Down and out!

Do you ever get that feeling that things are going too well?

The last race of the season arrived this weekend just gone, and with it being a mini downhill race, I was looking forward to getting up to speed without anything too technical to break it up and having some fun. Those that know me well, know my job for this academic year is currently very challenging - I'm 3 weeks into the recovery for cracked ribs and 'nipped' tendons in my shoulder...! Anyway, this obviously affected my bike choice, not really knowing what Chopwell had to offer, I went for the comfort of the big, bouncy, (heavy), bike, hoping it would soften any hits travelling towards my ribs and shoulder. On reflection, the track was far smoother than Whinlatter which I had been training on with my hardtail, so the lighter bike would have benefited here. Although on even further reflection, even if I had had an engine it wouldn't have made things any better for me.

Sign on was nice and friendly, as I have found at both Northern Downhill events I have attended, and so with my number collected I went to get ready for a practice run. We bumped into Will Riley-Fox, who we had met at Kidland, and so Mark and I joined him in the queue for practice and a chat about the track.

First roll down was ok for sussing the track out, it started with some sweeping berms, that easily swallowed your speed up if you hit them badly, the transition out of most of them had a slight gradient too, so no gravity to aid you in getting back up to speed, a few mini bridges thrown into the mix along the way, with sneaky leaf covered ditches either side of them - i'm surprised nobody ended up in them! My favourite part was a combination of mud and roots with a nice step down off a small piece north shore, it really gave you a kick of speed before you then had to push hard on the pedals up through the trees, and up to a line of well worn mini tabletops before turning and dropping into the finish.

I did another practice run on my own, then went to find Mark to do one more together before racing started.

I know that I am normally terrible at eating when I am competing with both the bike or the pony but this was different. I had no interest in anything, not even water. I closed my eyes and had a 20 minutes rest instead.

I headed down to the start line whilst Mark went to watch. It was great to chat to the other girls on the start line - it was great to see so many young riders as they are the future of the sport and they were wicked on their bikes too!! As I was called up, I placed my wheel on the line and got into my usual starting position. Right foot on pedal ready to put the power down and left toe touching the ground ready to connect to the pedal after the 3, 2, 1. I was shaking, a strange shivering shake, and feeling really light headed, but as the starter called out 10 seconds I didn't have time to think about it. I ground my left foot flat into the ground to try and earth the shake and focused on that first berm. 3... 2... 1... and off I went, the first section of the course flowed really nicely, I really enjoyed it, and I could feel the shaking no more. Then I hit the uphill section, I just couldn't get the power to get the bike up the hill as fast I wanted and coasted into the finish feeling frustrated at my body. And back came the shakes.

(Current photo courtesy of Mick Stephenson and will be switched with copyright free one when it arrives in my inbox!)

All the ladies had come back safe, Beth and Anna, the two girls who I had been chatting to at the start had put in awesome times - despite Beth getting close to a tree stump mid course - wow! So, I walked back up with Beth and her mum and we chatted about other races and horses! It made the push up less painful being entertained by good conversation!

I met Mark and Will at the top and reported on my rubbish time, 2:01, with fastest time overall so far being James Purvis on 1:31. This was when Mark got suspicious. He said it's not like me to be that far off the pace on a straight forward track like this. I blamed the bike. He had deeper concerns. He did his race run, I cheered, and he got almost the same time as me!! 2:00.9!!

We went and Mark had lunch. I still couldn't eat and Mark tried to talk me out of doing my second my run - trying to convince me that I didn't look my usual self. Unfortunately, I am stubborn and stood my ground, idiotically, so we adjusted my shock and suspension to try and make that climb at the end a bit easier - unfortunately nothing could be done about the gear set up, I just had to use my legs of steel (that were acting like legs of jelly). I knocked 3 seconds off on my second run to post 1:58. I was still disappointed in myself but had a really good chat with Angela Coates on the way back up to the top which lifted my spirits and distracted me from how I was feeling. Mark also shaved seconds off and posted a 1:56 and he was happy.

That is when things went from bad to worse. Mark quickly packed the bikes away and I got into the car. By the time I got home my temperature was through the roof, my glands were swollen and I was also shivering. Cue one horrible night and being called into the doctors at first light. My temperature was 39.6 and I was displaying all the symptoms of meningitis, all that was missing was the rash. The doctor couldn't believe I'd managed to walk to him. The orders were that I had to be monitored constantly for this rash. At one point my temperature rose so high I had to have my bare skin iced, and be bathed in tepid water to bring it down. Alongside this I'd totally lost my vision and could only see blurred shapes - it's scary to remember that that started on the start line of my first race run. Then the rash appeared across my face and I was back to the doctor.

My temperature is still see sawing, and is yet to drop back to normal. I have been put under house arrest for the week by the Doctor, Mark, Mum and my Head Teacher, whilst they try to identify the cause of the infection. They have ganged up on me as they all know me well enough to know that is the best way to deal with me. I have even been banned from trying to plan lessons or mark any work! So far, what they are sure of is that I have bacterial tonsillitis, and unfortunately adults only really get that as a secondary infection alongside glandular fever. I'm crossing my fingers and toes that the penicillin clears everything up and I can get back up and about, if not it means it could possibly be glandular fever and that's 3 weeks of rest - 3 days have been frustrating enough!

So the moral of this story? Sometimes you don't know what is best for you and sometimes, just sometimes, it's best to give in and listen to those around you who care for you.