Renyard battling to beat unlucky break

ALLAN RENYARD, Guernsey's hardiest cyclist, is enduring only his second prolonged spell out of the saddle in 47 years. The Guernsey Velo Club member - and former president - finds out on Monday how well his broken right thigh bone is mending.

The x-ray and surgeon's examination are the latest steps in a long process that he is determined will end when he mounts up again and gets back out on the road.

'It's put me well back in my training schedule, but I'll just have to go back and get my base miles in and work steadily up again.

'It's not put me off riding, just put me back.'

The 61-year-old hit a purple patch last season, and was producing some of the best times of his career, including age-group records at five and 25 miles.

But a training ride crash has put all that on hold.

'I was going down the bottom of the Terres, doing about 25mph, the cars ahead were slowing, so I braked, not even hard, the front wheel locked and slipped and dumped me on the road like I was on ice.'

Renyard cannot recall anything else until he had slid to a stop.

'It was no one's fault; I wasn't doing anything wrong; it was just bad luck.

'There had been a hillclimb not long beforehand, there was maybe a bit of rubber left on the road and that, combined with oil and water, produced the worst possible conditions: absolutely no grip. Thankfully, there were no cars following close behind me.'

Two motorists and a woman cyclist stopped to help him, but he realised when he could not lift his right foot from the pedal that something was badly wrong. Initially, he feared he had broken his hip. X-rays revealed that he had fractured his right thigh.

'I've got a feeling that as I went down, the top tube acted as a lever and the thigh just broke over it. I'm not as young as I used to be and tend not to bounce anymore.'

The damage was a diagonal break at the top of the bone and a crack lower down. Renyard had a metal plate inserted, secured with six screws. He has been on crutches since and has been told not to put his full weight on the leg.

'Seeing the x-ray was pretty frightening. It was surprisingly nasty but I'm mending pretty well. The morning after the crash, I was on the old zimmer frame taking a few steps. Two days later, I was on crutches walking a bit.

'Now I'm doing a bit of work on the bike at home and walking up and down the lane.'

He works the leg gently four times a day. Although he does not have full movement in the knee, he can manage 220 degrees pedal rotation on his bike at home: he just moves the pedal backwards and forwards.

'This is only my second spell off the bike in 47 years.

'The last time was in 1974 when I crashed over a dog. I hit my head on the road and had concussion.

'The main problem at the moment is the knee, which is full of fluid.'

Now off the painkillers, working at home and planning his return, whenever that may be, the aim is to get back and reproduce last year's form.

It is difficult to imagine Renyard anywhere other than on a bike.

His home office is full of copies of Cycling Weekly. His screen saver is a series of pictures of Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

He is already planning his trip to watch the next Tour.

Renyard hates missing his rides but is realistic that it will take some time and he is determined to be back turning the pedals again soon.