the trainer and back on the road in 10-12 weeks.<\/p>\nMaybe two or three races before the season winds down…<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, until that time, I'm in a state of limbo. \u00a0It's hard to put into words the crushing disappointment of knowing that I'll be unable to ride a bike outside for the majority of the cycling season. \u00a0It's just as hard to know that my teammates will be racing on Saturdays and Sundays, and I won't be able to help them win. \u00a0it's a crushing mental blow to someone who moves for a living, moves in my free time and seeks out the rush of adrenaline that can only be found in a pack of 50 riders, elbow to elbow, hurtling down the road at 27 miles per hour.<\/p>\n
Therein lies the rub. \u00a0The thrill is laced with danger, and the glowing promise of glory always comes with the shadowy spectre of defeat and injury lurking just behind. \u00a0It's a high stakes game, and rolling snake eyes has consequences. \u00a0I choose to accept the risk. \u00a0In this case, the dice rolled against me and I was the one who lost. \u00a0However the other 50 or so times I've toed a start line, I've come out clean and safe. \u00a0The 50,000 miles or more I've logged in the past years have resulted in 2 previous crashes that required a trip to the ER, and neither was for more than flesh wounds. \u00a0This is the first time I've been forced out of work or off the bike by injury. \u00a0And it's crushing, both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n
I will be back in the saddle. \u00a0I'll be back in the peloton. \u00a0I'll certainly pin a number on again. \u00a0I'll be choosy about the races I enter, for certain; it's not worth dealing with poor bike handling from racers I don't know, and honestly, the social aspect of racing means I'd rather race with people I do know. \u00a0These things are certainties.<\/p>\n
What is not certain is how I'll deal with 3 months of sitting inside, watching the world ride by me as I recovery from the injuries I sustained in my second race of the season. \u00a0I could scream that it's not fair, but it would be hypocritical.<\/p>\n
I accepted the risk, and I rolled snake eyes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crashing out of a season is mentally and physically taxing. In this post, I’m reflecting on how I can deal with being sidelined for three months of prime riding time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,118,27],"tags":[60,187,166],"yst_prominent_words":[1492,1488,1494,1493,1491,1495,1498,1496,1500,1442,1497,302,417,454,272,1501,1489,1499,1490,934],"wppr_data":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/IMG_5271-e1448251939798.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10411,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5950\/revisions\/10411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5950"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}