Our chiropractor Matt Rabin took a few minutes out of his busy rest day of realigning various body parts to send us this first week recap and an insight into the happenings of the first Tour rest day.
The first rest day could not have come soon enough for what seems like most of the peloton, as in the words of one of our riders there are some “buckled units” out there. Luckily we find ourselves being housed for two days in chateau, in La Garde, which is only a 20km transfer from the end of yesterdays stage but what seems like a lifetime away.
We find ourselves here it transpires as almost a thank you to JV for all his hard work he does as President of the AIGCP, well someone had to stay here and luckily it was us. The place is idyllic set in acres of wooded parkland, and four stars no less which for a Tdf hotel is as good as it typically could possibly get.
A perfect environment for our riders to rest up and reload for the stages ahead. Being the only team here and seemingly the only guests, the battering the bodies took, the terrible weather and the tdf in general feel a million miles away, for a few hours at least.
As I write this the boys have headed out for their ‘rest day’ ride to keep the body ticking over and in some cases preventing the body from
seizing up too much so they are ready to go tomorrow. The last thing we want is the body to ‘forget’ it’s at the biggest bike race on the calendar and to shut down.
The first week has been an outstanding week for the team, as a chiropractor it has definitely seemed busier than the previous two editions I have been at with treatments approaching midnight not too unheard of this week.
The Rocktape has been unleashed a little earlier than may have been expected as the numerous knocks, scrapes and near misses add up. These guys are tough with superhuman efforts taken by all riders all week to get the job done, delivering our maiden tour victory on the TTT, scenes of which shall remain burned into the memory forever, and Tylers July 4th win, celebrated in just as much vigour.
That aside from 7 days in yellow, it’s been a good, no great week. The biggest downer coming yesterday as we lost DZ our charismatic comedic talisman and huge engine of the first week, everyone is gutted.
So today for myself it shouldn’t be too late a day but will be steady for most of the afternoon as we go to work to reset their bodies biomechanically to be functioning as optimally as possible when they climb on for stage ten tomorrow.
Having worked with many of the riders for a number of years you get a good feel for how things are working, feeling, moving, and what needs to be treated, managed, taped or simply left to heel. The mantra is trying to find the one or two things which allow everything else to fall into place from a functional perspective, and switch on/engage inhibited muscles, or return normal range of motion or muscle length or whatever it may be.
We try to hit the nail on the head every time, without fail, which is easier said than done especially when the direct trauma of a crash(es) comes into play but so far so good. Up to now we are managing, with a coordinated effort between myself, Prentice our Doctor, John our physio and our excellent soigneurs, to keep everybody on their game.
As we head further south, the weather should get warmer,(it’s rained almost every day so far) the winds hopefully less and the roads gradient increases, the first weeks action can be consigned to the mixed-emotions memory. Hopefully by the next time I check in on the next rest day we have our eight remaining riders intact, a little luck and a lot of heart should see our riders in good stead for the second weeks action.
More photos from the Tour de France:
