Crock watching
By TMX Archives on 18th May 04
THINGS ARE looking a lot better than last month. I had a real bad couple of weeks when my knee was haemorrhaging badly and bleeding a lot from the graft. THINGS ARE looking a lot better than last month. I had a real bad couple of weeks when my knee was haemorrhaging badly and bleeding a lot from the graft. The only way to manage with the situation was to sit with my leg up for two weeks - do you know how many seconds there are in two weeks? Let me tell you it's quite a few, especially when you're sitting in just one spot.Unfortunately, the world trial in Bangor happened as I was mid-crisis so I missed out on that one. I always enjoy watching the skill of Dougie and the guys as I'm a keen trials rider myself and I really appreciate the skill level required to do the things that the top trials riders do on a motorcycle.Anyway, that part of the recovery game has passed and I can pretty much get on with living a normal existence. Walking is good and the fact that I'm driving now lets me get out and visit some friends that I don't usually have the time to see as often as I would like.Easter was hot (for a change) so I pulled a chair outside to catch some rays - and I ended up catching a lot more rays than my untanned body expected. In a matter of a few hours I'd become the Cooked Star.With the swelling down by about 80 per cent in my knee I've started light bend and stretch exercises in the gym. When the bandages were removed from my leg the doctors were delighted with the result and I was speechless. I just kept looking at this leg that looked nothing like my other leg as the muscle waste on my injured limb really freaked me out - it was like it was someone else's leg.In preparation for the season we'd worked flat-out for four months. Every day there was so much to be done and not enough time to do it, a stark contrast to where I was to find myself with nothing to do and all day to do it. Yes it's been hard - I've not had such a long lay off since I was a nipper in my schoolboy days - but every day that passes is another day closer to being back on track and by next month I'll start to cycle and that will help build muscle back on my leg.I wish a had a fiver for every time I get asked when I'll be back racing. You'll know that just about the same time as I do. Looking forward and working back, the des Nations, South Africa and the Ballykelly Grand Prix are realistic. I've got to realise that even when I'm 100 per cent fit and healthy getting back and riding a bike again is one thing but trying to ride at a race pace will itself create a few problems that need consideration.My hands are already as soft as putty from inactivity and they'd explode like cauliflowers if I was to go riding today for twenty minutes - even the soles of my feet are softer. There are two types of fitness - body fitness and bike fitness. At the moment I'm working towards getting my body back in shape by attending to the physical side of things. Only then can we start to get bike fit. A normal off-season may last a couple of months but I'll be coming back from the longest lay off in my life so it will be tough. But I'm so looking forward to it. I'll be back when I'm ready and not before. I'm not about to go to a GP to make up the numbers - I have to be able to run with the guys at the front.I'm really missing riding my bike and that alone helps drive me. I train hard and ride hard, I've had a few knocks and that's all part of the game but I don't see this as work because I love what I do. And believe that I'm one of the luckiest people in the world to get to race motocross for a living.By next month I'll be able to step it up a gear and I'll keep you informed on how things are going.Words by Gordon Crockard