Pain again!
By TMX Archives on 12th Oct 05
Hi guys! This month started off not so well for me as I re-injured my hand at the Dutch GP in Lierop. It happened in the second practice on Saturday. Hi guys! This month started off not so well for me as I re-injured my hand at the Dutch GP in Lierop. It happened in the second practice on Saturday. I landed heavily from one of the jumps and straight away I knew from the pain I'd be unable to ride. That was the end of my weekend.As soon as I got back to England I went to see a doctor so he could have another look at my hand and see what damage had been done. He confirmed that nothing was rebroken but it needed time to heal - time which I didn't have.Later that week I flew to Germany to see another doctor for a second opinion but again I was told to rest it or it would not heal. It was then decided I would not go to the last GP in Ireland and instead I'd rest my hand for the last round of the Dutch championship which I'm leading.I've struggled to sit at home watching all the other guys do well but sometimes you have to allow your injuries to heal 100 per cent or they could keep coming back for years to come. So with a bit of free time I took advantage of some VIP tickets from my sponsors Oakley to go and spend a day with the Red Bull F1 team on one of their test sessions at Silverstone.I'd never seen a F1 car and up close it was pretty impressive. The noise alone made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. After an hour I had to ask a guy who worked there for some ear plugs as all the noise was giving me a headache.It was a great day out and I was very impressed with all the hospitality and race trucks. You can tell money is no object in that sport, however, in my eyes nothing will ever compare to motocross - the excitement is priceless.While the Irish GP was on I travelled up to Scotland to visit my family and pester my brother. I had a really relaxing weekend eating and shopping with the missus but the best bit was clay pigeon shooting - it was great fun even if my brother did kick my ass!I came back from Scotland to have a week training which consisted of swimming, running and cycling. Then I had to get ready to drive to Holland in the camper to do some testing in the Dutch sand. I'm also in Holland to do some testing on the 450 for next year.I've now ridden the 450 a few times and I'm feeling very confident on it as I think my riding style suits having the extra power. It was purely my decision to move up to MX1. I'm really looking forward to the new challenge and there's the possibility I'll be back racing the British championship next year as well.In a couple of week's time I'm going with the team to Japan for some testing with next year's bikes and I'm also going to compete in the last Japanese championship race at Sugo. It will be good for me to get to race on the 450 to see how I compare to the other riders before going into the winter.It looks like there's going to be some good competition out there including Stefan Everts, Antonio Cairoli, Tanel Leok and the Japanese aren't slow on their home soil either. I'm really excited to see how I will get on and definitely can't wait to get on my new bike.My hand is not giving me any problems and the rest has worked wonders. I can now start to focus on my racing again without any pain.This year has not been that great for me, we've had a lot of ups and downs and for any sportsman their worst fear has to be injury. Health levels have to be at 100 per cent all season to get good results. I'm now fully focussed and very determined to win the Dutch championship which takes place at Mill.That's all my gossip for this month. Hopefully I'll have good news for you next month from my trip to Japan. At least my diet will be good - rice, rice and more rice!Good luck at the races and I'll hopefully see you soon.Words by Stephen Sword Photo by rayarcher.com