Just gland it’s all over

I was due to ride The Red Bull Sea to Sky on October 20-21, so it was time to get training and all was going well. 

 

For part of my training I went to a local motocross meeting at Brampton, as I had nothing else on. 

 

It was sunny and the track was in perfect condition, so I couldn't have asked for anything better – and I even won all three races, so I was happy with that. 

 

When I woke the next day I felt awful. My throat was killing me and my glands had swollen up. I started taking anything I could to try and make me feel better, as it was just one week to go before the Sea to Sky.

 

By Tuesday I was feeling worse, so I gave in and went to the doctors. I was struggling to breathe and couldn't eat, so I was sent straight to the hospital. They put me on a drip and said I would just be kept in overnight – I had no energy and all I could do was sleep. 

 

I was told I was run down and had glandular fever and tonsillitis. The overnight stay turned into four and I didn't leave hospital until the Saturday – and to be honest I still felt crap. 

 

The doctor told me that I shouldn't do any sport for 4-6 weeks, as it takes a long time to get over the fever – but unfortunately I was flying to Turkey the following Tuesday. 

 

Julian and myself had a chat before leaving, and he just told me to see how I felt when I got there. If I could race, then fine – but if not, no problem.

 

So off we went on Tuesday. To start with I was thinking it was the worst decision I had ever made, as extreme races are hard enough without being ill. 

 

Every day I started feeling a bit better though and on the morning of the race decided I could manage it. I just had to take one race at a time. 

 

Saturday started well. I won the Beach race and I was feeling good and I then came third in the Forest race. 

 

The next day was the Mountain race and when I woke early and looked out of my window it was raining – just like being at home. 

 

The first 10km of the race was set in a wide river bed, full of stones and this is where a battle between a group of about 10 riders started. Everyone was trying different lines and none were working. 

 

Eventually I made a break, closely followed by Graham Jarvis but a mistake gave Graham the lead and from there on I followed his every move. 

 

That is how it stayed all the way up until the last checkpoint, around 2km from the finish, when I made a silly mistake and dropped into a hole and it cost me the race. I came in a close second to Graham with Paul Bolton third. 

 

An all Brit podium was good and I was happy with the way I rode considering how ill I had been and that I didn't even expect to go. 

 

Now I'm just going to relax and let my body recover properly before the World Indoor Enduro Championships start.