The Secret Cyclist by The Secret Cyclist

Author:The Secret Cyclist [Cyclist, The Secret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473554542
Publisher: Random House

CRASHES

It only takes a second to undo hundreds of hours training and thousands of kilometres hard work. It could be a lapse of concentration, someone else’s mistake … or even some shit equipment you’ve been forced to use. It could just be a gust of wind. Wrong place, wrong time, and bang, your season is over, maybe your career, or worse. It’s a sickening feeling, the grim inevitability of knowing that sooner or later, you’re going to fall.

And it’s not just the crash. The crash sucks, but it’s what comes after that makes it so much worse. You can have a fall at the start of a Grand Tour and it might not be so bad, some bruising and a little road rash, but because you’re racing every day you’re constantly changing the dressing and being careful of the wounds. And if it’s something worse than just a gash? It’s a nightmare, every morning waking up to pain and dirty bandages, and with bruised or broken bones it makes it incredibly hard to do simple tasks. Not what you want before a 250-kilometre-long stage, when all you should be worrying about is eating enough and trying to get a decent coffee.

Being sent home is even worse. A broken pelvis is horrific. And then you’re lying around the house with everyone looking at you, that’s not great when you have kids because they don’t want to see Daddy looking like he’s been in a world championship boxing match. It sucks for the rider too. That shouldn’t be forgotten. There’s a lot of bravado in cycling, especially among the amateurs, about how hard it is, about all of the suffering, but after so many years of having to deal with it, you can keep your suffering. Crashes and pain don’t make you a better cyclist, they just make you an uncomfortable one.

Whether you’re a neo-pro or an old hand, a domestique or a multiple Grand Tour winner, it’s all the same: the first goal at every race is to stay on your bike. It sounds obvious but it’s true. I know one guy whose agent will call him up before a big race for a pep talk, and then sign off the call by yelling, ‘Don’t fucking crash!’ That’s a little too on the nose for some people, but it’s still solid advice. Whatever job you have to do in the race, you’re not going to do it on the floor, and regardless of whether your DS wants you to act as a mule, going back and forth from the car to the front with food and water bottles, or if you’re there to contend for the victory, it’s going to be a lot easier if you stay out of trouble.

Tunnels can be a bit of a problem, psychologically at least. I’ve never seen a crash in a tunnel, it’s just a feeling. It always feels like a massive tailwind in a tunnel. It must be the force of the group and all the cars coming into it, but there always seems to be a big gust behind us.

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