Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > TP's UK Hospital Tour takes in Cadwell/Louth

[TP]

Thanks to Grahame and Helen Butcher for their very kind hospitality the Thursday night and for giving me the bike to ride in the first place! I appreciate it.

I thought I'd get up to Cadwell early Friday for the morning practice only to be greeted by a bitterly cold wind and rain. Great, not.

I'd been sick for a few days beforehand and was still feeling off so I just parked the van, set the marque up with the assistance of a few people, the lovely Sara, Ali, my mate Rob Morris who was in the SV's, and someone else I've forgotten (apologies here for everyone I forget in this thread ...). It was a miserable day and I just wasn't interested in going out at all so I just pottered around.

Sat was a different story with a few Sound of Thunder races to knock off. Got out in qualifying and managed to qualify for the actual SoT race with Ian Leah. I beat a couple of bigger bikes home in each race and, despite having quite a large slide on the right hander heading up the mountain, I managed to keep it all together and have a couple of good races. I didn’t let Ian run away too far and was looking forward to the DD races and trying to go with him.

Had a nice curry in Louth and managed to stick to my no alcohol policy until after the DD races despite going to a pub with Tonio, Julie, Phill and Aga.

Sunday morning and back just in time to get suited and out for practice which was called early with no warning GRRRR!! It was still wet so I thought I’d take it fairly easy. It was dry in Park corner through to the entrance to the gooseneck. Which made things interesting when you were cranking round chris curve because you were nicely hooked up in the dry and then your braking zone appears and it’s wet …

Somehow I ended up 4th on the grid and a front row start!! Woohoo!! Ali .2secs ahead and Nick .2secs ahead in 2nd! Well done And of course Geoff on pole. I had a couple of wheelie’s off the start and went into Coppice about 5th I think. Ali and I side by side on the leadup to Coppice. Ian and Nick had very good starts and had gotten past and were off. I got past Ali and someone else to bring me onto the back of Ferrari Pete. I knew I had Andy Johnson right behind me so I was keen to find a way past Pete quickly. Pete had HUGE moment going into Hall Bends having the front tuck and went grass tracking in front of me. I tried to come onto the back of him and was planning a move on him in the old hairpin. It looked like he was going to miss the apex and go over the grass again so I thought I’d swing wide and cut back under him on the exit and get to Barn first. .. only Andy had other idea’s and mugged me going into the old hairpin with a hard pass, hitting me and squashing my leg into the bike and running me onto the rumble strip! Bastid! I found that bruise when I was wondering why my right leg was sore …. We kind of held station I think (memory of this part of the race is a bit blurred) but I was trying to get back onto the back of Ferrari Pete to go through and get after Andy who had made his way through. I was catching all the way around the fast back section and was close enough to have a go at the chicane after Mansfield and he left a gap so I went for it. Unfortunately just as I went inside for the gap Pete closed the door fairly hard and we hit. He had to stand it up and go over the grass, my bike was basically just turned over and I flipped over and landed awkwardly and heavily on my left knee. Then I sort of rolled onto my side and slid off onto the grass. The next thing I know my chin is being knocked into my chest as something hit me in the back of the head quite hard, it was couchie clearing a path through and laying the boot into me while I was down – I mean, some people …



No worries though, I couldn’t get up straight away because my leg wouldn’t move so I was trying to curl it up. I had a bright idea of getting up onto my hands and knee’s and crawling out of the way, I was keen to make sure no-one else ran over me you see. But when my left knee touched the ground I knew that it was a bit stuffed. Off to the medcentre after the race where they decided they wanted to make sure that I hadn’t fractured my kneecap so off to Louth hospital where they eventually diagnosed heavy bruising to the bone, ligaments and tissue on the left knee and I’d melted the skin off the top of my kneecap in the process – lovely. And yes it was melted, I’ve thrown my inner suit out because when I was checking it I could see the holes in it from where I hit the knee and the melted skin stuck to it along with the dried blood – true story!!

So my tour of UK hospitals continues and for the record, so far the best facilities I’ve been in would have to be Parkside Hospital in Wimbledon. Very nice, thank you BUPA.

Sorry to Grahame for crashing the bike, fortunately the bike got away quite lightly and Grahame took it out in the second race after AK helped him out with a rearset – AK and CK ran a fine workshop/food service all weekend and were excellent as always, apart from Andy who is a total fair weather biker Grahame, Helen and Bruce were excellent and very supportive all weekend. It was really good to be looked after by them and making everything that much easier and smoother. Thanks to all for the well wishes and sympathy’s. Ali said on the DSC site I need my luck to turn and he’s not bloody wrong! Anyway ..

It was good to see such a turnout and all the friendly faces and support. Thanks to my son Byron for having his 10th birthday so we could get the chockie cake out! Also, very special thanks to Rattler for the beer that broke my two week abstinence from alcohol, the same brand of beer that graces Andy’s R1 in a stunning paintjob.

Hopefully when the swelling in my left knee goes down the doc will give my ligaments the all clear and I'll be ok for Brands

Bring it on!

TP, redefining verbose ...