Broken left collarbone and 7 lug stitches

Not a very good day on the bike really. It was meant to be a relaxed reintroduction to mountainbike racing after ages off the sport but it turned out to be 20 minutes racing then a trip to Fairfield hospital via Mountain Rescue Land Rover and an ambulance.

Complicated feelings just now and I need to go back tomorrow to find out if the broken collarbone needs to be pinned. The tear to my ear was only mildly painful but bled like hell – my face was well dowsed with blood.

Crash itself was a riding error on my part – not a big one but in a place on the course that meant going down hard was inevitable.

The race, up to then, at Lee Quarry – was going pretty well, and that rocky course was fun at high speed.  Four what it’s worth…!

Three gruesome snaps here on Flickr

UPDATE: a sequence of the nasty event now from www.equestrian-sports-photography.co.uk here (see link from Twinkly Dave’s comment below)