Building my confidence up is key to increasing my ability and to reaching the cycling level I want to achieve. Since my ski accident, I am fully aware of my fragility which has dramatically affected my confidence. Being overzealous and the desire to take risks was the cause of my past misfortunes. However, a lack of confidence works against me as tension and nerves kick in making me vulnerable to mistakes. I am competitive therefore I need to overcome my hesitancy and my new desire to self-protect, this is a delicate balance which I will be working on for the next few months.
My second cycle to Casole d’Elsa was a much better ride. Increasing my confidence on the downhills, relaxing into corners and controlling my speed whilst releasing the tension. My uphill climbs were good with equal pressure through the cycle motion from both legs and pure determination to get to the top as efficiently as possible.
It is worth me mentioning what training I did prior to coming to Tuscany. I used an App called Zwift with an indoor trainer and mainly concentrated on interval training. This helped build my stamina and power. After my accident it was important I focused on the leg I broke and that both legs worked equally during the cycle motion. I trained by doing specific exercised on this leg by making it the dominant one and ensuring I had full cycle revolution.
Alongside the indoor cycling I did Hiit using an App call Fiit also using resistance bands and dumbbells and yoga using an App call Down Dog. Whilst doing these exercises I ensured I had equal weight distribution across both legs concentrating on my posture and inner core.
I will create a new page on my Leg rehab journey as I found little information to assist me at the time and physio advise was very lacking especially during Covid. It may help someone else ……
Travel adventures 