Having said in another thread that it's far too early to think about where Steve goes from here, I have spent a largely sleepless night fretting about exactly that. I'm going to capture those thoughts to the best of my ability.
Firstly, I am sure everyone on here shares my annoyance and frustration about what has happened, with the probable exception of Steve, who is a much better man than I am and will probably face those two imposters just the same. It's Steve who has to make the decision as to how he wants to proceed, and that could be quite tricky. Ankle injuries can be quite complicated and metal plates pinned to bones bring with them their own problems. My pal Mel had such an operation a few years ago when he snapped a tibia whilst out walking, and mostly it gives him no trouble, but it does give him jip in especially cold weather. He puts this down to titanium's coefficient of linear expansion not being the same as bone's. Hopefully Steve can make a full recovery and will want to take up the challenge again.
Secondly, there is the issue of whether Steve wants to approach the UMCA to propose a rule change, and whether they will entertain any such request. My immediate reaction is that it's probably a deviation too far. The 365 cinsecutive day trial seems right to me. When Chris Froome fell off his bike in the Tour de France he didn't put in a request to put the race on hold until he was better. In one sense I think that the Spirit of Tommy Godwin is lost when the challenge was not for the period 1st Jan to 31st December. On the other hand, it has led to a fascinating battle between the two protagonists. When Miles Smith starts in A few days' time that will recreate that to a point, but without Steve, for me, the major interest has gone. It is personal.
Assuming, then, that Steve and the UMCA do come to some arrangement that he can put his first 88 days on ice, as it were, the question remains "When?" That is extremely difficult. Six weeks off for rest and recuperation doesn't sound practical to me. Steve will have lost a lot of his fitness and the return of confidence in your own body not to break takes quite a time. It's almost 8 months since I tore my calf muscle and it still worries me that it will go again. Besides. Steve won't be replacing like with like. The next 6 weeks were, according to his plan, which he had stuck to very successfully, about to see him go into 220 a day mode, and increasing. He's not going to be doing that after 6 weeks off, and it would mean replacing 6 weeks of April and May with 6 weeks of Jan and Feb.
What if the UMCA allowed for a resumption at 8.16am on 29th March 2016? At least that would allow a decent enough time for a recovery and Steve could get himself back to fitness. On the other hand, you could equally argue that he might as well start from scratch.
Whatever you decide, Steve, take it easy and have a long think. For my part, my financial contribution (not that it !s massive) will continue for as long as it takes. Get well soon!
