Rewind back to the final round of the Nationals in Christchurch, I nearly had a nasty crash half way through that race which left me with an extremely painful ankle.

I was however able to hold for 4th on the day which was enough for me to win the Title for the second time running.

After the event the pain in the ankle subsided enough that I didn't feel the need to go to hospital (wrong move).

I then proceeded to take 2 weeks away from riding & training to relax.

It was upon my return to training that I realized something wasn't right with my ankle, so then I went to get it looked at.

Since I hadn't got it seen to right away via A&E, all procedures (e.g Scans, Xrays and Doctor visits) meant I was not on the high priority list.

I finally got to see a specialist who informed me I had ripped my Peroneal Tendon away from the bone in my ankle & it would require surgery and a lengthy recovery period.

7 weeks after first going to the doctors I had surgery on my ankle.

It has been a further 5 weeks of being in cast until tomorrow's specialist visit (2nd Sept) where I will have the cast removed finally.

Now, I always try to look for the positives in situations that simply just suck like this and if there's one good thing to come from having a good amount of time away from racing, riding & training its renewed motivation, and renewed appreciation of this wicked sport/hobby/lifestyle that myself & many others are involved in.

I've got a few events coming up so its time to get back in shape & hopefully gets some results.

We've also updated & fixed the photo section on the site as well so be sure to check that out at some stage.