The road to recovery | Cyclingnews

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Katie Brown (Image credit: Gerard Knapp)

The road to recovery is measured in degrees and millimetres, each one painfully gained as shattered limbs gradually regain movement. Gerard Knapp reports from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, where the five riders who survived the shocking tragedy in Germany this July were back in the lab, showing an amazing rate of improvement and still very much an important part of the women's road racing program.

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But a few days prior to her session in the AIS biomechanics lab in Canberra, surgeons in Sydney performed yet another operation. This time, it was removal of a section of synthetic cord, wrapped in a figure-eight pattern around her kneecap that had held her leg together. Its removal led to another a breakthrough for the rider; she went into triple figures - 101 degrees, to be exact - of knee bend.

When it was suggested that track riders typically used shorter cranks on their fixed gear machines, than those of their road bikes, she added, "I was never really a trackie. Unfortunately, that type of blood doesn't seem to run through me." An interesting genetic trait, considering she is the sister of Graeme Brown, a dual Athens 2004 gold medalist on the track, and an accomplished road sprinter who's joining Rabobank in 2006.

The five survivors were not left out. Indeed, they took their place - where their bodies permitted - for a variety of tests. McDonald saw it as a major step in their recovery, and for the five survivors, it was a bitter-sweet time. One year earlier, they'd been the pick of the new generation, in full health, beaming with pride, ready to hit Europe and carry on the tradition of the AIS women's road teams. Now, they were back in a familiar environment - this time surrounded by talented newcomers - and without their strength, speed and stamina that had secured their places. Above all, they also knew there was one less rider, too.

The loss of Gillett took away the team's elder and natural leader. At 29, Gillett was already an accomplished athlete who'd represented her country in rowing before taking up cycling. A tall, attractive blonde who was married to a successful man, Simon, who, in the words of one of her closest friends, ensured that she was "she was probably the only cyclist getting around in Europe with designer underwear and $30,000 in rocks." (See report from funeral service).

Cyclingnews spoke with Graham prior to her visiting the lab, and the news of Brown's success in bending her knee past 100 degrees fired up the tiny roadie. Graham's leg - among other injuries - was also badly broken in the accident, and movement in her knee is tightly restricted. Brian McLean's solution was to source a pair of special cranks that would allow her to use a crank-length as short as 125mm and then as her knee improves, the pedals can be moved further out.

Rhodes suffered some 31 fractures between her neck and waist. Her condition was critical. Doctors kept her unconscious and on an automatic ventilator for days. Finally, with her parents present, the German specialists reduced her sedation and allowed her to wake, almost one week after the accident. Doctors wanted to keep a breathing tube going into her lungs to minimize risk. But it didn't stay there. The official reason, according to the AIS' Dr Peter Fricker, was "Alexis requested they take it out and after checking her lung function they agreed to her request."

As a second-year senior, Rhodes blew away the field in a round of the UCI's track world cup. Before the start, her then coach, Gary Sutton, suggested she shouldn't be intimidated by the older riders. Rhodes left them behind with her unchecked ambition and talent, lapping the field twice. As she rode past Sutton afterwards, she cheekily asked, "Was that aggressive enough for you?" French legend Marion Clignet, who'd just witnessed this teenager's stomping of the field, thought it unfair that Australia kept developing riders of her potential, and courage.

Katie Nichols has almost recovered from the severe tendon and tissue damage, even though glass fragments stay behind as a reminder. She is quiet, shy, and the daughter of Kevin Nichols, a gold medalist in the teams pursuit at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Cycling - no, make that racing - is in her genes. At the launch last week for the Jayco Bay Classic, she said, "There is no doubt a terrible incident, like what happened in Germany, makes you re-evaluate what is important to you.

Along with Alexis Rhodes, the other rider to be on the critical list and kept on an automatic ventilator for a week was Tasmania's Louise Yaxley. But at the AIS lab in December, she was there, smiling, despite the affects of her injuries that will result in more skin grafts, spinning away on a stationary trainer, with the handlebars set much higher than normal to relieve the downward pressure on the recovering limbs.

Like Brown, Yaxley's injuries were so bad at the time that medical staff on the scene first thought an amputation may be necessary, due to the amount of skin and tissue lost, or at the least her wrist 'fused' due to the extent of the damage. Unlike Brown, however, Yaxley had lost consciousness at the scene and in her helicopter, again, one of the German specialists stepped in and saved her limb - and probably her racing career.

For these young riders who've developed in the age of indexing and bar-mounted gear-changing, Yaxley was at first somewhat concerned that her injuries may mean she'll have to use downtube levers to change gears. Yaxley laughed about it, as it had been pointed out that no less than Lance Armstrong used a similar combination for tough mountain stages of the Tour de France, mainly to reduce the weight of his bicycle.