Crash damage!
By TMX Archives on 14th Apr 03
difference one month can make! Just when everything is going great guns it's all turned upside-down by one stupid mistake. WHAT A difference one month can make! Just when everything is going great guns it's all turned upside-down by one stupid mistake. Yep, as most of you probably already know, I've knackered my collarbone and hurt some ribs in a training crash in Spain.I can't believe that with all my experience I pulled off such a stupid manoeuvre. Why the hell did I hang it out like that in practice? Well, the answer is I'm too bloody keen and I want it too much. I honestly think I should've waited for it all to come to me instead of going chasing it.The first round was good - other than getting stuck in a mudhole on Saturday - and with a solid second on day two it was a great start to the championship. We moved on to Spain and keen to do well I thought it'd be good to train on Tuesday as the testing area was still fresh and directly alongside one of the special tests. So Brain of Britain here got kitted up and headed off to the test track.After riding round a few times I started picking up the pace and was really enjoying myself. That was until I'd hit a rock and had a huge high-side - well worthy of a GP road-race crash. I went down hard and must have done at least three cartwheels before finally landing away from my UFO Yamaha.The pain kicked in first and it was hard enough trying to get my breath, then I realised the real ******r - I'd broken my collarbone! Next thing I was in the back of the ambulance thinking 'what have I done' - I thought I was too old to make daft mistakes like that but I'm obviously not. All that hard work going straight out of the window with one accident.Not one for throwing in the towel, I was off to Madrid airport to try and catch a flight home to get fixed up. A quick phone call to Jamie Dobb and he sorted out an operation for Wednesday afternoon with the same doctor that had operated on him in 2001.So it was back to England and the same hospital where I'd had my other collarbone plated in 1991. The operation went well and soon enough I was back on a flight to Madrid and preparing to try and ride on Saturday and Sunday in Salamanca.I didn't sit on a bike until Saturday morning and I felt pretty good but after starting the event I soon realised that my ribs and chest must have been worse than I'd imagined. I was struggling with breathing and trying to stay focused on riding as a result of my sore ribs and painkillers. The day seemed to drag on forever - after over five hours on the bike and another hour of timed tests I was glad to just make it to the finish. When I heard the result - 12th in class - I wasn't too happy, was it worth all the pain for four points? I guess I'll know at the end of the season.The second day was even worse. I was feeling like someone had sent the boys round to sort me out and I just couldn't finish the day. But there was some good news - all the teams had boycotted going to Morocco which should give me valuable extra recovery time.Although I wouldn't have been able to give it my all, I still don't understand why they even thought about having a race in a place that doesn't even sell motorbikes. But, even so, I read the FIM are peed off with the teams because they don't want to go. To my mind that's all a bit rich - I mean, it's not as though it's them who have to go there anyway, they just sit and tell everyone where the races are.My plan now is to get as fit as possible for Greece and try to win both days so, until then, it's back to the house and get some rest before the Greek WEC round and the Trentham Fast Eddy.Fast Eddy