Kaden Hopkins is back on his bike a little more than two weeks after having five screws and a steel plate inserted into his collarbone.

The Bermudian cyclist suffered the injury during a training ride in Spain just weeks before the start of the European season but his spirits are high now he is back in the saddle and out on the roads.

“I’ve had the staples out and it was Monday or Tuesday last week, 11 days post-operation that my physio told me I could try to do my first road outside,” Hopkins said.

“When I first got back on, I was definitely twisted on the bike at first and really protecting that side but as the days have passed, I've realised like how stable it feels and I’m completely pain-free.

The surgeons did a great job with the operation because coming back this quickly is not very normal and to already be back training this amount of time on the road is pretty crazy.”

Hopkins is no stranger to serious crashes but whereas on previous occasions he has woken up with no memory of his mishap, the mental impact this time around is different.

“There is obviously the mental side of things, but it's not really to do with the crash,” he said.

“It’s more just to do with the fact that my first pro race was supposed to be two days from now on Tuesday and I had already made the official selection for that.

“So now that we’re getting closer to that date, and I’m seeing the social media publicity, it definitely is tough mentally, because I just felt so well prepared for it, but in terms of being afraid of crashing, I don't really have any issues with that.

“It’s part of the sport but it's pretty tough to know that I’m supposed to be racing now but I'm only just getting back on the bike and ramping things up again. I’ve spoken with the physio and he’s saying even with how fast the recovery is, he doesn’t really think that there’s a benefit of taking any risk.

“The early-season races, there’s a very high chance that it’s going to be pouring with rain and super bad weather, so there’s always a much higher risk of crashing in those sort of conditions. The bone right now isn’t strong enough to be taking another accident.”

One of the biggest events in a Bermuda cyclist’s calendar is fast approaching with the Pan American Road Cycling Championships taking place in Colombia from March 17 to 22.

Hopkins is eyeing the Time-Trial in Cordoba as his return to competitive action but admits it is not ideal to be heading into the championships without the benefit of races in his legs.

“It isn’t ideal to be starting my season at a championships that big and I was hoping to have a bit of race intensity in my legs before I go,” Hopkins said.

“I don’t need race days in my legs for a time trial and then the road race is pretty flat, so I should be fine if I race it conservatively.

“The only thing yet to be seen is if I’m going to be able to sprint by that time. I don’t know if a full-tilt sprint is going to be possible but I will soon be at the hospital with the surgeon again and they'll be taking checkup X-rays and stuff, which should give an idea of how the bone is actually healing.”