Ornans

Well, Ornans is not my friend. The little village close to Besancon in France is a beautiful area. Really nice for outdoor activities. This village is hosting a MTB Marathon race every year.
In the year 2008 I took part in the race for the first time. Already then Ornans was not nice to me.
We had booked a hotel room in the village center. I think it is the only hotel there. The food there was just amazing. That I can remember very well and I do also remember how I injured my neck on the first training ride on the course. I could hardly carry my head straight and we decided to drive back home to get treatment. On the race day we started 5 o’clock in the morning from Freiburg to be on time for the start at 9. I started in the race even if I hardly could turn my head from the left to the right, as I was leading the world cup at that time and wanted to try to defend my lead. I lost a pedal 8km into the race, came back from last position to third position. Then my chain got stuck between the spokes and the cassette, I crashed some moments later, it took me ages to get the chain out. Next, I almost gut strangled by my helmet, which was caught by a branch of a bush, I had to stop to get it out. I was happy to finish the race and I managed to win the overall World Cup. It was worth to suffer and my neck was still very sore.
The next year my neck injury got worse. A diagnosis told me I had a disc prolaps. Well, 3 months rehab during the season (May-June) and I could hold the handlebar again without having any pain. Fine.
I wanted to participate in Ornans again in 2009, but my iliac artery injury stopped me. I just could not handle the fact that my engine was strong, but my right leg would not spin around. We cancelled the hotel reservation. Think we were put on the black list of the hotel by then. Leaving after only one night in 2008 and in 2009 not even showing up. I learned to ride with the leg injury in 2010 and had a surgery after the season.
In 2011 I was trying to qualify for the Olympics in road racing in autumns after the MTB season, so no Ornans for me. I had a superb fall with some really good result on the road and some time trials.
Now it is 2012. Is Ornans nice to me? Will I finally make it to the start line hassle and injury free? No, not at all. In finnish we say “kolmas kerta toden sanoo- the third time tells you the truth”. I was sick for 2 weeks, got back into training 1,5 weeks ago. Yesterday I got a sore throat again. We are supposed to leave to Ornans tomorrow and I just feel s****. At the moment I can just hate Ornans.