Today is the 18th April, which means that it’s six months since my accident on Macquarie Pass last October. Time passes very slowly when you’re immobilised, believe me. In the last half a year I’ve learned that I’m not as patient a person as I thought I was. I’ve learned that there’s nothing to be ashamed of to admit that you’re much more dependent on others that what you’d like to be.
I’ve learned a lot about the astonishing regenerative powers of the human body and I’ve learned that healing can’t be hurried. I’ve learned that the average person is very sympathetic and helpful when they see that you are struggling with a disability and I’ve learned to do what I’m told if I want to get better.
But, most of all, I’ve learned what an inspired choice it was to ask my then-girlfriend, now-wife, to marry me, some 38 years ago. Weighed down, as she has been, with her own serious health issues, the burden of being the sole wage-earner and the tragic and sudden death of both her mother and her only brother, she has somehow found the inner reserves of strength, compassion and humour to look after her incapacitated husband. For that I will never be able to live long enough to repay her.
Overnight, the WSBK at Assen turned on its usual drama. Carlos Checa extended his lead in the title chase with a 3rd (to Rae and Biaggi) in race 1 and a win in race 2. Biaggi finished 2nd in both races. Aussie, Mark Aitchison scored an excellent 10th on his privateer Kawasaki. Chris Vermeulen finished well down in race 1 and did not compete race 2 at all. In the WSS, Broc Parkes got a 3rd and Jed Metcher, competing in the Superstock 600 class, also took 3rd after starting from pole.