Keilder with a few of the lads

My friend Al got in touch a few weeks back to see if I was up for an overnighter up at Kielder with a few of the lads. At the time I wasn't sure,explaining I had had a bit of a long lay off, not doing much of anything at all, due to not being very well and that I wasn't sure I would be able to make it around the marathon length route of the reservoir. Never mind as it turned out I had been feeling much better up to the planned date and had even managed to get a few short but pleasant rides in towards the lead up to Kielder. So whilst not being exactly on top form and having to wear sockets that aren't quite fitting I made the decision "what the hell I may as well head out and try my best and have a bit fun with the boys".

Kielder with the Lads

Local loop wearing Swanky jersey's

As soon as my friend John discovered I had gotten him a Bike Swanky Jersey upon my trip down to Manchester after meeting up with Andy and Paul of Bike Swanky he wanted to try it on and head out for a ride.

Out on the Bike Swanky sponsored ride, my PYGA One Ten 29'er

Bike-Expo at EventCity Manchester

I was very fortunate to be invited along as a guest and ambassador on behalf of Bike Swanky to the Bike-Expo which took place at Eventcity in Manchester. Andy from Bike Swanky had contacted me a good few weeks a go to see if I would be interested in attending, however at the time I wasn't sure if I could make it as I hadn't been feeling very well, having some sort of a freaky virus. I found it hard to get out of bed never mind drive down to Manchester and then try to make myself useful. Anyhoo as luck would have it upon Andy's second phone call I was feeling a lot brighter and really wanted to join the lads to offer my support in return for all of their support and sponsorship upon my Pyga and getting me sorted with a couple of demo bikes, one of which was the De- Rosa I did my first Triathlon on last year and the other was for a Mountain Bike Rider Magazine feature that I also did last year.

Checkout all those rides on the Bike swanky stand

It's been a while!

Over the last few months I haven't been around, well in the sense of writing my Blog, as you can see it was ages since my last writing and photo session. The reason being I have been feeling really poorly with some unknown decidedly nasty virus. It had wiped me out totally, physically and didn't do much for the mental side of me either in that it caused no end of stress. You see I have been through my share of pretty severe health issues, so whenever something happens to me now I automatically go into deep analysis mode and a virus, admittedly a horrendous one, in my mind becomes so much more. No doubt people will judge and think I over react, but hey to really do that you have to understand what a person has experienced throughout their life.

I was gutted to have to take 6 weeks off work and also the effect it has had on my physical fitness with not being able to ride, run or swim has been alarming. On my return to work I even struggled to walk up two flights of stairs without being out of breath. The first week back to work I ached so much, you would think I had been working out with heavy weights in the gym. One of the biggest downers for me has been that I have discovered none of my current limbs now fit. It's hard to explain to an able bodied person the depths of you're depression when you are actively maintaining you're shape through physical activity and diet and then "Bang" something comes along and totally screws up you're routine. I can't explain what it feels like to have to wear an ill fitting limb everyday, other than to say it sucks big style. This is no real comparison but try to imagine having to wear a pair of shoes that simply don't fit. Lets say they are 2 or 3 sizes too small.You have to go to work so you can't take them off even though they are blistering your feet and you're toes are curled up and constricted. Well this is similar but by no means exactly the same as finding out you're limb no longer fits. It's no ones fault, but it sure is frustrating.

Now to the positive side of things. I can workout and get back to doing the things I enjoy and hopefully get back to my regular shape. If not it's not the end of the world, new sockets can be made and it's certainly not a reason to throw in the towel and just quit. Don't get me wrong I'm like many other people out there the thought crosses my mind, but I've come to far and put in too much hard work to just quit. I'm sure I've heard a saying "it's not how many times you get knocked down, it's the getting back up".

This afternoon was a very enjoyable "getting back up" kind of an afternoon. Yeah it was really tough, it hurt and I was proper dismayed to see my energy levels. In my minds eye I resembled a sloth. However the main goal I achieved, just to get back out with my friend John and not concentrate on the distance but on being outdoors having some fun in very pleasant company.

Tomorrow  John and I might even go for a dip up at the local swimming pool.

Here's a few pics from today...

Out on the Pyga

The two trusty steeds

Quite a few large puddles about

Used the GoPro and the phone app