By 2024 I'd pretty much given up Triathlon. Not a firm decision, I'd just lost the habit post-Covid and had no love for the typical races that I'd done many times before. I was still running though, as the marathon race reports attest to, and I kept my hand in with a few swims a month and the odd outdoor ride. As for races, my last half-ironman was in April 2020 and my last organized race was Roth 2019.

 

As I said at the time, Roth is a very hard race to get into and I'd tried my hand at the late-entry a couple of time since 2019, all without success. However, in late-October 2024 I happened to see an email from Roth about their late-entry lottery. It was fortuitous that I even looked at the email - I don't always read them but for some reason I opened this one and the deadline was the following day. You were allowed to buy as many 10 Euro tickets as you wanted but I played it safe and just bought one ticket - gotta be in it to win it right? Well, lo and behold, I got a slot! 

 

Roth seems to be a lucky race for me (in terms of entry), so of course I signed up and started to prepare my training programme which would begin in early January while I was in the UK. I got some good rides in there and then got back into it once in Hong Kong and all went well up until week 14. I have an excel file of all my training times from my 2017, 2018 and 2019 Ironmans, so I was able to easily compare. I was doing really well too, in terms of volume and quality, especially when you bear in mind I was six years older than my previous Ironman training block. Alas it wasn't to be as things took a dramatic turn at the end of week 14. I don't normally write a diary, but felt I should document this one, so here goes.

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Sunday morning, 27 April 2025. I was awake at my 5am alarm for my morning ride and kissed my wife goodbye as she stirred when I shot up out of bed. I needed a solid ride of around 60km as I’d had a few good rides the previous week and felt a little behind. Everything was ready as it usually was - bike, nutrition, clothes, so I was out the door pretty quickly and started the ride at 5.11am. Just before the off, I took my usual selfie and sent it to the family group - as an outdoor rider in Hong Kong, I can never shake the feeling that this might be the last photo. Sounds morbid but I can’t stop doing it.

 

There was a little drizzle in the air, not rain itself, but just enough to keep roads damp with no prospect of drying up. Not ideal, but I’d been riding a lot and had had a few wetter rides in the past weeks. I was on my race bike - the Cannondale - which is faster than the road bike and I’m no expert on this, but I believe the tyres are faster by being slicker and therefore have less grip.

 

I headed up Stubbs Road towards my usual long ride location - a 3.5km loop from the Adventist Roundabout to the Marketplace Roundabout at Jardine’s Lookout. It’s a flat loop so I can keep my pace up, has little traffic especially before 7am, no traffic lights and although there are another two smaller roundabouts in the loop, they are usually in the rider’s favour so don’t slow me down too much. 

 

The ride started okay and I got into my rhythm. Pace was a little off - my aim was to stay below 10mins per 5km and I was hitting around 9’50” which was fine although the week before I started at 9’30”. I attributed this to the damp conditions - perhaps I was holding back a bit.

 

I do this loop up to 20 times - that was my personal record in the past weeks and I was aiming for 20 loops again this time. I am generally good at keeping track of the loops but might have been a little off this time. One area I do tick off though is the roundabout next to Broadwood Road - this is probably the only precarious spot in the loop and it proved to be my undoing.

 

As you approach the roundabout, you first need to maneuver a couple of ‘road grooves’ in order to get into the correct lane to turn right. Then, as you hit the traffic circle, there are several manhole/drain covers that I am sure to avoid, although I know I have hit them more than once before without incident. After the manhole covers there are a couple of patched up road sections which although I prefer to avoid, I know I have hit them before. After that, there are more grooves in the road that I have to avoid in order to get the right path to pick up speed again. As above, I try to keep my average speed at 30km/h and probably maintain that over the course of these maneuvers. 

 

Back to the ride - I had done 15 loops and felt good for the last 5. The roads were still damp but traffic was light and I turned back for loop 16 at around 7am. All was good as I approached ‘that’ roundabout and didn’t have any concerns as I traversed it. Then, bam, everything changed in an instant. No loss of balance, no warning, just all good to all bad in a split second. 

 

My next recollection was being in the midst of the fall at road-level, in pain and still in motion. As I ground to a halt and took a couple of breaths, this felt like no normal fall. I haven’t had many falls but those I’ve had have been dust yourself down types with a few cuts and scratches, and pretty much back on your bike and off you go. This time, my leg felt bad and although everywhere else also hurt and I had cut my arm pretty badly, the leg was the issue. As I gathered myself for a few seconds, I tried to stand up but the pain was too much so I had to lie back down but was at least at the side of the road now.

 

Two kind strangers then came to my aid in those first few minutes. Firstly, a taxi driver stopped his taxi in the road to block off traffic and protect me. He got out and was soon on the phone to the police. He spoke no English but was a constant help and also brought out tissues to help stem the bleeding from my arm. As I was in front of an apartment block, a British lady and her son came out and kept talking to me throughout the process. She just asked basic questions, but that kept me grounded. I think it was she that got my phone from the pouch on my bike and I was soon able to text my family to let them know what was going on. Not great news for them to hear on a Sunday morning, but I was at least conscious and as it was me that was doing the texting, I guess this was somewhat reassuring.

 

A policeman soon arrived and we sat tight at the side of the road for ten minutes or so, awaiting the ambulance. He did his checks, asked a few questions and as he was eyeing up the taxi in the road, I made sure to stress that no other vehicle had been involved. I managed to get a photo of my HKID sent through and he logged all the details. I wasn’t sure what to do with my bike, but the British lady offered to keep it with her and I could collect it later. We agreed to exchange details and although this would have been the wise thing to do, I just didn’t feel it was necessary - I trusted everyone at that stage and just knew we’d figure it out later. As it happens, my wife and daughter went along to collect the bike two days later and it was safely locked away in the care of the doorman/janitor, who was happy to hand it over. 

 

The ambulance then arrived and they made sure to isolate my leg before loading me up into the ambulance. They take their time running their tests and making sure everything is in order, but we were soon on the way to Ruttonjee, a public hospital, which is the only option if you need to call an ambulance in this area. I knew we could move to a private hospital at some stage, but I put my faith in the public system as I knew I would get a good level of emergency care.

 

My wife and daughter met me at the hospital and we went through the initial checks, x-rays, patching up and diagnosis. As soon as that was done, they found me a bed in a hospital in Chai Wan - on the other end of HK island. This is when we decided to opt for a private hospital and we arranged a St. John’s Ambulance to take us up to Adventist Hospital - ironically close to where I was cycling earlier that morning. 

 

The process at Adventist was similar - more checks, x-rays etc., and after admission, I had a CT Scan and we were moved up to a private room. The diagnosis was similar to that in Ruttonjee - a fractured femur, two fractured ribs and various cuts and scratches which needed stitching up. The fractured femur was obviously the main concern, and would need surgery. The orthopedic surgeon soon visited and this was arranged for the following day, at midnight. The surgery needed was ‘gamma nail’ surgery which would allow me to be up and about almost immediately, which was some good news at least.

 

To wrap up the story, after a postponement, the surgery took place at 7am on Tuesday morning and as expected, the physio came in at 3pm and had me on my feet albeit with the crutches. Things felt good but the feeling was short-lived as the anesthetic moved out and the pain moved in. Tuesday night saw a moment of tension and (almost) light relief as the feelings gradually came back to my lower limbs - everywhere except my bladder. They gave me an ultrasound and could see around 800ml of liquid sitting there but I couldn’t, for the life of me, get anything out. The deadline was set at 10pm and if I didn’t produce anything, I would have a catheter inserted for at least 24-hours. I looked this up and the descriptions were not pleasant. This started to stress me out and around 9:30pm, I went back into the bathroom for one last attempt at salvation. It was a mental and physical process as I cajoled, squeezed and finally managed to force out 400ml. The whole team came into the room at 10pm and I produced my sample with pride and the catheter team had to stand down.

 

On Wednesday, I was given the opportunity to leave, but felt that an extra day’s rest would help and I opted to stay one more day. So by Thursday morning, I was given the all-clear and my recovery then switched to home-mode.

 

What did I take away from this? Ultimately the kindness of strangers in that first 30 minutes stands out and it still moves me now. Hong Kong has a (sometimes deserved) reputation of a busy, money-driven society where everyone looks after themselves. But this was a moment to show that there is also compassion there too and the kindness shown by these guys truly touched me. After that, of course my patient and loving family who always step up to the plate when I do these things to myself. Six days in, I was getting more and more mobile each day but there was still a long way to go.  

 

Five weeks post-accident and while the overall recovery had been smooth, there were some hiccups along the way so it was good to document the whole process. I also don’t see much personal experience of gamma nail surgery on the internet, so hopefully this account might be useful to some people.

 

I left the hospital on that Thursday morning and spent the following day - my 53rd birthday - at home. Not what I’d expected, but what to do. The following ten days were fairly smooth - mostly resting but I was anxious to do more and I did try to get out for a ten-minute shuffle most days. I had my first physio appointment too, it was a good session which left me knowing that the pain I was feeling was all part of the process - it would not harm the healing and it was a hurdle I had to get over.

 

However, there was one date looming - we had booked a trip to Cebu on May 13 for a week’s holiday at my old stomping ground - Shangri-La Mactan. Probably not the wisest thing to do, but I’d been looking forward to going back so was determined to go. The flight out was fairly smooth - we arrived late into Mactan Airport and stayed at a local air b&b close to the airport. The following day, Wednesday, we checked into the hotel and settled into our room. It really was great to be back but that's a story for another day. 

 

I think it was on Thursday that I first felt the pain in my right calf - the bad leg. It was a deep pain and although I immediately had some suspicions of DVT, I put it down to being over-active over the past few days. I also started swimming on that day - it was a great feeling to be back in the water and although my leg was a little sore, I was able to register a respectable pace. I swam again on Friday, but Saturday was going to be busier - the 70th birthday party of my mother-in-law. That deep pain was still there throughout the day and although I still suspected the DVT, there were some missing symptoms so I was clinging on to it being general muscle fatigue. However, during the party, my lower leg started to swell up and this was the missing symptom that pretty much confirmed it.

 

The following day, I managed to see the Resort Doctor although she would not give me any meds as she was worried that I would bleed out. She asked me to get some tests done to confirm DVT, then she would prescribe something to help. However after a few hours traipsing around the local clinics and hospitals, I couldn’t even get seen by a doctor let alone get the tests. Some even said that the test results would take 3-5 days and as I was flying out in 2 days, there was little point in continuing. So, we bought some aspirin and I convinced myself and others that it would be fine. Looking back, although I should not have flown with a DVT, if it was confirmed in Cebu, I’d likely have had to have stay there for 2-4 weeks and while the medical treatment would have been available, it would have been much, much harder to get things done.

 

So, on Tuesday afternoon, Phoebe and I headed to the airport and although I was very nervous about the flight, I tried to keep it to myself. I bought myself some compression stockings at the airport pharmacy and prepared myself for the flight. I was constantly on edge and even had a moment of mild panic just as they were about to close the main door on the airplane. Once closed, there was no turning back, and as the last few passengers filed in, I felt nauseous and my heart rate shot up. I stood up and paced (hobbled) around for a minute or two and although this helped, it was still a scary time.

 

As the flight took off, I ticked off the minutes and as we got past Manila and closer to Hong Kong, I started to relax a little - if anything happened, at least I would get the treatment in Hong Kong and would not have to subject everyone to an emergency medical stop in Manila. We ploughed on and when we landed, I was finally able to relax and let out a huge sigh of relief.

 

The following morning, the pain had eased slightly so I thought I could sit tight and monitor for a few days, but I was persuaded to go and see the urgent care doctor at the Adventist. Long story short, I saw the doctor, had an ultrasound and the DVT was confirmed in four minor veins. I was admitted to hospital and underwent a bunch of tests over the next couple of days on top of twice-daily heparin injections. I was discharged in the evening of the following day and given blood thinners - double dose for 6 days, then a regular dose for a month. 

 

While the flights were probably not the wisest idea in my situation, the doctor felt that the DVT probably started during those two weeks after the accident when I was in hospital and at home, and not able to move around. The first flight likely exacerbated the DVT and caused that initial pain.

 

Once home, I knew I had to be more active, so got back on the indoor bike - fairly tame at first, but was up to 40 minutes within 4 weeks of the accident. Although I had sick leave for the full 6-weeks after the accident, I went back to work after 4 weeks as I felt it would do me good to be more active. I got back in the pool too, and even managed to push off the wall by the second swim. 

 

As I approached the six-week mark, I realised I was seeing this whole process like I did most things, as a challenge. I was actually able to walk without a stick and although the pain was manageable, the weakness in my bad leg was causing me to limp quite strongly. I know this was part of the process, but I’m not good at accepting facts sometimes and my aim was still to be ‘back-to-normal’ within 6 weeks of the surgery.

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It's now 10 weeks to the day and I've spent the morning watching the Challenge Roth on youtube. I wish I was there but the beauty of Roth is that they let you cancel (with a 70% refund before the end of May) and also offer you a slot for the following year. So I've got my slot and a year from now, I aim to be on the start line.

 

As for my progress, I'm back in the UK and have done a couple of outdoor rides already. The pain is almost gone and while the limp is still there, it's definitely getting better. As for running, I have to be patient and won't try until 12 weeks. That's the litmus test for now - so long as I can run again, I know I can race again.