Professional cyclist Kaden Hopkins is grateful to be alive as he recovers from a crash on the roads in Bermuda.

Hopkins was knocked unconscious after he was hit by a motorbike on Southside on January 19, and is still trying to process the incident, which he feels could have had a far less positive outcome.

“I realised after speaking to the police how much worse it could have been,” Hopkins said.

“I could have lost my life in a crash on Bermuda’s roads so the fact I don’t have any long-lasting effects, I’m just very grateful.

“When it first happened, I was just angry about everything. A lot of time in Bermuda when you are training you have these encounters with other road users, where either they are not showing you respect because you are on a bike or doing silly things.

“They always get so close to hitting you or pulling out in front of you and when this happened, it felt like it was always bound to happen and it was always just a matter of time. After that I went from feeling angry about the situation to just feeling lucky.”

Hopkins has little memory of the incident that left him undergoing scans for the next 24 hours to assess the severity of his injuries, but he is thankful the after-effects are physical and not psychological.

“I was just out training, riding up this road and then all of a sudden I woke up and was being put in the back of an ambulance.

“I don’t remember the accident at all but I was badly hurt, basically immobile and very sore for the next week, but it’s the only crash that I’ve ever had that I don’t remember.

“I was hit from behind, not from the front, so I didn’t really have any time to prepare for it. A lot of times when you crash, for the next bit of time you almost feel cautious going into a corner or if it’s wet, but I don’t feel any hesitation because I don’t remember it.

“There is not a specific thing about it that scared me, so I don’t have any of the psychological after-effects you normally have. I’m back on the bike and not nervous or timid at all.”

Crashes are almost as inevitable to professional cyclists as saddle sore and Hopkins is used to riding in pain in the days and weeks after a high-speed collision.

“We bounce back pretty quickly after crashes and it is a big part of the sport,” Hopkins said.

“What happened to me in this accident isn’t part of the sport but crashes, being injured and having road rash are things that you do get used to. The only thing different about this is that I was really worried about concussion, as it was the first time I’d had one, and making sure that I was not pushing too much in my recovery.”

As much as Hopkins was concerned about his body, he was also worried about the damage sustained by his racing bike, which can prove expensive to fix and replace.

“It was amazing that the bike didn’t really have anything happen to it,” Hopkins said.

“It was all my body that sustained the impact. It wasn’t side on so the frame was damaged. There are scratches on it but luckily it did not contain any super serious damage. It was just me that took the brunt of the impact.”

A little more than two weeks after the incident and Hopkins has returned to Spain, where he is still hoping to find a team for the upcoming racing season. Although the season has just started, he is hopeful that he will find a place for his services soon

“My agent is keeping me in the loop and has told me that he doesn’t want to just sign me to any team because a lot of the smaller teams can have organisational issues and things like that,” Hopkins said.

“He doesn’t want to send me to a place where I don’t have the right support or right opportunities. I don’t have anything confirmed yet but he seems optimistic when he speaks to me and I’m just feeding off of that.

“If my agent started to become concerned or nervous then I would panic but he’s the one talking to teams and knowing the situation. So as long as he’s optimistic I’m going to stay that way also.”

While he waits for a team, Hopkins is training in the peaks of Europe to ensure he is ready to race when the crucial call from a team comes.

“Despite the crash, I’m feeling in the best shape of my life on the bike right now,” Hopkins said.

“I’m just trying to build on that and in a way it’s nice not having a team right at this moment. Normally, my opening weekend would have been last weekend, so having a couple more weeks to get ready means I don’t have to race the preparation as much.

“I’m just really hoping that when I do get back racing that I am at the right level and hopefully be able to sustain that for longer because I didn’t have to be so aggressive in the build-up.”