Just making it up as I ride along.

 I awoke pretty early this morning, for some reason it's a regular occurrence these days, however I didn't get up immediately and lay contemplating should I go for a ride and if so where to. I feel sometimes I don't head out as it's just the same old, same old, and I get bored with the routes. I mean, I have been riding since around 2008 and pretty much know everywhere fairly local.

Anyhoo I finally convinced myself to just get up and go and make it up as I went depending on how tired or socket sore I got. I took my Specialized Turbo, figuring if I got a bit fed up from home, I could just take it easy and switch to Turbo mode.

It didn't take long to get sorted, once I had reattached my Cams and Tendons to  my BTK Crossover knee. I filled my Arctic ONE bottle with some fresh water from the fridge and transferred some gear from my backpack to my Camelbak "Fanny Pack". When possible I prefer to use the small fanny pack as it is light and easy to just turn around whilst still fastened to access stuff.

I got my bike out, switched it on and connected it to my phone, and then I was off in no particular direction.

"Ooh the farmer's trail, it's been a while since I have ridden up there", I thought, my bike didn't appear fussed which direction we were going, so we headed for the trail.

Up the resurfaced Farmer's Trail

Down the Farmer's Trail to pick up my camera

As I approached the farmer's trail, I could see that it had been resurfaced, not with tarmac, but with hardcore and gravel. It actually made the climb up a lot easier. I had my bike in Eco mode, and using about 15% assist. This means I still get a workout, it actually feels like I have both legs, so it wasn't long before I was halfway up the trail. I stopped halfway as I spotted two Alpacas in the field. I tried to coax them over, but they just gave me a funny look. I tried using my phone camera to take some pics, but as they were too far away the images were naff, way too blurry.

Lots of Bails in the fields

A little further up the Trail

I set off again and headed for No Place and then down to Beamish and the entrance to Beamish Museum. Here I took a couple of pics, before riding down the bank, past the Museums Farm and down towards Beamish Hall. Once near Beamish Hall, I turned to an off-road trail to my Right, which would take me into Beamish Woods. It is nice in this area, very pretty and quite quiet. I generally only come across the odd fellow cyclist or dog walkers.

At the entrance to Beamish Museum

Another stop for a few pictures on the way through the wood and at the pond, before setting off up the hill and the trail that would take me back onto the road that links up on the way to Sunnyside

Having a nightmare setting camera up

Clip In Damn You

Out the saddle

 

Arctic ONE Band

At the Pond

Me Bike

 

Again I used another trail after the road section I had been riding on and this took me towards Birkhead and eventually to Tanfield Railway. I then followed the railway line using the meandering trail to the side of the tracks.

Now at Sunnyside I stopped for a brief moment, trying to decide, should I head down the back of Watergate and visit Watergate Park, or cross over at Sunnyside and get on yet another farmer's trail which would lead me to Fell side Road, coming out at the Woodsman Arms. Decision made, another farmer's trail and Fell Side Road.

At the end of Fell side Road I turned Right and headed as it's going towards the Hobson, however turned off and tootled along going towards Tanfield Village. Once at Tanfield Village I rode up and through Sleepy Valley and at the cross roads, continued up into Tantobie. Some pretty good climbing there in that section. The only time I put my bike in Turbo mode was to get across the crossroads, as cars come pretty quick along there.

Once at Tantobie I took a little side road which led me down into Harperley. It's funny how things drop out of your head. I had been this way a few weeks back and as I rode through Harperley I then recalled where I had seen the caravan storage place. I knew I had seen one and was trying to describe it to one of my da friends, but just couldn't remember where I had seen it.

Harperley has changed so much, I have some fond memories of the park as a kid, hanging out with my friends.

Ooh another climb, up Harperley bank, again no cheating, my bike was left in Eco mode and I ground my way up the bank, coming out at The Ox Pub. I then rode towards Stanley and when I got to the Arch Traffic lights decided to venture down South Moor and just for fun and because I had a bit of energy go up the other side of South Moor and then Wilka's bank.

At the top of Wilka's I turned on to Wagtail Lane and had a nice little bimble along the road, towards Craghead. As I was riding, looking over at the fields, thoughts of Scotland pervaded my mind. They are never far away, these thoughts. I was imagining what it would be like to get to know a local area in Scotland and head out on adventures there. Then to return to my Scottish abode and relax in front of a log burning stove, and take in the picturesque view complete with a nearby loch. When it comes to Scotland I have such a vivid imagination, of what I would like to do, and how things would be.

I rode 18.5 miles today and considering I was in two mind whether to go out, I have to say I am pleased I did. On some occasions, I even switched the battery off on my bike, and this made me feel pretty good, knowing my fitness level is quite good. Even on the hills and banks, I didn't feel as if I was working all that hard, mind you I could hear my heart beat in my ears, so I must have been exerting myself somewhat.

A Socially Distanced Ride Out

        I have now been off work almost 6 months, initially feeling unwell at the start of February with yet another cold, leading to a chest infection and then Covid hit around March and I found myself being socially isolated in line with the government's guidelines for people assessed as being at a clinically higher risk.
 
During my time off I have not been sitting idle, far from it. In fact, my health and fitness regime, including my changed diet back in December of 2019 has continued and I now find myself on day 255 of cycling every day. The majority of this has been indoors upon my Turbo Trainer and road bike. 

Social distancing

A good few weeks back when the lockdown had eased somewhat I decided to head out on my bike and unfortunately over the course of 2 days, managed to snap 3 tendons which fit onto my Bartlett Tendon Knee. Rather than not use my knee I removed the cams and just decided to keep active cycling indoors. As well as cycling I have been also doing some core work and as much as I can with the pair of 15kg dumbbells I have. I am kind of limited for space in my bedroom for any more gear. Anyhoo it has kept me ticking over and I quite look forward to building up a sweat.

I bought a Fitbit a good few weeks ago and I think this has also helped maintain my enthusiasm as I can view various things upon the app and it gives me something to work towards.

Ooh and with being off I have also found more time to read. I have finished a number of books including the Unabombers Manifesto, and interesting read, but for a super-intelligent guy I just did not get his point or methodology.

I also have just finished a fantastic collective book of works by Neville Goddard. After reading Neville's work I am now trying to use his teachings to manifest amazing stuff into my life.

At the moment I am a couple of chapters into Alexandre Dumas and the Count of Monte Cristo. Wow this book so far is enthralling. I was even recounting the story to John as we went out for a ride, so a bit like Jackanory but on bikes. Not entirely sure how much attention John was taking as at one point he asked was I talking about Romans LoL

Anyhoo to today's adventure. Out the blue last night, my mate John messaged me asking how I was doing. John went on to say he had this week off and was I ok and up for a ride out. "Yeah sure" I replied as it has been ages since I have seen John and now as far as I am aware it is safe to venture out as long as you social distance. I mean I think this is correct, but who knows as the government just doesn't seem to be able to make it's mind up and is already preparing for the next wave.

Sorry, this is all over the place...Going back to the BTK Crossover I feel very fortunate to have received brand new cams and tendons from Brian Bartlett to try and remedy my snapped tendons. I am currently using what is classed as a G2 knee and there is a newer G3 knee now out. As I am no longer sponsored or supported, and prosthetic provision is very, very expensive I just feel really lucky to be able to use my current knee and get out and about. So at the moment, I have a sort of "Hybrid" Knee a mixture of old and new components.

BTK G2 Chassis and G3 Cams and Tendons appear to work

Today was the first time fitting the new components and initially, I didn't think they were going to work. I soon discovered they would, it was just that I was still half asleep this morning when fitting them and had forgotten to place the retaining "grenade" like pins in place into each of the cams. It's been so long since I used the knee for mountain biking it just completely slipped my mind. Anyhoo early morning panic over the knee once set up was spot on. I don't usually use the flexion wedge, however, Brian recommended popping it in as the G3 tendons are slightly longer when used with the G2 chassis and the wedge prevents a sharp tug on the tendons when going through flexion to extension.

Gear all packed just about John arrived down at my house at around 10:30 AM and we set off. Our plan was to venture up to Waskerley and have a little spot of bait at Smiddy Shore reservoir, before riding back.

As we rode from my house heading over to South Moor and heading up the "Black Path" John was in front. Now I am pretty much blind as a bat these days. I had popped my Oakley shades on as I knew there would be lots of flys about, and they knack when you get them hitting you in the eyes.  Anyhoo I don't know how I spotted it, but there on the very side of the narrow overgrown pavement was what I thought was a very small hedgehog. I immediately stopped as I had almost ran the poor little thing over and got off my bike shouting for John to wait as I did so. John came back just as I was taking my backpack off and going in my pack I recovered my gloves which I had packed just in case. I popped my gloves on and picked up this wee little, what looked like a baby hedgehog.

Aww poor wee Hog

Wee Hog started to come to life

Now I don't know much about hedgehogs, what time of year they should be out, how big they should be etc etc, but this little guy looked very small. I knew my friends Michelle and Lee quite often got them in their secluded garden so I rang Michelle to ask her advice. After speaking to Michelle, all the while holding this little hog, who was all balled up I waited for Michelle to text me the number for the Hedgehog Hotel over at Dipton. Apparently, it's a place that looks after hedgehogs and gets them ready to go back into the wild.


And so I rang the Hedgehog place, unfortunately, there was no reply, both John and I were unsure what to do at this point. I then rang my son Kyle to see if he could come over with a shoebox and pick up the little fella, thinking  I could maybe contact the hedgehog people later when I got back from my ride. Just then the little hedgehog started moving a lot more in my hand, opening his/her eyes and seeming a lot more energetic, compared to when I originally picked him/her off the pavement. Maybe it was the warmth of my hands as I held it. 

How cute is this little Hedgehog?

After a quick discussion with John, we decided maybe the little fella would be ok in the thicker undergrowth at the side of the pavement, which led into a safer wooded area. So I stepped over what used to be a fence and placed the little guy way back from the path. As I stepped back onto the pavement and as we listened carefully we could juts say here the little hog making its way through the brush.
 
Now I don't know about you, but for me no matter how old I get coming across a wild animal is so exciting, especially having the opportunity to actually hold it and look at the details of how beautiful and in this case how so very cute it was.
 
After that small encounter, we carried on our ride with me every now and again saying to John "Eeee I hope that little Hedgehog is ok". By the time we got to Smiddy Shore John said "are you still thinking of that hedgehog, you are aren't you"

 

Smiddy Shore

Maintaining Social Distancing

Maintaining Social Distancing

It was canny windy up at Smiddy Shore so we took shelter around the side of an old building while we ate the bits and bobs of stuff we had brought. A few pic later and it was time to head back, the return journey being a much easier ride.

John with his new Marin mtb

Man even though I have been riding some 255 days I can tell there is a huge difference between being "cammed" up and using tendons, compared to just riding without them on the turbo. Proper enjoyed the ride out even if I was knackered and it was great to catch up with John.

Me

I took my Specialized Turbo Levo today. I have been messing around with the Mission Control App and tuning the engine. I was quite surprised when I got back and checked my stats. Covering just under 30 miles I only used 12% battery, which I think is rather good. I rode the whole way there and back with only 10% assist on Eco mode. I reckon this just about covers the energy loss from being an above knee amputee, as whilst the bike does offer some assistance, it is by no means doing all of the work.

Clarty or what?

Hey it's me I am still around.


So what has been happening? well not a lot really, though that depends on how you look at things I guess. Let's just say I haven't written much on here as there hasn't been anything all that exciting going on.

A canny bit of clarts about today like

I have started a new health kick, after feeling decidedly unfit and a little podgy around the middle. Today is actually Day 47 on me continuously riding. By that, what I mean is I have been going on my De Rosa Road bike each day which is hooked up to my turbo trainer. I have not been following any set plan, or specific challenge, nope just been riding for me, doing between 20 to 70 minutes at a go and ranging my cadence, mileage and time upon the bike.

Today, Day 47 was actually a bit of a change as I decided to head out on my Specialised Turbo Levo. Yeah, go on say it "Oh that's cheating, coz it's an electric bike". And my retort "Go get your leg lopped off then come back and tell me how easy it is to ride every day". Plus I am getting on you know.

As soon as I went to set off on the bike today I noticed the huge difference in the new G3 Tendons I had got from Brian Bartlett. The new tendons are a tad longer, however heavier and you can really tell this at the top of the flexion upon the knee. After a few pedal strokes just down the front lane, I had to stop and release some of the air out of the Rockshox shocker. If I hadn't I would have been beasting myself the whole way around as the more pressure in the shock the more work you have to do in order to bend the knee.

Anyhoo getting back to this health kick. I watched a documentary the other day and it blew me away so much so that I have decided to try and eat healthier and in fact practice eating a plant-based diet. Oh the documentary for anyone interested was on Netflix and it is called The Game Changers, it is well worth a watch, even if you don't want to change your diet ... What do they say "Knowledge is power". I am a big believer in that you cannot criticise something until you have actually experienced it.

Ern has been a complete star too, as he has gone out and done some shopping especially for me, buying lots of vegan ingredients and some ready-made meals, plus he also got me some special treats for afters, including some cookies, trail mix crackers and my particular favourite some Belgian Chocolate.

As I started my indoor riding and exercise regime 47 days ago I have pretty much-eaten salad every day in some form or another, this at the time had chicken or bacon with pasta. I have only been on the veggie stuff properly for 2 days. Yesterday I experimented with vegan fish fingers and 5 beans which were actually really tasty. Oh, and I have swapped over to Soya milk, this kind of takes some getting used to as it tastes weird in a cup of tea, but not so bad in my porridge Lol.

Very clarty

No cameraman to help me

I have to say today's ride was such an enjoyable one I think I only saw 4 people all day whilst on the trail. As I rode around Chapman's Well deciding to complete the Bath Tub Loop 6 times which is roughly 1.9 miles each loop, the sun was starting to go down and as I rode back up the hill towards the farmer's house the sky and surrounding landscape just looked so beautiful. Mind you by the time I had decided to venture home I was absolutely filthy, the trails are just so clarty.

The glow of the sun as it went down was soooo pretty

Bike was a bit caked like

I am almost sure I was on Eco mode the whole way around

Duck seemed to enjoy his ride out too

I should also mention I have been completing a scripting journal. Now, this is not like an everyday journal or like some sort of a diary. No, it is more like writing a screenplay for your future. You create your journal with intentions. It’s like a magical manifesto that supports your wishes. It is intended to help your ideas and desires to come to fruition. You practice writing, reading and manifesting the life of your dreams. It helps to assert positivity into your life and take responsibility for your life and your actions, your emotionality, your wellbeing and your stories. I think it is helping me to reflect and maintain a much more positive attitude. The most powerful words in the world are "I AM".

New Tendons

Bit mucky

Getting old

Ok I AM off to try some asparagus along with some vegan cottage pie.

Been for a Buzz on my Buzzraw

Such a nice day and I was bored so decided to go for a buzz locally on my fat tired, retro styled and pretty darn Funky Buzzraw.

Crusing on my Buzzraw

I have a bank in each direction from where I live, so no matter which way I go it's a solid climb. Of course there are no worries when on my trusty Buzzraw. I can cruise up the various hills and banks no worries, with the power assisted bike. Of course I still have to pedal. 

Up at the fishing pond at Greencroft

No tendons on the BTK today and the knee was set-up for easy operation, so not much air in the can. I find it difficult to stand out the saddle and ride the Buzzraw, probably because the bike is a wee bit small for my frame. That said I always have a blast when out on her and tend to either get some weird stares or cool comments.

Sweet little ride

Love this little bike

 I haven't been out on my various bikes in a while so fitness wise I could be compared to a couch potato, in fact in reality I have been a bit of a couch tatty, just lounging about eating crap and surfing all the various box sets on Netflix.

Speaking of which I have just watched Manhunt:Unabomber. I really enjoyed the show and I am contemplating getting a copy of Ted Kacynski's Book, Industrial Society and Its Future (dubbed the Unabomber Manifesto by the FBI). 

I just found his philospy interesting. And although his means of getting his message across were bang out of order, no pun intended, his philosphy could be considered very true. I got a sense of the movie Terminator, like how when the machines that we rely on so much suddenly became self aware. It is scary to think, just how much we all rely on technology and how the very things that have been designed to make our lives less complicated, and give us more freedom are in reality quite sinister, our every move monitored, as we are coerced to fit into society. WoW deep huh?

Even had my shades on today

4" Tire on 20" rims

Short and sweet...

Urban Cow Spotting

For years and years, going back as far as ooh 1995 - 96,  when I was unwell and a patient over at the Freeman, to the present, I always thought that the cows in the field over on the Town Moor, were a rather unusual sight.

Urban Cows

I mean usually, you see cows either on a farm or in a wide-open expanse, in the country. Not that the Town Moor is a small area, no it's the whole backdrop of where the cows are really. 

When your socket fits, you can just crack on...

       After yesterdays swim, today seemed like a good excuse to take one of my bikes out and try out my brand new Pace Rehabilitaion socket alongside my BTK Crossover. You have probably heard me say this before. I am very fortunate to be supported by Pace. It's as simple as my Blog title "When your socket fits, you can just crack on". It makes a huge difference to every aspect of your day. There is nothing worse than being sore and uncomfortable all day, to the point you just cannot wait to get your limb off. Or worse still you are unable to wear a limb at all. It not only affects you physically but also mentally. So being provided with something that helps me get the job done, whether in work or play, makes me feel as I say very fortunate and appreciative.

Always hard to capture myself riding...dam it cut me heed off LoL

A Wintery Day playing in the Woods

Oooh as I looked out my bedroom window this morning it was snowing and there was a canny blanket of the white stuff lying all about. Plan of action, take the Fat Bike out. I firstly had to sort my socket situation. You see I had been down to Pace Rehab's Bredbury clinic in Manchester yesterday. Paul my prosthetist had had a bit tinker with my check socket and fettled it ready to make a final version. This meant I had to leave my socket, so that a copy could be made. That meant this morning I had to revert to plan B



 
I just used my everday socket and swapped out my Rheo XC for my BTK. "Ahh" slight problem. When Paul had been looking at my Bartlett Tendon he must have taken the pyramid adaptor off the top of the knee. Ern to the rescue he remembered there was one on top of my Running blade. Ok sorted.

All ready to go I had put my Shimano Gortex boots on as last time I was out my 5 little piggies were cold. As I went in to retrieve my Silverback Fat Bike I noticed both tyres were soft. Oh dear... I had to come back in the house and grab a valve adaptor so that I could use our compressor in the shed, to blow up both tyres. Then I was off. Man this Fat Biking is canny hard, especially when I have been used to using my electric bike. That said I wasn't complaining as I was out and having a blast in the snow.

I headed up towards the wind turbines and Wagtail Lane, it was proper Baltic up there and the roads as they are not used a great deal were quite deep with snow. After riding about 1.5 miles I felt something just wasn't right with my front end. Upon looking down I saw my tyre quickly deflating. Now I know you don't need quite as much air in your fat tyres but, bloody hell my tyre was flat.

Time to call intERNational rescue. "Hello Ern you know when you said my tyres just looked soft, well they may be soft on the top, but the front one is most definitely flat at the bottom" Ern was out walking wor Baxter, who apparently did not want to come to my aid, as he was having such a good time playing in the snow. I decided to push my bike along the lane to the top of Wilka's bank and met Ern there. We popped my bike in the back of his car, took it home, carried out a quick puncture repair and then Ern dropped me off over at the bus turning circle at Quakies, so that I could go have an adventure in the nearby woods. By this time I was bloody freezing, as I had had a waterproof jacket on and obviously had been sweating. I had taken this off and just popped my Endura hoody jacket on and once I started riding soon warmed up.

It's was a weird day weather wise as one minute the sun was shining from above, then by the time I got around to the next bit of the wood it was full on snowing. This kind of plays havoc when I am using my GoPro as it can appear that a single video was not exactly shot on the same day. It's all the darkness and light.

Out on my Silverback Synergy Fat so much fun

Proper enjoyed playing around in the woods, they appear so different when the well used paths and trails are hidden. It's like discovering a whole new place. I actually lost one of the trails in the second part of the wood and soon discovered I couldn't ride my bike, as there were just so many fallen trees. They must have come down when we had that bad wind a little while ago. Not only that I ended up surrounded by bramble bushes. These were a nightmare as they kept tangling around my prosthetic foot. Good job there was no one around at this point as I was swearing my heed off.

Getting this year off to a good start

Dead excited we got a bit snow to play around in

Finally I managed to head out onto  the proper trail and as I looked over from where I came I thought to myself, where the hell did I go wrong there. Never mind I knew my way home from here. It was easiest to head through South Moor Park and this is the route I took. Man it looked so pretty with all the snow both on the ground and in the trees, snowflakes gently falling. It may sound weird but it's at times like these I just love being outdoors, taking everything in and thinking how fortunate I am.

Avoiding the Mole Hills

Early on in the week Sunday to be exact, as Sunday is kind of my Monday due to my work pattern. I decided I fancied using up a day of my annual leave, so took today, Wednesday off. I had been thinking as my new tendons had arrived for my BTK Crossover I may as well get out and go for a blast.

 

Minor setbacks and a change in Mindset...

Hey I may get a little deep here so bare with me...

"Dude Where is my Bike"

Now normally I would be writing this and well pissed off, with a kind of "why does this shit always keep happening to me". If it's not my health stopping me from doing something, both work and play, it is something breaking, or getting lost and I am on ages trying to find it. Anyhoo let me explain what has occured on todays little adventure and also go on to how I dealt with it.

Christmas Day Bimble...depleting my battery

Normally today is a work day and as such my alarm went off at 06:45am. I awoke and had the inital thought to just roll over and hide under my warm quilt. My little internal voice then kicked in, prodding me into action.

Over at the coast, pleased I had my Arctic One Buff

I had to put my prosthetic leg on wonky, as I knew if I popped it on aligned for walking, once I got out on the bike I would be in agony, as the socket tends to rub on my hip. I pre-empted the rub and placed a couple of Mepilex Borders on my hip. I knew exactly where to place them as my last ride out, last Saturday my socket had rubbed a few wear marks in my skin.
 
I sorted my riding gear and my old Faithful Canon Power Shot SX200, my thinking, well lately all my photo's have been shocking. At least with the small Canon I have a lot more control. To be fair todays ride was more about seeing what the battery was like on my new Specialized Turbo Levo, rather than heading out and taking shots.

Early in the morning near the River Wear and the New Bridge at Sunderland

I had to take it easy going down our stairs as due to rotating my socket, my foot was now very Charlie Chaplain'esque. Once in the kitchen I removed my Rheo XC and popped my BTK Crosover in it's place. A few more bits and bobs out of the cupboard, my helmet, new Seal Skin Gloves and of course helmet. I decided to take my small Camelbak "Fanny Pack". I had bought it earlier in the year and as yet had never used it. Have to say very impressed with it's stowage capabilities and it is very comfortable to wear. Not only that it is great for getting to things quickly as you do not have to take it off. Money well spent.

Cracking bit of kit

I gathered my bike, popped a single ear bud in my ear and selected play on my Mp3 player. There's quite a few varied tunes on there and quite often I sing along to them as I ride. Thank god I had had the hindsight to bring my Arctic ONE Buff as Jeez it was freezing out, quite literally. There was a covering of white frost on both of my cars as I went out into our yard. Yeah I definitely should have put my leg warmer on as I have to say I was cold all day.
 
My little Leyzne Zecto Drive Lights are another purchase I have not regretted and I switched these on to both guide the way and help me to be seen. I headed up the farmers trail, as this is probably the easiest way for me to get on to the C2C. I had it in my head to go down to Sunderland and the coast and then loop back around via South Shields, up to Whitemare Pool roundabout, then cut up by Springwell and Wreckington, before branching off for Birtley and back on to the C2C and home and this is what I did.

The ride down was a nice and steady one, my bike being in "eco mode". In fact I kept my bike on this setting for almost the whole loop.

Proper muddy over by the cliff edge, lovely the sun shining off the water

I was really enjoying the ride. I was still getting a work out, however the motor was assisting me where I needed it. Well that was until about 5 to 7 or so miles from home. My fuel/battery light had dropped to 2 bars. So at this point I stopped and went into my Mission Control app and found the Smart Control. I then judged how far I had to go and set it in the app. Man the last  5 to 6 miles on the way up from Birtley on the C2C were proper hard. I think I only had something like 10% assistance and this gradually dropped and dropped. My fitness is not on top form at the moment either. Months off the bikes and a nasty chest infection a month or so ago so I was proper struggling with my own natural engine. I had to dig deep, drop to a low gear and slowly move all 21.5 kgs of bike up the gradual incline. As I got to Beamish and Beamish Hills there was no battery left at all, so I had no other option but to get off and push for a little while. Once in No Place I was able to hit the off road trail which leads back on to the farmers trail and gradually came to the top of the hill and a nice rally down the trail.

All in all done 45.7 miles according to Strava with 1,935ft of climbing. I am seriously considering looking at getting a bigger 700 watt battery as apparently it will give me an extra 40% range.