Nightingale goes on to win bronze days after life saved by helmet

Saturday 12 August 2023

When Andrea Nightingale was taken down in the late stages of the road race in Glasgow her world championship dream appeared to be in tatters.

Until that point everything had been going to plan as she positioned herself well in the mix of the contenders for the 60 to 64 year old category.

She had nowhere to go when someone lost it in front of her and now remembers only the sight of that bike, trying to stand up and stumbling toward a hedge.

Blood poured from the back of her head - her helmet has been split and she says that it saved her life.

Pictured: the bloodied and split helmet after the crash.

A passing medical team told her to stop.

Her instinct was to finish the race, but she eventually conceded.

Nightingale was part of a contingent from the Guernsey Velo Club that travelled to Glasgow to race as part of the UCI World Championships.

It brought all disciplines of the sport - from road to mountain bike, BMX to artistic cycling - to the Scottish capital and surrounding areas, with races for professionals and amateurs.

Nightingale is a multiple world champion in her age group in aquabike, which sees competitors complete a swim leg before riding.

“But the world cycling has always evaded me,” she said.

“Being in Glasgow, I thought with a home crowd as such, it would make it even more special. I was really up for it and I felt really good. It's been quite a stressful few months, my stepfather died, and my mum's had to go into a care home. So there was a lot of pressure around that. I was just looking forward to some me time, that I could get away and just concentrate on what I wanted for a short period and see what I could do.”

The road race was held over a 86km course and got off to a controlled start, until the later starting 50 year old age group came past and it was “game on” for the contenders.

As the race entered the last three or four kilometres it got competitive.

The wide road they were on narrowed and Nightingale could see two other women in her age-group in the pack.

In her head all she was thinking about was getting to the front to stay out of trouble - then the crash came.

“I can remember seeing the bike on the road and that's about the last thing until I sort of found myself trying to turn onto my front to get up.”

She tried to stand but it was like the dizzy feeling you get having been spun around in a playground - she veered off towards a hedge.

“I just wanted to get on my bike and finish. I started pedalling and then a medic came alongside of me and she wound the window down.”

Her initial response to the request to stop was a simple, “I haven’t got far to go”.

But the medic was insistent, saying: “You’ve got blood coming out of the back of your helmet, I would like you to stop now."

A two minute ride in the van to the finish line ensued.

“I went to the medical tent. I didn't feel very good, I have to say, and then they sorted me out. I can remember being in huge amounts of pain. And they glued my head.”

The group had to wait until the races had finished to leave - some five hours.

Velo Club president Alex Margison took her to the hospital where she was treated by a doctor who was also a cyclist.

More glue was needed for the head wound and they diagnosed some cracks in her ribs after an x-ray ruled out a collapsed lung.

That was all on the Friday.

She had an entry into the time trail to be held on the Monday.

“My head was saying, 'you really shouldn't be doing it'. My heart was saying that I've come all this way, I haven't done what I wanted to achieve in the road race, so I can make amends to myself in the time trial.”

There were some sleepless nights because of the pain - something that is still a problem a week later - and a rest day was followed by a 50 minute training ride on her TT bike on the Sunday morning.

Pictured: Andrea Nightingale warms up before the TT.

Her legs were fine and she could hold a position on the bike. The main problem was being unable to take deep breaths because of the pain.

The following morning she was warming up on the turbo before her race effort.

“I remember thinking, ‘what on earth are you doing?”

But it was too late to back out.

“The guys and girls were absolutely brilliant. I didn't have to worry about my bike, they prepped my bike, they looked after me. They did absolutely everything. They walked with me to the start, got me up on the ramp. I was counted down, and then I went for it.”

It was a flat, out and back course. She felt safe because it was individuals riding in turn, and knew how important it was to get back on the bike and not let fears of crashing take hold.

“I don't think I will ever do a race like that again. Adrenaline is an amazing thing, when it captures your body to the point that you can push to any level. I couldn't breathe when I was on the turbo, but I managed to breathe, not easily, but well enough to be able to push to get a decent time.”

She averaged around 22.8mph to finish in 36 minutes 58 seconds.

It was on a par with what she would have expected if fully fit.

Only 20 minutes after finishing did she feel ready to check the results.

She had won the bronze.

Pictured: Andrea Nightingale (r) on the podium after winning bronze.

“I burst into tears because I kept everything together for so long and it was just that pure relief.”

Looking back at the events, she has no idea how she got back on the bike.

“The body is an amazing thing.”

Nightingale is supported by Ravenscroft and will now go on to compete in the aquabike 70.3 European championships in Belgium later this month and then the World standard distance aquabike championships in Spain on 25 September.