‘The biking community is so strong’
Welsh rugby star, George North, talks about how the bike community helped him cope with a serious injury
For the past two or three years people had been saying that I should have retired, and that I wasn’t playing my best rugby – but recently I’d found my groove again. I was scoring tries, running good lines, defending well and really enjoying my game. Then the Lions tour came along, the pinnacle for any player in the UK, and that was my complete focus for two years. I came out of the Six Nations having played really well, then during a game I went to side-step and my knee collapsed. In that hundredth of a second it felt like the end of the world. I knew the Lions dream was over. It was so violent that it sounded like my femur had snapped. I overcompensated with so much positivity that I convinced myself
I’d be fine. But the scan confirmed that my ACL had ruptured – and I just broke down in tears. Two years of hard-fought battle had evaporated in one simple side-step.
So I had a few beverages, ate some BBQ with mates, then got up the next morning and went to London to see the surgeon and put all my focus into recovering.
And to cap it all, I couldn’t ride my Scrambler for the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, which I do every year and had been asked to be a global ambassador for. But in biking, there’s always someone to help you and pick you up again. Ben Matthews at Watsonian Squire came to my rescue with a Royal Enfield outfit. He was brilliant and rode the outfit while I went in the chair. When we got to Usk where we were turning round I couldn’t get out the chair, so I just stayed in it and talked to everyone from there! The motorcycling community is so strong. When you need someone and reach out, there’s always someone who comes to your rescue and gives you the support you need. That epitomises why I love riding bikes and being part of the community. You really are never alone on a bike.