Beautiful brutal day around Muckross lake and through the Kerry mountains. Weather was wet and wild and the scenery breathtaking.

I’m relaxing at home in front of a roaring fire. Tired but pleased after a great day on the mountain bike

Just back from a solo 2 hour road spin. First spin since I registered for act I & act II of L’etape. Weight has shot up to 97Kg since I took time away from gym and bike.

I have decided to leave the blog title unchanged, since I never made it to L’etape 2011 I’ll always be on the road to it.

Suppose I better blog my goals for 2012 soon ….

Off to Australia! 30 hours of non stop travel ahead

My years of research by trial and error have allowed me to optimise my recovery. To be honest beer was the first beverage I tried and it seemed to work well.

I’m too tired to write now. Another S Kelly tour finished. 3 mins slower than last year and a lot more shagged finishing

Sitting at the window of my hotel room in Dungarvan watching all the bike laden cars drive by. There is a real buzz in the hotel tonight.

I have just finished getting ready for the Sean Kelly tour tomorrow. Bottles filled, food ready and number pinned to Jersey.

Not sure how difficult tomorrow will be. If L’etape Hibernia is anything thing to go by I fear tomorrow might be tough. I am ill prepared for the distance but what the hell

Well as you probably guessed I did not make it to the start line of etape Du Tour. I headed out on my final spin before heading to France a couple of days later. My bike was packed and on its way to France. My bags lay open on my bed and all my stuff was laid out to be packed. The final step in my preparation was a 104Km spin around Kanturk,, Rockchapel and up the Massrock. I headed off at 10am and did not return for 5 days.

Heading off the top of the hill between Rockchapel and Turnafulla I lost control on the desent and can remember landing in the ditch. I immediately got to my feet and realised that my colar bone was broken and knew that I would not be going to France. I remember checking the bike and then the pain hit. A good samaratan arrived on the scene but was reluctant to call an ambulance. I borrowed his phone and made the call. Then things become vague ;-). The ambulance seemed to arrive in a couple of minutes and I immediately felt safe. I am extremely grateful for their kindness and professionalism. I was put aboard. The ambulance headed down the road to MWRH limerick. After a time the ambulance pulled over and I was transferred to a different ambulance with an EMT aboard so that I could be given Morphine.

The next few days are a haze of Morphine and discomfort. I had a few injuries but thankfully made good progress. I had a knee laceration explored and stitched under general anaesthetic, I had a fractured Clavicle, 3 fractured ribs, a pneumothorax, a haemothorax, surgical emphysema and a lobar atelectasis.. I was discharged out of hospital a few days later. I got back to work on the 18th of July and began driving today the 25th. I am finaly begin to feel normal. I still can’t raise my arm and have vertigo but I can feel myself getting better everyday.

I am grateful to all my friends and families who made my recovery easy

“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.”, Zig Ziglar