what a weekend, after flooding my sitting room by overfilling the bath on saturday i managed to dislocate my shoulder in a wee crash on sunday!!
i was only 50 mins into the race, when i approached a jump, front wheel went from underneath me and i went crashing down, into the wall of the jump, immediately followed by the rider behind. his bike when straight into my back and the next thing knew, i had rider plus bike on top of me and that was when i felt my shoulder "pop" out and back in again! disorientated, i scrambled over the course tape, someone else kindly moved my bike out of the way and i sat down. feeling sick, i struggled to remove my helmet, basically couldn't use my arm and had to ask a spectator to pull it off!
pete, the event organiser, was with me within a couple of minutes to check i was ok, radioed ahead to the abulance crew, asked if i wanted a lift down (which i gratefully declined) and with that he was off to help another faller! a marshall drove my bike down to the parking area and after about 5 mins i headed down to the first aid post, the st johns ambulance team, who very kindly helped me remove my gear, gave me an ice pack, took my details and told me they couldn't take me to a&e and that i shouldn't drive!!
so with a the kind help of my neighbouring bike riders, i managed to load the bike, change out my filthy race gear and head back to the cottage. i was gutted! i'd been up since 0530, driven 140 miles in 2.5hrs to get there, not to mention all the prep and more importantly, i have the big 12 hour race in 2 weeks time.
the race was in llansilin, north wales, only a few miles from the previous race and climbed a pretty high hill, which was where the film/ story of "The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain" was based. it was a fantastic course, the best one yet i reckon, huge climbs, and huge descents, some dry tracks, jumps, bumps, river beds, bogs, we were going down slopes akin to ski runs, and descending and traversing grass covered fields where all the bike the wanted to do was slide from under you.
i was worried about this race as i had pretty well experienced everything in terms of courses over the previous 4 races, bike problems etc, and it was only a matter of time before i had a bad fall! i've been here before, and it really is part of the course. next time though, i really would like someone on hand to share the driving at least : ) going to have to recruit a physio/ mechanic/ admin/ dog walker/ driver.....is there anyone out there with some or all of these skills who would be prepared to give up a weekend once a month?? can't offer much in return other than a dry sense of humour, long periods of silence, food, drink, wierd choice of music (although i might be open to listening to yours ?!) and you can stay at the cottage......don't all call at once.
i headed straight for cirencester's a&e, but as expected i was told there was at least a 3 hour wait, not only did i not want to spend the evening there, but chobe was in the car - poor girl had spent the past 10 hours in the back of the pick up!!! and again i was told i shouldn't be driving.....
finally arriving back at the cottage i was greeted by a big smile from duncan, and on hearing about my accident he kindly offered to give me a lift back to london together with some great tips on recovery - slings/ ice/ tea/ brufen - not being glib, this really helped, cheers duncan! i was not completely alone either, as my beautiful cousin susie and her wonderful new husband ben were on their way to the cottage to spend a week there as part of their honeymoon - tanzania to the cotswolds, it's quite a contrast!! they were so lovely, they cooked supper, poured the drinks and rearranged furniture, they wouldn't let me do anything - probably to prevent me doing ant more damage to the cottage or myself!!
so, i am now trying to find a should consultant to ensure that i have not broken any bones, torn any/ many ligaments and help get me fit enough (taped up!!) to race in 2 weeks time. and a big thank you to nicola (claims director at hci) who put together a list of consultants who specialise in shoulder injuries for me....
photos and updates to follow ; )
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