Jonny Walker: Back fighting fit
By Jonny Walker on 27th Apr 16
I dont like sitting on the sidelines. It drives me mad.
I don't like sitting on the sidelines. It drives me mad.
I'm always doing something with my bike, either racing it or training on it.
But when you have a broken leg there's not a lot you can do but sit through the recovery.
So when everyone packed up their kit bags to fly out to Brazil for the first round of the Red Bull Hard Enduro I had to stay home. And that sucked a lot.
It felt strange to watch a race like that, a race you should be in, unfold.
At first I was planing to avoid it but I confess I wasn't long scratching the itch and tuning into the Red Bull highlights every day.
It looked cool, really cool indeed. Definitely trails I now want to go and ride.
Hats off to Alfredo Gomez for winning.
He's my teammate but Graham Jarvis is also a good friend so I was sort of rooting for both to win.
But Alfredo seemed to have things dialled from the word go.
He was surprisingly strong all week, possibly the strongest I've seen him ride.
I'm guessing he'll be stronger again for the rest of the year.
But as crappy as it was to watch the race, it kept me motivated to push on in my recovery.
I've pretty much got this cast off my leg, I've done weeks of hyperbaric oxygen treatment and now the doctors have almost cleared me to go riding again.
In the build up to twisting the throttle again I've been increasing the strength in my legs with plenty of road miles on by Hope spec roadie.
There's plenty of big hills around Keswick to pump through so I've been definitely feeling the burn out there.
Right now Erzberg is just over one month away.
It's not going to be long until it comes in hot and heavy.
So the focus is on being ready for that. I'll admit I'm a little up against it in terms of preparation but I know I'll have done everything to the best of my ability to be ready for it.
I always love Erzberg and know that whatever shape I'm getting there I'll give it everything I've got to put it on the top step of the podium.
I had to share the win last year, this year I want to keep it for myself.
See you guys at the Iron Giant!
