Crash Aftermath

HI everybody,

Many of you have not talked or had any contact with me since my crash @ the NH 100 MTB race on Aug 21st . I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and am truly sorry for the laps in the coaching the last 3 weeks. I have now been home from the hospital for 2 days and after a tough 5 hour drive in the car being home many new challenges has presented them selves l can assure you . This coming Mon will be 2 weeks since my back surgery and a significant progress in mobility with less pain is something that has been the goal every day .

These 3 weeks has been the hardest of my life by far , but there has not been one day I have been depressed or down about anything . This is mainly thanks to my wife , who is an increadable strong person and really knew how to handle a situation like this. We took things as they came each day and delt with it . She gave you guys updates , but also at the same time really stressed the fact how important it was for me to get the proper rest and more or less isolated me from e-mails , calls and even visitors. I can not tell you how tiring talking on the phone for 5 min was . Do not get me wrong , without your support + hundreds of other people in the cycling community all over the country , Canada and even Europe being this strong and positive would not have been possible. Thank you, you are all family to me !

Well, one day at the time and now the rebuilding process starts. I was very fortunate to have a world class surgent and without really knowing at first that I was in one of the best hospitals in the country for spinal injuries, the Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center . The care by the the nurses and the team of top notch doctors gave me made me feel I was in the right hands every single day I spent there. Before being discharged on Wed I spoke to my Dr who performed the surgery , Dr Lollis. He basically said 2 things ;” do not fall down and do not bend over too much for awhile” ! Key here is obviously TIME and PATIENCE. I can NOT ride my bike basically for 5-6 Months and to be sure of a full and complete recovery NOT RACE for a year. I know giving it the proper time to heal will be something I will appreciate when I do get back to training and racing.

My plan will be to get strong enough first to be able to function independently and move like a normal human being again . I will start riding on an indoor spin bike in a couple of Months , but I will not rush it and then I will see if am ready to get on the road by Dec- Jan to be ready for our FinKraft Camps in late Feb-March. The hard thing here is missing the 2011 Cross season , but that is something I can live with and I am perfectly fine resuming racing next summer and be fit and ready for Cross 2012.

Enough about me , obviously I can not ride with you guys for a little while , but I can now focus on coaching 100% in many more ways with a little more time in hand. As starters I will each day spend time with clients to catch up where we left off and get everybody back on track.Talk to you about how the Road or MTB season went this year . Discuss traingplans, adjustments needed to be done perhaps and goals achieved or goals for the future. Cyclocross starts tomorrow and once I am back on my feet it will be a perfect opportunity for me to come to the races and work as your coach and pass on my experience to you from the side lines . When not racing myself my time will be devoted 100% to you . This will be a huge benefit for you and a great opportunity for me to film ( GoPro) you and really watch you guys racing and help you be 100% prepared for each race with equipment choices, technique , strategies , warm-ups and etc. Our clients who do not race cross will not be left out here either, there is a lot of coaching that can be done this off season , no worries there.

In addition to the coaching we have the FinKraft CyclingTeam and our Retul fitting studio where I can do a lot of constructive work and bring things to another level . Big plans , but I will not forget to rest and heal , because to make all this possible I will need that balance.

Thanks again for your understanding and support.

Roger@FinKraft