Spanish Championships: Day 3, Task 1

A 108km task today with goal in Oliana ( this was recalculated to 90km after all the very big turnpoint radius' were removed). The first section of the course involved an out and return to Vilanova at the end of the eastern ridge followed by another out to goal on the other side of the Col de Comiols no-mans-land - no roads, no landings...no chance of me risking flying over there with my knee as it is now :-(
The day was relatively windless at first and blue with no cloud formation. By the time window opened there were some small cumi's forming and disappearing with a definite drift from the north. The back ridge was scratchy at first but stronger well-formed climbs were blasting up from the front so it was pretty easy to reach the pre-start turnpoint just before Terradets gorge. Coming back to start was ridiculously easy with the whole valley infested with thermals. I flew for at least 20 seconds through a 6m/s climb while trying to get down to land at Camping - the descent took 45 minutes from when I decided to go to land until I actually hit dirt a long way from where I had intended ! Everytime I got low enough to think I'd soon land I was hoofed up again to near launch height. Àger in mid-afternoon in June does have it challenges, and they are not of the difficult to stay up variety.
I've withdrawn from the competitive side of things here - my knee was giving me pain while I was flying and thoughts of landing in a difficult place with a need to walk out were too distracting especially with the need to cross Terradets 3 times followed by Comiols. Its making me too tense while flying to fly well, I'm thinking of the 'what-ifs' instead of concentrating on and enjoying the flight.
Its a hard shitty decision and I'm not happy 'cos I was sure I could beat the doubts but the constant pain is making it impossible to ignore. My bubble of self-denial has burst and reality is starting to seep in. I am broken and I need some time to get myself mended :-(
Tomorrow is Sant Joan fiesta here - the biggest day of the year in Catalunya so it'll be extreme party time here in Àger and almost everywhere else :-)