Crocked Star!
By TMX Archives on 8th Apr 04
AS I'M writing this month's column I'm sitting at home with my leg up on a pillow and my knee feels like a drum machine, pumping out the latest garage beats. AS I'M writing this month's column I'm sitting at home with my leg up on a pillow and my knee feels like a drum machine, pumping out the latest garage beats. Today is Wednesday, or D-Day plus two (for you non-military types that means two days after a pretty significant decision).I'm sure you already know that Canada Heights was an eventful meeting for me. The conditions were terrible, the rain just poured down all day and it was more like an endurance event than a race. In the first moto I gated outside the top 10 and slithered home in fifth, happy just to finish the race.At the end of lap one in moto two I was in 25th spot. I was moving my way towards the front when on lap five ***t happened! Approaching a deeply rutted jump I put my foot down to steady me, it stuck in a rut and my leg twisted. A loud clunking noise came from my leg - at that point I new this was going to be bad. Sickening as it may sound I knew the leg wasn't broken because I have experienced the sound of breaking bones before and this was more of a clunking noise than a snap!I rode off the track and by the time I got to the ambulance and removed my race pants, my knee was massive and growing in front of my eyes. I knew that we had to stop the swelling or there would be no way I could race the GP next week. So I popped some Ibuprofen anti-inflammatory tablets, kept my leg elevated and that was all that could be done until I got home to see the specialist.To say the news was not good would be an understatement - the cruciate ligament is gone. That's the same injury that RC has and we know what happened there - Ricky missed the entire SX series. With only days to go before the first GP I managed to get the swelling out of my knee, it hurt like hell but I can ride with pain. I was going to go and try to ride - and that was that!When I think about it now, I knew that the odds were against me actually making it to the startgate for the race but it would have done my head in watching the GP at home wondering if I would have been able to ride it. I qualified but my knee would lock up and on the first lap of the first moto it became impossible to try to ride my bike, never mind race with the fastest guys in the world.So that brings me back to D-Day plus two. The decision was when, not if, I was to have an operation on my damaged knee. On Monday morning I went under the knife - I won't bore you with the medical jargon but the guys in the white coats looked pretty pleased with themselves so that can't be a bad sign.In a few days I will start rehab treatment. The bend and stretch club will be my main focus initially, they say I must keep it moving and then I'll hopefully start to feel strong after about six weeks - apparently that's when I have to be really careful not to damage the ligaments.So I guess you'll be learning the other side of racing for a couple of months. I'll give you guys the inside line on the road to recovery and no doubt there will be plenty of other things going on. So when will I be back in the saddle I hear you ask? The answer to that will become more clear in next month's dbr.I'll have to reset my goals but I'm feeling positive about my recovery and I know what I have to do to make the best out of where I am at the moment. Okay, so I'm not delighted that this has happened but it has and I can't change that.Yesterday I can do nothing about, today I can do a little but tomorrow is always a new day. I'm so lucky to have the support structure that I do - both in the business and personally - and that drives me to be the very best that I possibly can. So with that in mind I'll have a rest because the road to recovery starts in a couple of days.Gordon Crockard