Merida 24 Hour: A Race to Forget

Coming into the Hidden Vale Merida 24 Hour I had just completed an 8-week base phase of training which was both productive and enjoyable. My first week of polarized build training was impacted by a cold which led into tapering for the race, and I was carrying two small injuries to my adductor and toe from the 50 km OXFAM Hike last year.
Despite this, I was feeling great on race day both physically & mentally. The evening before I did a reccy where I took a wrong turn, so there was still some of the course I was riding blind for the first time. I figured I would learn it after 24 hours. I started well with the same tactic as my previous 24 hours: jump on Jason English's wheel for the start and the first fire frail, and hold position for all the single trail on the first lap. I had a spill on the first lap while trying to find a good foot position for my toe but otherwise, the first 3 laps went well with sub 1-hour pace.
It was halfway through lap 4 on the side of a fire trail where I was found by another rider. My last memory before this is around 10 minutes before, although the laps begin to merge together. The theory is that I was feeding on the fine trail with one hand, when I hit a rut and came off, launching the banana down the trail. I took the full impact on my face and head, knocking me out and giving me total amnesia and memory loss for a few hours. Race marshals arrived within minutes, and over an hour later paramedics arrived, and another hour later I arrived at the hospital for scans and an overnight stay.

It has been a very slow recovery for 2 weeks, and now I’m returning to work and almost back to full training capacity. The trails and vibe on the day were great, and I can’t wait to race next year. Thanks to the marshals, riders, paramedics, doctors, and of course my stressed-out family on the day for helping make the incident and treatment run smoothly. No more bananas for me!