Surgery success, My life - Further Insight.

Nothing in my vocabulary can describe how relieved I felt when I completed a full downhill run without experiencing a crippling like pain in my forearms for the first time in my life. It was Unbelievable, Yes for those who know of my situation or who read my last entry I am pleased to say my surgery has really improved my condition. I no longer develop that chronic numbing pain in my arms while riding which has held me back for so long. This has been just a massive detour on my Journey and its such a relief to be back on course. Its kind of funny you know because no one can really grasp the heart ache this has caused me for years now or understand quite how much effort it has taken to get to this point. I find it really important to convey my approach and my real attitude towards racing through this blog because sometimes our images as a rider or person at the races lead to false assumptions to who we really are or our true ambitions.
We are all Mountain bikers and that’s what brings us together, But apart from that we don’t have much In common in my opinion. Of course there is obvious athlete type traits installed within our personalities like Competitiveness, determination, Perseverance etc. But at the core we are complete strangers. We all have our story and a real reason that is underlying in our passion, Some people are just yet to find that out yet or haven’t dug deep enough. I am blessed that I have found my true passion. I discovered it through adversity as I have not had the easy road, In fact I have had it bloody hard. I have been at the lowest of lows with drugs and alcohol which took over my life at a young age. I clawed my way out of that hole and decided to change my life. I am also not afraid to tell people about this because it is a massive part of who I am today and one of the main driving forces in why I am pursuing this dream. Its never been about proving to someone I can do it its about stepping up and truly taking hold of my life. In many ways its not even about the sport. I live in Oamaru isolated from mainstream NZ dh scene and no one really sees the blood, sweat and tears I am putting into this. Its not just what I am doing its completely who I am being. Also I want to make it clear that recognition is not what I am trying to achieve. It is far from that. Like I said its about proving to myself I can really break the mould and be free from the constraints of modern society, Challenge myself and go all out. No regrets uno just give it everything and if I fail well hell at least I gave it a good shot. Lately I have been training mega hard for my up coming Euro campaign and organizing all the logistics. Starting to get real excited about getting back over there and stuck into the racing. Here’s my race itinerary for the season..

Depart NZ 02.07.2011
Arrive Germany. 02.07.2011

09.07/10.07- IXS Cup, Ilmeau Germany
16.07/17.07- IXS Cup, Wiriehorn Switzerland
30.07/31.07- Nissan Euro Cup, Oz en Oisans France
06.08/07.08- World Cup round 6, La bresse France
13.08/14.08- IXS Euro Cup, Pila Italy
20.08/21.08- World Cup round 7, Val Di Sole Italy

Depart Germany 08.09.2011
Arrive NZ 10.09.2011

Peace,
Jed.