A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy? Albert Einstein once said this. Clearly he lived in a time when bicycles were not around and fresh air was underrated.

Since my surgery I have been suffering severe bouts of cabin fever. They last for about 24 hours a day. With other injuries I have had, I have at least been able to go outdoors. With recovering from this one I have worn at groove in my bed that wakes me up at night when I lay across the divide my ever increasing ass size has created.

This injury is easily the worst of my lifetime. With my life depending on how my bike racing goes it was a depressing time for me. I don't claim to have had depression itself but I did feel awful. Thankfully my house mates were still racing and my friend came over from America to do the pro-kermesse season so I could still be involved in the racing and give me something to look forward to in a time where waking up and going to sleep were the only things I had to achieve during the day. I don't think they realise how much that helped me.

I was treading water for a long time when I got the injury. My team didn't or couldn't do anything for me. I still don't know which one is an accurate reflection of the truth. I was left to my own devices. Thankfully a new friend came to my rescue and we saw specialists, had scans, and had extensive physiotherapy.

It improved the injury but it didn't solve it unfortunately. I returned home after the physio was completed, after my kitchen burned down, and with a special guest who showed me it was possible to have someone in my life that didn't ride a bike. I saw a consulting surgeon and we had agreed an operation was needed to correct the problem.

In the meantime things had gone a little up in the air regarding what team I was going to ride for next year. It turns out old friends are the best friends and I'm all sorted for this season.

So, this is where I am at the moment. I had new shoes, pedals, and cleat positions. It left me with a month and a half to train hard before the surgery. Fortunately I managed it. Now it's just waiting on my bed with my left knee supported by pillows until the swelling is down enough to train. Then it's a few days of seeing how it feels and how it responded to surgery then full steam ahead. Hopefully into a season that brings me the success of some of my friends were fortunate enough to enjoy this year.

See you on the road. Or when boredom during the recovery strikes and I decide it's time for another blog.