Uplifting

They say a little bit of what you fancy does you good. It's certainly very true for me where speedway is concerned. What a tonic last night was. I feel a different person today, albeit one being well and truly punished for my 'guilty' pleasure.

It was so nice to chat with several people on the way to my 'parking spot' beyond the main stand. The speedway family is a wonderful one, both in real life and on Twitter. It was so lovely to have been missed. You don't need to know anyone's name, indeed I have absolutely no idea of the name of the lovely woman and her husband I always chat to once I'm in position. Doesn't matter, we have the wonderful connection that is speedway. She comes over, Kai always gets some of her burger. We then chew the fat about all things speedway. How many other places could you go where that happens? Especially to someone who is disabled and in a wheelchair. Most people look away or gawp when we go out. At speedway it doesn't matter. A real bonus this season is that friends I've made on Twitter come and find me to say hello. Steve did last night and it means an awful lot that people take the time to come and see me. 

Already I could feel my spirits lifting, it is impossible for me not to become enthused when I'm talking about speedway in general and my team in particular. The gang arrive, the chaps (whose names I do know!) who I have sat next to since I started going to speedway. The banter really gets going and we're all set. We've decided that we'll will win by at least 8 points, set the world to rights on various speedway issues and debated the pros and cons of a particular rider being at number 5 when he hasn't been riding very much. 

As soon as the meeting gets going it's like being on a roller coaster, the adrenaline flows. The roar of the engines, the smell, everything comes together to produce an exhilarating experience. I forget everything else, including the pain, as I watch four men go hell for leather on bikes with no brakes at high speed. A race consists of four laps and is over in less than 60 seconds. But so much can happen in that time. Just enough time to write down the scores, dissect that race, predict the result of the next and off we go again. It's impossible to find the words but speedway makes me feel alivenoise nothing else in an existence that is so dull and restrictive. 

15 heats (and nearly two hours) later and it's all over. Only now does the pain that has impinged more and more as the time has gone on really hit me. The hell of getting back in the car, the tortuous journey home and the unbelievable pain as Eric tries to get me back in the house when I can't put weight on my right foot at all and only on the side of my left. Back in the comfort of my chair, despite how awful I feel, the buzz is still there. That same buzz that I am still feeling as I write this. 

To someone reading this I must appear absolutely bonkers to go through what I do and all the punishment that lasts for days after. All I know is that the darkness I was feeling has lifted, the world seems a much happier place and most importantly I feel able to rejoin the battle and tackle CRPS head on again. I don't care how bad I feel as I type this, indeed I'm not quite sure how I am! Speedway is my extra drug, better than anything you can on prescription. Roll on the next dose!!