In regards to having an issue with my knee and going to see a physio, I finished my last blog post with the line “hopefully it’s not too bad and I can start building some solid form”, well... He informed me I have a tendonitis and that it can be healed in a week or three months and it’s one of those ‘wait and see’ issues, great. So with that, he stuck some needles in the back of my thigh whilst my face did something like this then gave me a massage and sent me on my way to England with a prescription of ibuprofen and icing. I’d taken my bike to England but on arriving and starting to build my bike, I came to realise that my seat and seat clamp were missing. Long story, but I’d packed everything in the bike box, however a family member decided they’d remove it and pack it in their case, which they then forgot to do, not naming names... So it was on to my uncles 7 speed full alloy roady with the reflectors still on the wheels, good training! Luckily I put the seat down slightly on his bike and I was no longer having issues with my knee, so when dad and I turned up to the local club run and I started shredding, some jimmies started to become rustled. I was yelled at to learn how to roll through properly, to remove those bloody reflectors and to take the plastic spoke guard from between my spokes and cassette and put it in the trash. All of which I just responded to with the look. So that was an eventful day out and a good trip to England! Oh, and in-between the riding I saw some family members so that was kind of nice! It was good being back with mum and dad both for the first time in 11 years and to have a proper family gathering, something that’s not overly common in NZ. Mum and dad flew back to Belgium on the Tuesday with my bike and I returned on the Wednesday with dads, he’s built mine up meaning it was ready to ride that night for a local kermesse and my last race with Cory. I managed to get in the early break and excluding the fact that it was 45 instead of 5 laps, THIS ARTICLE gives a sum up of how it went. What’s not explained in there is how bad my leg was getting, as I can not lower my seat on my bike without trimming the seatpost, I was starting to feel twinges in my knee once again, slowly worsening throughout the race. I finished, I finished second and that’s ok but I do think I was held back by my injury. No biggie though, next time! Next time however didn’t happen, Saturdays race was cut short by my knee playing havoc with me even worse than the day prior and resulted in me pulling out with 20km left to race, not ideal! The morning of the race was spent saying goodbye to Cory and wishing him safe travels. It’s been a great three months with him and in retrospect I don’t think there’s anyone else I’d rather have had come over with me. With how my injury was I skipped racing Sunday and have spent the week just doing long pain-free km’s, icing, stretching and taking my pills in the hopes that I can ‘go hunnids’ this weekend. This morning I rode in the backseat of a luggage packed car with mum and dad to Brussels airport and saw them off. It’s been a great month with them here and I’m sad to seem them go. It has felt like a whirlwind of a visit and now only leaves me with two months solo till I’m home. The support’s been amazing from them with how the season’s been going so far and I think it’s put mum’s mind at rest as to how I’m going to fare for the next two months after seeing my room and that I am actually capable of cooking for myself! I recently did a catch up with roadcycling.co.nz about my season so far and you can find that HERE. Hoping my knee pulls together soon and that I can get going, fingers crossed! T.W.C