Eastridge (eventually)

First a visit to the Physio, it's a great system here, you can self refer, just pick up a form, fill in a few questions, drop the form back into the department and within a week I'd had a phone call to set up an appointment.  Four days later I was being examined and having nerve roots at L3 - 4 pummelled and kneaded into submission, I was given some hip flexing exercises (great for the dancing!) and an open appointment for a month, which basically means give the treatment and exercise a couple of weeks to see how its going and if you feel you need further treatment just phone to set up another appointment.  If you don't make contact within the month your name is off the list and you start back at square one.

Odd bits and pieces through the week and on Friday it's back to Fort William for another SDA event at Nevis Range.  Though this time there is a stop off in Inverness to examine a first aid course at Eden Court.  Chris, the BASP Trainer was all set for Mark (the other examiner) and myself to start at 13:30 so with some time in hand lunch seemed a good idea.  Fed and watered (coffee'd), we set to with Mark covering the practical elements of the examination and me the 'interrogation'. The candidates were all Eden Court staff , office, stage hands and front of house.  I think it's great to see such a forward thinking organisation putting a range of staff through first aid training.

Fortunately there was space in their car so I managed to blag a lift back to FW with Mark and family (they'd had an afternoon of serious retail therapy).  Mark and Nic were kind enough to put me up for the weekend even though they had relatives visiting, in fact Bethany (what a star!) had vacated her bedroom for me!

Saturday morning was fine giving us a dry start to get the medical base set up, bacon rolls and coffee later the hill troops were in position and training runs under-way, it wasn't long before the first of our customers started rolling in and kept us going steadily throughout the day.
Saturday's tally: 2 x #Clavicle, 1 x R Shoulder Dislocation, 1 x Elbow Laceration, 1 x C2 pain ?#.  The remainder were assorted bumps and scrapes generally requiring ice packs or cleaning and dressing.
Thankfully the hospital confirmed the ?C2# was severe bruising.
Sunday started with more training runs then a short break for the marshals before racing at 11:00.  By the end of the day's competition we had clocked up 1 x ?#Fibula, 1 x #Neck of Femur, 2 x Knee ligament injuries, 1 x Abdominal pains and the usual run of bruises, abrasions and lacerations.  All in all a successful weekend for the SDA.
Monday saw me back into Elgin to meet up with herself for lunch then back to sunny Burghead.  That evening was a meeting of the local heritage group, this was a 'one off' special, we were allowed access to a 'dig' being overseen by Dr Hunter from Edinburgh Museum.
The dig had uncovered the site of a number of round houses with their associated post holes, one of the round house markings had a rectangular overlay which was apparently the foundation marking of a Pictish dwelling.  Artefacts located within the dig consisted of slag which was evidence of a crude smelting operation, Roman coins, some gold items which were used as currency, small items of jewellery, a Norse belt buckle and some Medieval pottery.  The archaeology crew were delighted with the finds which at some point will be on display locally before becoming part of a larger exhibit in Edinburgh.

Tuesday, back to the Doc's and a reminder that life's a fragile thing.  Time for another implant injected into my belly!  Then a drive into Elgin to see my Parkinson's Consultant, keep exercising, keep taking the tablets and keep smiling (in any order you like)!!

Friday, drive to Edinburgh and blag a bed at Daughter No2's pad.  This was to avoid a very early start on Saturday to drive down the A9 to Lochore Meadows.  Staying at Louise's meant only a short run back across the bridge and up the road a few miles.  The Ranger Base at Lochore Meadows was the venue for a BASP first aid course and I had the job of doing a Peer Review of the Trainer (bungs accepted, (plain brown envelope preferred)).  Coffee in hand, notes taken, more coffee drunk, a verbal debrief over lunch then back up the A9 with, at that time, its many road works, traffic lights and queues.
Sunday, relax.
Monday and Tuesday, general admin, sorting clothes, packing stuff away etc.
Wednesday, wet, get Peer Review report done and e-mailed to BASP office.
Thursday, bus to FW to get equipment sorted and packed for Eastridge which is the venue for a Gravity Enduro.  A long drive down had us winding up at the venue in deepest Englandshire at midnight, therefore it was incumbent upon us to crack a bottle of red to celebrate a safe journey and drink to a successful weekend.
An enduro involves a fair bit of XC riding with a number of technical sections thrown in along the way.  Thankfully this type of event tends not to cause many serious injuries, but as with any off road stuff the potential is there.
Saturday night involved once more trying to rid the world of red wine while Paul consumed a large part of this year's import quota of Grolsh.

By the end of Sunday's riding we had seen a dozen or so patients with one being shipped off by ambulance with a potential spinal injury (cleared by x-ray and discharged).  One excellent thing about the weekend was that the food was provided by The Billy Can, well done Davy and Cheryl!