I would like to tell you I am a star mountain bike rider, this would be a dirty horrible lie though. Can I ride? Well, yeah, to a degree, although I am 50 years old weighing 92 kg, I work out in the gym, run when possible and keep myself as fit as I can for my age. So when I was riding flat out down a very steep hill with the pedals over-running, I could not go any faster. We were on a 47 km ride in each direction and we had just logged over 72 km at the last rest stop so I was feeling fatigued.

I was riding on the edge, too loose for the conditions, jet-lagged and fatigued, this was telling. Don’t let that detract from my decision-making, I was travelling downhill as fast as the bike would move, my weight distribution was correct and I was not using the brakes. So as I crossed up the handlebars after hitting the hole and flew through the air I already knew this was not going to end well. The point of impact hurt, I just lay there for about ten seconds without moving so I could determine the extent of my injuries.

I tried to roll over, that was a bad idea as I rolled on the arm I landed on, that hurt a little. Ok, roll over in the other direction and as I slowly rose to my feet I knew my arm was hanging down. No problems, it was an impact so I expected it to be sore. It may have been dislocated, I accepted that, they may have to pop it back in. The x-rays told a different story though, I had to fly down to Johannesburg for some surgery. That involved a pin in my arm, some stabilisation and I was ready to return to work.

Sure, a year on and my arm still feels pain. I had limited movement so my rehab was pretty intense. Some of the exercises came from the hospital physio, some were my own but I knew I had to push on. I was warned if I couldn’t get movement they would put me back under and do it for me – that was pretty good motivation. I did my exercises daily, pushed through the pain and got my mobility back. I am back participating in sport, I ride my bike, run, sail and I am trying to get a decent weights program going.