Get well soon - Matt Ryley

On Friday evening I got a nasty and unwelcomed shock when I found out that one of my good friends, Matt Ryley, from the Tri Club had been hit by a van during a training ride and had ended up in hospital with a broken back (in 2 places).

Matt and I started at Horsham Amphibians Triathlon (previously A2 Tri) at around the same time, some 3 years ago now. We both started swimming in Lane 6 but Matt moved up a bit faster than me; nowdays we swim regularly together in Lane 3. On the bike and run Matt is one of the strongest athletes in the Club and in his first Ironman 70.3 he finished in an amazing time of under 5 hours (Antwerp - see picture). The plan had been for us to compete in our first full Ironman together in Austria this July but now of course that seems a little unlikely.

My heart goes out to Matt, he is a real family man and also runs a successful local business. He always makes every effort to get his training in without it impacting his family time and this injury could not have come at a worse time. However, on the positive side Matt is already sitting up, he is a strong guy and it looks like the body is on the mend - I am confident that it will not be long before he is whipping me on the swim, bike and run once again.

All the guys from the Club wish him a speedy recovery - Get well soon mate