Thriller!
Published: 14th June 2007
Author: Gordon Crockard
Gordy comes over all Wacko Jacko in Japan and pays the price with peeled palms...ouch!
Hi everyone! This month I'm writing to you from a former nudist camp that's thankfully now just a 'nature' camp! It's just down the road from the Ken Hall track at Langrish where I raced yesterday and, yes, it really did use to be a rudey nudey camp! The campsite guide I use didn't mention anything about it but luckily [for the other campers, think Y2K Lazer ad - SL] it's all normal now so no worries!
My next race is at the weekend in France so I'll head over there mid-week to be in plenty of time for Friday morning set up. I had planned on practising down in the south of England this week but yesterday I tore my hands to pieces so I need to give them time to heal up good. The blisters are a result of my trip to Japan when in the first race the timing transponder on the front forks spun sideways and jammed my steering, resulting in a crash. My glove came off and I rode the rest of the race like Michael Jackson (one glove - geddit?). My hand blistered then and riding Langrish yesterday has made it twice as bad so cycling and training will be on the cards but no MX practice.
For the past five years I've avoided gluten, dairy and wheat as I'm mildly allergic to these and I suffer with eczema on my hand if I eat them regularly. At home I can manage okay getting substitutes for bread, pasta, cereal and all the other foods I should avoid but when I went to Japan for the GP I found it hard to get the right food so eating a lot of wheat probably meant my hand blistered up more easily.
At the start of May I returned to GP action after missing Portugal due to my knee problems. The Italian GP was pretty good and I was pleased with my results. I went back home between Italy and Germany but was unable to attend the SX on the Wednesday evening they hold up at the North West 200 road race. I normally can do it but with my knee being troublesome of late I didn't want to give it any unnecessary stress.
I flew out to Germany and the wind was crazy when we landed. Saturday's programme of practice and qualifying was adjusted because the wind was so bad but I had a good day on the Sunday, finishing seventh and fifth. This got me all excited and I decided to spend a lot of money to get myself, bike and mechanic Phil out to Japan for the next round. I enjoyed the country as a place to visit - the people are extremely helpful and all seem pretty happy. I had some problems in the races after qualifying my best of the year in 12th. First race I crashed while in 13th when the transponder came loose and the second race I clipped the gate and got away very, very last. I made it up to 16th but I was pretty disappointed with my results after doing so well at the previous two rounds.
Before heading out to Japan I was proud to attend my friend Eugene's wedding - it was a real good day's craic and I was really pleased to have been able to make it. I couldn't, however, make the Red Bull X-Fighters at Slane Castle because of Japan but I was lucky enough to catch it on TV when I got back. A few of the freestyle riders stayed in Ireland for a few days after the event and I was asked to help with some venues for riding and filming some TV footage for an American programme. When I got back from Japan I was trashed with jetlag so I declined to meet up with Travis and co to go riding - I was knackered and had to get ready for leaving to go to Langrish. I couldn't make the Wednesday evening fun at Rhayader either due to logistics - on that topic I'd like to wish Andrew James the best of luck and hope all goes well this time and in the future.
One of my long-time best mates got married on Thursday and I acted as usher on the day. Highlight for me was in the church when we were asked to pray and the bride (Julie) and groom (Ricky) were asked to kneel at the alter for the prayer. Ricky had written 'HELP' on the soles of his shoes and the entire congregation could see this - tears of laughter were running down my face! And Julie looked to be praying a short while later as they left the church as man and wife in a helicopter to go to the hotel - I think it was a surprise for her going by the look on her face.
Amy and I drove the camper over the next day and enjoyed great weather and a new (but old) venue for the fourth round of the British championship. Langrish is used annually for the Ken Hall International and the club prepared the track well and added a lot to the circuit for the event. I was third in qualifying and almost holeshot the first race but turning on a watered first corner is never easy and I was lucky not to crash. I had third in the bag with one lap to go but my chain broke so I pushed my bike over the line for 17th. Second race I made sure I got the holeshot but perhaps I went a bit much as I couldn't stop on the still wet first turn and slid into the barriers. I still finished the race fifth but I was in agony from the blisters on my hands. I started the day four points behind the championship leader and ended the day 36 points behind but we're only halfway so there's time to recover. It's never over until it's over...