Bike: BMC Teamelite XX1 Fast Trak 2.2 / Bontrager XR2 1.35 bar (training wheels)
Since the crash last Sunday I've been taking it very easy. The main focus has been to be back on and racing on Sunday the 7th of August for the next important race: Finnmarksturen. There was a local XCup race already Sunday the week after my crash but I thought my chances of being welll enough to race there were slim.
I tried getting back on the bike on Monday, the day after the crash, for my regular commute but found that I couldn't bend the leg enough to pedal. So I took the car... for the next three days. Then on Thursday I tried again, and by raising the saddle to the max I was able to pedal and perform my commute... very slowly. Same thing Friday. Then on Saturday I tried mountain biking and that worked out okay. So I had made my mind up that I was going to wait until Sunday morning to decide whether to race the XCup or not.
Sunday morning arrived and I took a quick mountain bike ride pushing a bit harder than I had the day before. And all seemed well. So I decided to race.
I put some bandage over the part of the knee where I have the stiches. Then a leg warmer over just the injured leg. It looked kind of funny (check the photo below). I decided to take it easy in the turns and not risk crashing and also be careful when getting passed or passing someone.
The race worked out surprisingly well. I was a bit nervous and insecure in the turns and so I braked much more than I should have. My main goal was to have a really intense training session and the track delivered on that point by having a lot of climbing meaning my heart rate got really high. Great!
I managed three laps in total in the one hour of race time that there was. For each new lap I relaxed more and as my confidence grew I took the turns faster and faster. This was exactly what I had hoped for.
I finished in 16th place which is good. The best part is the pulse data with a max of 190bpm and an average of 175. Great workout session!
