These things are sent to try us . . . . .

It's a cruel old world sometimes, you over come the dark Scottish winter and a few hiccups on the way all in preparation for the up coming season. The 2011 season kicks off in March and its a bit of a slow start, but after a few races under the belt and a wealth of training things start to move in the right direction. One thing is for certain when it comes to racing and preparation there is no set formula that you can follow, it differs for all of us and sometimes its appears luck also plays a role in there.

But what is luck? Do you believe in it? I think I do to a certain extent, but I'm not really sure where on when that started. Numerous people in my life have often referred to me a lucky Lesley - but that luck has only ever been applicable to certain circumstances - for example parking spaces and clearing courtyards in petrol stations, but does that open me up to a susceptibility to being unlucky in other areas . . . . . . I don't think so, I just reckon that sometimes bad things happen and no matter how many times you think about how different things could have been you just have to swallow it all up, look forward and start healing.

The 19th of May was the start of the World Cup season for me at Dalby this year. Kerry and I packed up the van and headed down to North Yorkshire - its was all going so well. After the drive down we both felt a bit groggy so we unpacked the road bikes and headed out for a spin - it was an amazing night, the sun was out and it was just was just great to be out on the bike.

Friday arrived I signed on for the race and headed to the course from some practice. The course had altered slightly at the start but was riding great and I just couldn't wait for Sunday to arrive. I was on my new bike an Ibis carbon hard tail sorted out for me by the fab guys at The Hub (www.thehubintheforest.co.uk) supplied speedily from 2pure (www.2pure.co.uk). The bike is amazing, it is really sticks to the ground when you are riding in and the confidence that give you is incredible - happy days.

After practice I headed back to the B&B for a chill before the pro sprint eliminator at night....

It all started so well, I was feeling strong and I was travelling around the course, I pinned it down the stairs and the rest is a bit of a blur, I'm not sure if I caught my wheel in a step or the ramp but I managed to put a ding in the rim - resulting in the tyre exploding off and me hitting the ground pretty fast and hard . . . . .during the process I also managed to roll the front tyre off the rim. But it all happened so fast I still had no idea that any of this had happened, all I knew what that I hit the deck, so I jumped up, picked up the bike and was about to get back on it to continue when I discovered I had no air in my tyres, in fact the tyres weren't even on the rims - it still took me a bit of time to figure that was my race over. I felt a bit stiff and hobbled down to the pit area where I discovered my knee was bleeding.

A trip to the medics tent revealed a large hole in my knee and that was me off to A & E to get stitched up. I was still certain I could race on Sunday and was continually asking in the hospital what the chances were. I could tell they thought the chances were slim but they seemed to humour me and say wait and see what its like in the morning. 7 stitches later I was packed off . . .

When I woke up in the morning my knee was about twice its original size and my movement was so restricted there was no chance I could pedal - at that point I knew it was all over.

I've spent the last few days hobbling about and re going over what happened in my head. But its happened and I probably could have ridden that section 100 more times without a problem . . . sometimes bad things just happen!

In the wise words of Friedrich Nietzsche " What doesn't kill us makes us stronger"

Hopefully it will be a speedy recover I've got a new bike to get out and do some riding on.

So if your about and free over the next few weeks give me a shout, Ive got some spare time on my hands!

Healing time.

Les