As usual a small mistake equals a major problem, came into a 90 degree set of steps a little too quick. The landing was covered in gravel so the front slid away, I managed to bail and push away from the bike but the steps were about three foot high and with no handrail so my landing wasn’t too soft. Not the granite cobles are soft anyway, must have caught the underside of my elbow on the edge of something as a result now have a rather attractive swollen and bruised right elbow.
I sat out my first run in the vain hope that the stiffness in my elbow would clear up and that my grip would improve. I was given a pill by one of the veteran riders who is some kind of doctor to take effect. Not quite sure what the pill was but seemed to help, so I took a quick walk up to the top to suss out my strategy. Sitting in the keep of a castle waiting to race is quite a surreal experience, or perhaps not. It could have been the pain, doctor’s pill and heat combining to make me a little delirious, anyway I only made in down the fast wide spaced steps from the timing to the castle wall before the pain started to kick in and I called it quits.
