In La Bress, Beckett and I, Baltic Ben Reids mechanic, partook in some skipping, well, more like everyone did! everyone was wild for it, it was great! Beckett and I discovered this delightful circus skipping stunt, we lined up facing each other and skipped the rope between us for a bit, then on the count of 3 we would slowly turn ourselves into the skip, so we would be skipping around ourselves, it was AMAZING. it felt so wierd and craaazy! we banged our ass’ together sometimes, it was so funny. Baltic filmed the skipping session and we drank tea to celebrate! Ralphy jones and Gareth ‘ gazzy’ brewin partook of some action, but by far and away the hero of the hour was Adam Brayton, who is a skipping master! Jill Kintner took so rad photos of Beckett and I, and whizzed them over to me so thanks Jill, thanks Beckett and everyone!

Wowwweeeee. Im back home, it is done, there is no going back now, not that i want to. Im so stoked to be the other side of surgery, after months of waiting and not knowing, Mr Hobson finally got his penknife and sewing kit out and went to work. I was in surgery for 8 hours, and everything went well apparently. a total of 30 cms of nerve was taken from my left leg and grafted into 3 different places in my shoulder, front and back. I couldn’t believe how well i felt the next morning, albeit pretty tired as i was under until 1 in the morning. Poor Mr Hobson, i tell you, no-one works harder than surgeons, he was up at 7 am to see me, then another full day, and imagine how focused they have to be, one wrong slip and KERRR-STOP goes the patient!
I was a bit disappointed really because the only bit i really like about surgery is when they inject you with anesthetic and you feel it creeping up your arm like jack frost to your window. The thing is, this didn’t happen, it was all rather sudden and i remember saying, ‘oh, i loke this bit’ then the next thing i knew i was blindly swimming my way back to consciousness, with only the pain in my leg for guidance. And not my ‘bad’ leg either, no, my other leg, the leg i had been lying on for 8 or so hours on the rock hard table, was AGONY, like someone had shot-gunned it to pieces, so at least that took the pain away from the surgery bit!
So that was that, nerve graft done and dusted. I stayed in for 2 nights so they could check no bleeding would start, and if i hadn’t of had Harry Potter on audio book, i would have gone crazy insane! They are amazing, Stephen Fry reads them wonderfully and i just drifted off into Harry Potter land, woken now and then by the lovely nurse taking blood pressure or asking me if i wanted a cup of tea. It really was a lovely hospital and i was a bit reluctant to come home, Gee being away to US open and Affy being real messy, but it is good to be home. Driving down the valley i noticed how green it all looked, everything lush and new, and i thanked my lucky stars I live in Llangynog. I am currently sat on the decking in the afternoon sun, overlooking the mountains that are soon to be ridden and sratching the cat with my robot hand i was sent. My leg is quite sore and part of my foot is numb because obviously it has no nerve going to it, but my shoulder is already growing bigger with each second, i am sure! The nurses took some very graphic photos on my camera but I am a dunce and cannot get them onto my computer, so you’ll have to wait for the next issue of Atherton Extended newsletter. If you are not part of the Extended Family, become so soon, it’s great!
Thank you everyone for the well wishes too, it really means alot. In touch….x

ooooh weeee, i wrote such a rad blog the other day and it got lost in the interweb before i posted it!
When we arrived in Andorra, after the most bad ass meeting with Max Commencal and the boys, (exciting stuff is going down) we hooked up with a family hero and enduro legend, Cyril Despres.
I was mega star struck but he is such a down to earth guy that it was easy to forget how much of a legend he is! Winning the Dakar rally is no small feat. We chilled for a bit then got down to business, the boys kitted up and walked a 250 f and a 300 out of the garage, whilst Cyril uncovered his Dakar winning replica bike, a KTM 690 with a double, triple, who knows, fuel tank, it was so heavy, like driving an elephant. I couldnt believe that anyone could ride such a bike on such gnarly terrain! Browny, Clay and I got in this off road buggy thing and shredded it after them as fast as we could, i was so jealous sitting there whilst they rode the moto’s! We rocked up to this section of river that was fast flowing, raging, big rocky steps all the way up, Cyril sent it right in and rode all the way to the top, no bother at all. It was so rad to watch, and then watching the boys who, compared to me, are pretty handy on enduros. Well, they had nothing on old C-dog! It was nuts, he gave them a few tips and they soon made it most of the way up. The rest of the day was spent ragging the buggy after them, chasing them all over the mountains with Clay hanging out the back trying to film for The Atherton Project, and me day dreaming of the very day when i get my sling off and throw my leg over a 250f with my name written all over it. I had to brake it to the YZ when I got home that she was going to be replaced, the tears she cried were pretty intense but I reminded her of all the good times we had, the winter enduro races, the times when we would carve a new line and pass all the guys, the swap on’s and loop out’s. I guess she’ll be made into cat food or something!
So that was pretty much my Andorra experience because now I am sitting in my friends house in liverpool after flying home yesterday for a pre medical exam, just a few routine tests before my surgery which is tuesday. I am sad to miss the race this weekend, but quite honestly, it is a bit of a relief. The feelings that I left with last year, as we drove to the airport, nothing could touch me, and I couldn’t wait to come back this year and kill it again. Little did I know that I wouldn’t even be racing, and so to sit track-side, or freecaster side, and watch my win slip away from me, well, no thanks. And now it seems that I have started a trend and affy is all over this injury shit! He damaged his shoulder in the winter racing enduro and it seems that a little over the bars yesterday has rewoken the beast and he is not racing! Oh well, at least the only way to go from here is up so things at least next year will be better! So here’s to everyone out there racing, good luck boys and girls, go Brits, go Cedric’s after party at his bar, go sv go Cyril who is opening the race, Go Go Go!

Acclaimed snapper and Animal Commencal Team shooter, Sven Martin proving to me just why he is so good. Whilst every one else was gathered trackside, elbowing and pushing to get the shot or just roost from their favourite rider in the face, Sven took a step back, beer in hand when this angle crept effortlessly into his head. I was pretty impressed as I had thought how pretty it looked with the crowd and the trees making a kind of tunnel, but I would not have thought to take a legit photo, hence Sven being a professional! Job done. Race Day Today, sun is shining and track looks f***in rad, so jealous. Oh well, at least this chick came up to me all stoked and had bought me a toblerone! Thanks sweetheart! TBC…..

Stevie Bell and I just before we left Belgium for La bresse, and boys on podium for team shizzle.
I cant wait to go back next year for the race, 4x and xc only was really good idea I think, massive crowds, good beer, good waffles and sun, rad track, and beautiful scenery and sweet road riding! What more could you want?!

Well knock me down with a feather, the boys did good! It was such a surreal race, i paid such close attention to the first 2 heats, then i had to go down to the finish arena and do some interviews with riders for freecaster and i couldn’t see the track, or the big screen and then before we knew what was happening it was the semi’s and Jerry Graves and Affy came across the line top 2, so gee had gone out, and then it was final time and still i didnt see until they had crossed the line and Affy was in 2nd, i was so stoked for him, it was radical to the max! It seems that always when i don’t watch or pay attention, Andorra excused, the boys do good, so i have vowed to bury my head in the sand and ignore racing as much as possible, busying myself in chit chat whilst the top dogs fight it out on the hill. It was kinda strange being track side at a world cup, especially as i had planned to race 4x in Belgium, but it was better than i think watching the DH this weekend will be. that sh*t i painful, one of the most painful experiences that racing brings, watching another girl take my win, and im not afraid to admit that that’s how i see it, but like last time i was injured, i plan to use this time to my advantage. It is amazing how much you can learn watching the top boys throw it down, and each rider has something different to give, from the way that one person approaches a turn, to the way someone else approaches a whole event, watching them all and learning is the best thing to do at a time like this, it helps me understand how they go so fast, where they put their bodies, how much trust they have, what is actually possible on a bike. It makes me see how fast they go and wonder why i go so much slower? Like spending a week at rampage, the end of the week brings the thoughts to your head that the stuff isn’t really that big and sure I’d hit that, you get blase and used to the size of stuff and daunting it is not anymore, so spending a year watching the worlds fastest racers brings the knowledge that their speeds are normal, and that bikes are meant to slay dragon tracks like they are nothing more than flies. To the mind, there is no difference from watching a race run and partaking it yourself, as long as you wholly feel it with all your being and soul, so therefore, arent i just about to spend a few months racing at gee, steve, sam and gregs speed??

Well i saw Mr Hobson again the other day, hot footed it over to sheffield in the Nissan didn’t i, it’s quite a nice drive really, through Glossop, over the snake path, the Nissan cruising it easily rather unlike the Caddy the last time I took it! Anyway, so I first went to get another EMG done by a guy called Dr. Rao, i think he was a bit nervous of seeing me again as last time i ended up crying on his shoulder! I managed to hold it together this time though. It is really quite an interesting experience, he sticks these little electrode things on my fingers and then my shoulder and basically electrocutes me! My arm jumps a mile of its own accord, makes me laugh like crazy! Then he get these tiny little needles things and sticks them into my shoulder, into the deltoid, a couple of different spots, and wiggles it around. The needle is rigged to a laptop that transmits the data into noise and a chart, I have to push my arm different ways just to try and get the deltoid to ‘fire’ in every way possible. When he does it on my good arm to show me the preferred outcome, i can tense my deltoid and the thing goes as crazy as a box of frogs, very noisy and it makes a lovely graph, then when my its my bad arms turn, not much happens at all, basically meaning that the nerve is still not very impressed. Dr Rao phoned Mr Trusty Hobson with his latest findings whilst i drove to the other hospital 2 minutes down the road, lovely area it is too, big rambling houses stand proud behind tree lined avenues and mothers chat over the fence, really, its like that. So eventually i sit down with Mr Hobson and we get to talking about the test and how the nerve has not shown improvement in the last couple of months. He said that he is impressed with how much movement and strength that i have in the shoulder due to the other muscles working like mad to compensate for the lack of the deltoid, but that lack of deltoid muscle, the stability it brings and everything, well it needs fixing. S o the next port of call we decided upon is to have a nerve graft. Now this shizzle impresses me no end, its just crazy what they can do. He will take about a 20 cm piece of nerve from my leg and then go into my shoulder, locate the damaged nerve, cut it out and replace it with the nerve from my leg, the graft will ‘take’ and heal in about a month, during which ill be in a sling, and then its just a case of slowly starting to move the shoulder again, and then start working the muscles and gradually the nerve graft will mean that the deltoid is able to have me back to 40 press ups in a minute and the top step! Im pretty excited to get it all underway, and i have got a few rad films to watch whilst i convalesce, but if any of you have any suggestions as to what are good films to watch, then i would be grateful. And saying that, any book recommendations, audio books, anything, much appreciated!

It seems that the sun brings with it all sorts of delights. A few sundays ago, i was down at the local pub with the my mates, the boys who live round here, and we were having a kick about on the road. Now, football is a relatively new thing for me, i was always a netball or hockey girl at school, but WOW how much fun it is! I cant believe how rad it is just playing footy, very impressed. Anyway, so there we were, the sun was shining, the car park was full of tourists and bikers stopping at the pub, the tomato juice was flowing and suddenly we hear it, that magical noise that fills any human with wonder! the Ice Cream van song! It came down the hill and round the bend to find us all stood their, childish grins plastering our faces and football held tight under a reebok classic. The lads go wild for it, honestly, they have double cones, bubblegum sauce, you name it. so we spent the next miilisecond whilst we ate sat on the wall, in the sun, talking about local stuff, who said what, where so and so has gone, and i felt so happy, to live here, in Wales’ finest village, with the raddest friends ever, the football, the sun, and the very far away-ness of it all. Llangynog takes it as my favourite place on earth hands down.
It has become a regular occurrence has old fifa street sunday, ice cream and all, and if the weather is fine we play wednesday nights, about 5 a side, and i love ever minute of it. My bro’s are away now too, packed them off to South Africa a few days ago. It was surreal dropping them at the airport and driving home, quite emotional, but its something that has to be dealt with, but The boys, being the raddest friends, are not letting me forget that i have to get back on it soon and start bringing home reason to celebrate, so i cant let them down!

Llangynog in all its glory.

Saw the Doctor today, over in Sheffield. He is a lovely fellow and we are figuring out slowly what to do about this old shoulder kafuffle. He has sent me for another EMG, a test which uses small probes into the muscle to determine weather they are firing, weather the messages from the brain are getting through to them or weather they are just sat there like a useless slab of meat in a hurriedly deserted butchers. Well, it seems that the latter is ringing true for me right now. So, the nerve that feeds my deltoid appears to have been quite badly damaged in the dislocation which doesn’t surprise me considering the top of my humerus was somewhere near my belly button…! The thing with nerve trauma is that it is so hard to tell the extent of the damage, and the rate at which they heal is remarkably slow considering how useless the body is without them.
Anywho, this means that to completely diagnose and say how to fix the problem is pretty impossible right now, i mean, it might start healing of its own accord and thats great, but it will take a while to see signs of this healing. The next scenario is that it will not start healing and this is when surgery is required. The thing is you have to give it a good 2-3 months for any chance of self healing to start to happen and show itself, so Mr Potter the shoulder surgeon, Mr Hobson the plastic surgeon and I have decided to wait a month and then redo the EMG test to see if any signs of improvement are rearing their heads.
So i will keep you all up to date as and when i know the score, in the mean time, I’m sure ill regale you with tales of excitement in the valleys!

Well, being home after my accident in America stirs up quite a soup of mixed feelings really! Its so rad to be home, driving thru’ the hills to the end of the valley where nestles Llangynog, the trees sprouting green, the lambs just beginning their annual mission of being born, the sun fighting for its rightful place in the sky for that bit longer every day and the pub spilling over with locals instills the most awesome feeling of happiness and contentedness. Then on the other hand you have the knowledge that just up that hill, or over in the next valley, there is the most fun to be had in the form of a loose muddy track, the crazy wobbler, or insane views and fastness from the top of 10 minutey, or, the most painful of all, the YZ 125 sat in the garage waiting to be sat on the start of a 3 hour enduro, engine purring as she plots her line down the first straight to ensure that the holeshot is had and minimum roost is received on my goggles yet maximum roost doled out to the others! HAHAHAHA!
It is these 2 wheeled things that i am going to miss so much whilst i recover, but if my years have taught me anything it is to almost savor the bad times, the times when riding isn’t possible, to feel the pain every day and really live it because eventually you will ride again and that feeling, after the pain of not riding for ages, that feeling is the single best feeling the body is capable of producing. It is like winning world champs, with your brother by your side, it is like winning a world cup with both brothers by your side, it is like sticking a massive dirty rut, feet up flat out, it is like an endless set of dirt jumps, tucked high and nosed in, it is all these things rolled into one and i don’t intend to be missing out for much longer!