All Clear

My last bike ride was on July 5th.  The day I crashed on the descent of Fraser’s Hill.  On July 14th I had surgery to drain an anorectal abscess.  On 23rd August I had a second surgery to repair a fistula that was the cause of the abscess.

While recovery from the injuries incurred in the crash is still ongoing, I could have started riding again at least a month ago.  However my surgeon had other ideas.  He did not want me to risk compromising the healing of the wound that he created when he opened up the fistula.  So instead of sitting on my saddle, I spent seven weeks sitting in a sitz bath twice a day.

I got the ‘all clear’ to ride last Saturday.  Some of my Flipside friends agreed to spend their Sunday morning riding with me to Kampung Kundang and back.  It is a route that we have ridden many times.

We followed the Guthrie Corridor Expressway to the Kuala Selangor exit.  Here we are at that exit, waiting for Marco and Natasha.

Photograph courtesy of Eric Seow

Our intermediate destination was Seleria Ria along Jalan Kuang.  I didn’t eat all those packets of nasi lemak.

Photograph courtesy of Eric Seow

They were shared amongst us all.

Photograph courtesy of Marco Lai

I throughly enjoyed the 56km ride.  The weather was mild, and my riding companions maintained a reasonable pace.

Nevertheless, it felt like hard work.  The three-month layoff clearly eroded my fitness levels.  A comparison of my heart rate during this ride, and my heart rate during a very similar ride in June, illustrates this.

My average heart rate during this ride was 130 beats per minute.  My average speed was 25 kilometers per hour.

My average heart rate four months ago was 120 bpm, at an average speed of 26.5 kph.

I need to rebuild my fitness.  I also need to continue to strengthen my left arm.  The nerves I damaged in the Fraser’s Hill crash will take at least another two months to repair.  My arm is significantly stronger than it was a few months ago, but it has not returned to full-strength, and it still tires easily.  I struggled to hold my position on my bike in the last forty five minutes of the ride.

I have another week to build up my fitness in preparation for the Melaka Century Ride.  Wish me well!