"My competitive return to the bike following my shoulder injury was on the 24th May in Rostrevor, Co. Down. The track was very tough and physical so I found it hard to get up to race speed. I finished in 16th position after my first run and had a crash in my 2nd run. I was disappointed with that placing but it was to be expected given the rough course and my lack of fitness and race conditioning.
The 2nd race I did was on the 21st of June in Cahir, Co. Tipperary. My shoulder had greatly improved since the Rostrevor outing and the track suited me better with lots of technical corners and barely any pedaling required. I finished 3rd after my first run and was on course for the win in my second run before blowing the damping and cracking a leg in my front suspension forks near the top of the track. I kept riding as I was having a great run until I hit a tree at full speed with my bad shoulder approx 50m before the finish line. My second run time was only 0.023 seconds slower than my first run and only 2.8 seconds off the win, even though I had a big crash and lost damping in my forks. I was annoyed at first, especially since my shoulder was in agony, but that time proved I have the speed to win which is good.

I'm going to train hard now in preparation for the National Championships in Wicklow on the 19th of July as I feel that I'm in with a realistic shot of winning the title. After that, I will be aiming for podium finishes in rounds 6, 7 & 8 of the National Points Series in Laois (9th of August), Rostrevor (27th of September) and Whitehorse (4th of October)."
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