Its well known how dangerous it can be, cycling on the road. Big lorries, dumb drivers, careless riders, ice, all kinds of treacherous hazards. Nobody mentions the overweight adolescent female, stepping out from behind a van.
Last week I was drafting behind Dan Treby, hanging on to his wheel, as (like a dog chasing a squirrel) he spotted 2 other commuters ahead, when suddenly out of nowhere he hit the deck. Bang he went down, I dutifully followed, over the bars, straight on top him. I was out for the count, something had caught my jaw like a left hook. I could see and hear but couldn’t move. Dan was complaining of elbows and ribs… our friend Jan was unravelling our bikes that were twisted and twined together. After what seemed like an age we dusted ourselves off, straightened the saddles, had a word with the teenage girl and off we went for another 3 hours. It cost me a wisdom tooth and the ££ bill associated with this.
Today I was mountain biking with my dogs, they were on a lead for the first five minutes. The lead got snagged in the front wheel and the poor dog got dragged under it. She yelped out, I felt sick at the thought at what I had just done to her. Her paw held out towards me I was devastated! I gave her a stroke she accepted my apology and off she ran for another thirty minutes, flat out. Nails.
Hopefully these things don’t come in three, I have one more week until training camp, I’d like to go in one piece.
Verity Appleyard 