Collarbone's fracture is one of the most common among cyclists, both amateurs and professionals. It mainly happens if you fall to the side impacting your shoulder with your body weight.
That's exactly what happened to me. It is a subtle fracture that immediately doesn't even hurt that much! It leaves you a few seconds to think, under the illusion of being able to get up by stretching and get back on the saddle as if nothing had happened. But as soon as you face the reality of the facts, the question turns out quickly: when will I be able to go back to pedalling?
A few days after my fall I read the news that Tom Pidcock also broke his collarbone into five fragments following an accident. After six days the British champion posted three videos on Instagram. One where he is on the saddle while tackling a climb, one where he does push-ups and a third one where he engages in a session on the indoor trainer. Not bad Pidders! Six days is an eternity for a professional, especially in the middle of the season. He isn't quicker to heal, he's just more motivated to take risks, even though his bones aren't fixed yet. And to us mere mortals? It takes at least a month, and then everything starts gradually. In short, the bike will remain on the nail for 30 days, the tours planned on Komoot will remain there to make mold and our muscles will inevitably doze off. Unless... unless, despite the paradox of doing "rollers" in summer, we take out the smart trainer and slowly start spinning our legs!
And this is where my problem arises: I don't own a trainer. Mostly because in winter I go out on my gravel or eventually on a mountain bike which makes me keep a decent leg. In summer, with the good weather, everyone goes outdoors even with the heat. In additional I also collaborate with one of the leading companies in the production of smart trainers, namely Élite cycling. I test the product directly in the company, with a frequency of 2 or 3 workouts per week. So I never felt the need to ride at home!
Sure, there was a boom in sales during the lockdown. But I was one of those who preferred to "take a break" and concentrate on other activities that I had set aside for some time.
But now the situation is different, it is June and I am forced to wait at least a month before going out and pedal safely on the road. In early September I will participate in a 700km gravel race and I absolutely do not want to throw away the work I have done in recent months.
Thanks to Élite, I am able to test a high-end smart trainer of their production, the "Suito".
The first impression is positive and although the wind in my face is simulated by the fan, pedalling on a trainer gives me the chance to finally spin my legs! I start at 120 watts for the first 5 minutes pedalling hands-free and then increase to 180 watts. Here I begin to feel the need to grab the handlebar, first with one hand and then without putting too much weight with the other. The position helps the boost which makes me reach 250 watts without problems. The difference with reality is remarkable since on trainers we are not obliged to work excessively with arms and shoulders. Just hold a good position and concentrate the work on the back and legs while we gently grab the dumbbell with both hands in order to give symmetry to our athletic movement.
Of course, an endurance cyclist is not just legs but I will think about this in the future by doing gym sessions mixed with rehabilitation.
The winning aspect of this product for training at home is certainly the simplicity of configuration of the system. I decided to start using MyEtraining, the app developed by Élite, which in less than five minutes is ready to use. The trainer itself does not need any additional sensor because it is able to make a rather precise calculation of all the data (power, cadence, speed) by sending them to the app and giving us the possibility to carry out a full-fledged simulation.
The icing on the cake, for all lovers of map tracks, is the ability to load a previously created or recorded route which will be displayed on the app and simulated by the roller! You got it right, you could load the route of your favorite workout and simulate it on the roller!
Summing up I can tell you with extreme certainty that it would have been better not to get injured, but that despite everything, thanks to good training sessions on the Suito, I will be able to get back on the road without almost noticing the difference between before and after the stop!
You can discover more directly to the Élite's Suito page!
