Maybe the headline should read 'my life with a 'pin-up'. It's not a pretty story or even a very pretty picture but there is some colour and a whole load of unwanted clarity.
Unlike the Flanders and Swan1 song which begins on a Monday morning my encounter with a different sort of 'gasman'2 started on a Sunday morning at the end of November 2016. I was riding in the Fontwell Freeze3 when in the lovely village of Lavant near Chichester, I had a slow speed slip, a whole lot of morphine courtesy of the event medic and a trip to St Richards Hospital, Chichester.
Sometimes things don't go as one expects. I remember thinking, as the front wheel of my bike slipped away, “I am going to be sore when I stand up”, but it did not occur to me on the way down that there would be 'no way up'! Although I did not know it until much later in the day, I had broken the ball off the top of my right femur.
The Fontwell Freeze was only one of a number of cycling events in which I had participated in 2016. It had been quite a year, taking part in the Gran Fondo World Championships4 in Perth something for which I was not prepared; and also riding from London to Paris with Bloodwise. But my aims on that morning in November had been simple. Ride steadily at a pace, have good aerobic exercise and finish with a reasonable time. So much for finishing! I had made a reasonable pace until the right turn in Lavant and then the day was over and I joined the ranks of 'did not finish'.
The Fontwell Freeze was intended as the start of my training for L'Etape du Tour 2017, but that seemed to be over before it had really had a chance to get underway. However my determination to take part in L'Etape du Tour, despite gaining a 'dynamic hip screw', was starting to be formed.
Fortunately for me, the orthopaedic surgeon on call was a cyclist and after a conversation in A&E it was decided to 'go for' the repair of my own bones rather than a replacement hip. The surgeon felt I would wear out a replacement joint out too quickly. I now realise how lucky I was. Almost every conversation I have had with other medics has indicated that in most cases my injury would have resulted in an almost automatic decision to fit a 'replacement' hip. In addition, the risk of the operation not being successful because of the failure of the head of my femur not having the blood supply restored was high.
It took from the end of November 2016 to mid-March 2017 to get rid my crutches and but by June I was well enough to compete in the Tour of Cambridgeshire and in July ride 172.3km out of 181km of L'Etape du Tour; and in all have managed to cycle 3000 miles in 2017 since getting back on my back in March.
Life with my leg 'pinned up' is the start of a new challenge. In 2016, if I had not had an encounter with the road in Lavant, I was on track to ride 5000 miles in the year. So in 2018, I am going to try again to reach that distance target but I have another target in mind. I want to raise £5000 for Bloodwise (formerly Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research). They do a great job supporting patients and sponsoring medical research to help beat blood cancer.
Nothing is certain in life, I did not expect to fall off my bike and break my leg, but I am going to do my best to ride the miles. Please, will you support me by making a gift? It is easy at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stephenmaxted2018 I also need people to make my story known, so please post it on Facebook and any other social media you use. You can follow my progress on Strava, just click here. I will be writing more over the coming weeks.
1The Gas Man Cometh
2I think that anaesthetist was a lady but I don't remember that much about the op!
3Wiggle Super Series 2016
