Tough roads ahead for Derrick St. John

Derrick St. John might have had the best preparation possible for a Canadian on a Quebec-based team. Silber Pro Cycling had been in Tucson, Ariz., acclimatizing to the high desert prior to the start of the Tour of the Gila. He’d been privy to important knowledge from his experienced team director for the race, Canadian legend Gord Fraser. The start of May was to be an exciting time for St. John given his affinity for weeklong, hilly stage races. In the past, he has placed second at the hardest stage of the Tour de Beauce. Despite his underdog status in many of the top North American races, St. John can push himself to the limit. Unfortunately, the momentum of a new team and ideal training camp came crashing to a halt.

On Stage 1 of the Tour of the Gila, St. John was one of victims of an 80-rider pileup en route to the Mogollon. “Technically, it would be called an open distal intra articular radial head fracture,” St. John for of the injuries he sustained. “If I am in a hurry though, I would say my arm bone was broken at the wrist and they fixed it by screwing in a large plate on the top of the bone.” His road rash was also extensive, perhaps the worst he has ever had. “There is a bit of the psychological aspect as well. I think you can never really ignore that aspect,” said St. John, who has not been about to train at intensity yet.

St. John did have some insights about the incident. He thinks the massive crash was the result of the current state of NRC racing: a dangerous combination of professional and amateur riders. He cites a lack of respect by many of the more amateur riders. He implied that is not a lack of respect from an arrogant perspective, but rather from inexperience. The camaraderie between experienced pros is demonstrated when then they are racing in the bunch, whereas the amateur racers are somewhat reckless and unaware of the ways of the peloton.

Despite his injuries, St. John remains upbeat. “The best pain medicine is just to move, get in 20 minutes on the trainer or have a chicken shawarma, but because I can’t really train, I’m on the sandwiches,” said St. John. His major target for the season is the upcoming Tour de Beauce. He’s being realistic, acknowledging the fact that if he does make it to Beauce, he won’t be in the condition he planned for.