Photo: Just after the left bottom wisdom tooth had been removed.

“We’re going to need a bigger boat”.

It’s not the exact words the dentist used this morning when trying to extract my wisdom tooth, but you get the idea. It was proving stubborn. Then the drill stopped working so back to manual drilling. He got it out eventually.

The procedure had been postponed from Monday due to my coughing. I now sport four stitches in my gum.

It’s not been great for the left hand side of my face lately. 10 stitches in my face after falling descending the Mortirolo in August, another in my neck, so 15 stitches in my left side over the last 6 months.

I’ll be off the bike for up to a week, then my 2018 season can really begin.