The 3 Amigos Fight the Wind

 What a most excellent morning I had this morning. I mean not only did everything go to plan, I was able to find my bike kit, my bike turned on and connected to my phone immediately, my new Oakley Sunglasses with Trail Prism Lenses are awesome and I can actually see, and to top it off meeting up with my two compadres Lee and John who I have not been out for a ride with as the 3 Amigos in like what seems forever.

The 3 Amigos

From meeting up with the lads we were soon into  fantastic banter and reminiscing about the good ol'e days and some of the funny adventures we had previously been on, on our bikes. I really do hope this year we can make it another year to make some new memories and get out more together, as that is what life is all about.

Even though the weather man, or woman had said it was going to be windier than yesterday, and I think they were right, it didn't take away from how much we all enjoyed meeting up and spending time in one another's company.

  

Love my Orbea Gain

Bike isn't great in the slippy bits Whoooaaa!

Riding in the sheltered areas wasn't so bad, like going through South Moor Park, and parts of Chapman Wells. However going across from Maiden Law to towards Burnhope and then going down the old Peth bank was canny windy, so much so that I was only doing 9mph and having to pedal down the Peth. Normally I can do 30 to 40 mph down there no worries, and boy riding up the Lanchester Valley into a head wind was tough.

Not often Lee is behind me

Lee

As usual John and I were trailing behind Lee. Lee is like the Energiser Bunny and just keeps going and going and going LoL.

From the get go John had been informing us of his desire for a Cornish Pastie, not just any old pastie mind you, Oh No, according to John these are the best Cornish pasties in the world. As we got nearer to Knitsley and the farm shop, his hankering had not diminished and I actually think he sped up somewhat.

  

John and Me

Love been out with the lads

John came out of the Farm shop and didn't appear to dismayed that he had not been able to obtain the best Cornish pastie in the world (allegedly I don't want anyone suing me) instead he had gotten a corn beef pastie, it must have been good as he almost took his fingers off with the first bite Lol

 

Could this be the best pastie in the World ?

Off we set once more facing the wind towards Consett, John now packing "Pastie Power", we eventually come up past the old red Wagon on the cycle track near Hownsgill and we headed back towards Stanley. The ride home became easy as we now had the wind at our backs and it really did push us along.

A liittle bit of single track after crossing the main road at Greencroft and we came out at Dodd Terrace and then it was easy to get back on the C2C at Anfield Plain.

As we got to John's house he popped in to go and get his wee dog to show Lee. John's dog is a cute little fella, proper friendly. John, says he is called Bruno, but I call him Frank, I think he looks more like a Frank. I like to wind John up, however he knows what I am like and always takes it in good fun.

19.1 miles done. It was a fairly hard ride, due to the wind, but well worth it for the craic and hanging with good m8's.

  

Frankie... Err I mean Bruno

Frank n John

Ooh and the day hasn't ended just yet., more excitement with a little added nervousness, as the short film I was featured in is being privately screened at Newcastle tonight. 

 

I didn't choose the title `LoL

I have invited friend and family and hope it goes down well and they all think the film is something special. The film is still doing well having received 6 awards at various film festivals.

Well I had better head off and try and make myself look pretty Bye for now.

3 Awards From The IndieFest Film Awards

Following my ride out this morning I retuned to some fantastic news from my good friend Dragos who shot the short documentary telling my story. Dragos informed me that the film had been awarded 3 awards of excellence. This is awesome and hopefully just the start of more awards.

From my point of view I don't consider myself to be a Hero, that is the title of the film, which was created and presented to me way before filming even began. The concept and ideas, the creation to the final result all goes down to the dedicated hard work of the team of people who put so much time and effort into capturing part of someones life and retelling their story, trying to encapsulate the highs and lows and hopefully inspiring an audience.

I feel so grateful to have been invited to recount my story and as an added bonus met some amazing people. A huge thank you to everyone involved and also to Indie Fest for the recognition.

Meet The Local Hero - Glenn Johnstone has just been honoured with not one, not two, but THREE prestigious awards from The IndieFEST 

Film Awards

Award of Excellence Special Mention - Documentary Short

Award of Excellence: Disability Issues

Award of Excellence: Editing

We are over the moon with gratitude and excitement! 

 Huge thanks to The Indie Festfor recognizing our film in these categories.  It's a testament to the incredible efforts of our dedicated team.

To everyone who supported us on this journey, THANK YOU!  Your encouragement and enthusiasm mean the world to us. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to share the inspiring story of Glenn Johnstone, our Local Hero.

A Teaser for " Meet The Local Hero" A Dragos Teglas Film

Hello and Best wishes for the New Year, its my first post of 2024.

Already a mixed bag of really exciting Highs "Yay" and really stressful and frustrating lows "Boo"! 

My blog as anyone who likes to follow it or comes across the various things I post, will know it is about keeping it real. I don't live in a Social Media world of fake news and endless rays of sunshine where my life is super hunky dory every single day. Nope I am just an ordinary bloke, who like a great deal of other people is trying to make the most of this thing we call life, find fun, love and happiness and try to put all the other crap to one side.

You may ask well what is going on ? Well I will start with the Low as I would like to end on a positive. I mean who wants to listen to someone whine on right?

Basically it's the same old same old and for those amputees out there you will totally get this " Socket Fit". I was off work 4 1/2 months at the start of 2023 as my socket was killing me. I was bottoming out and basically mobilising weight bearing on my cut femur. I attended the Disability Service Centre and after a number of visits a socket was produced and "Aww Crap" it didn't fit. I then just informed the DSC and my prosthetist to put my old socket back on to my knee and went back to work. Well it's been over a year, walking around with an ill fitting socket. I have tried all sorts, of temporary fixes, extra stump socks, two, even 3 seals and it hasn't really solved the problem. Tomorrow I am back to the DSC I have been seeing a new prosthetist and hopefully I will be getting a "Boa adjustable socket" and it will fit and I can go on my happy way. I am trying to keep an open and positive mind, as man this ill fitting socket has really knocked my confidence in my mobility and has me in a right moody frame of mind. It doesn't help that my cycling socket is an exact replica of my current everyday socket, so although I am still cycling everyday, mainly on my indoor Turbo Trainer, I am constantly having to stop and adjust my socket.

And that is all I have to really complain about.

Okay, positives, well last year I was invited to take part in a short documentary film. It has now all been put together and is just about due for release. Dragos the film maker and now very close friend keeps me updated and he was very pleased to announce that the film has been nominated so far for 5 film festivals. This is great news and so exciting.

 

I am no longer on Facebook, however I know "This is Insomnia" the production company has a Facebook page.

Checkout: https://www.facebook.com/meethelocalhero/

There is also a video teaser here at Vimeo : https://vimeo.com/901888387

I really would like to see the film do well, not because I consider myself a local hero as the title suggests, no its because Dragos and everyone involved in the making of the film have put so much hard work into its production. Dragos wanted a specific message to be taken from the film and I think he has captured that. The fact that as I have said I am just an ordinary lad, I was never going to be a world champ BMX'er or Downhill racer, no I just wanted to get back to doing something I had a passion for from being a young kid and that was riding on 2 wheels, making my own adventures and seeing where the trail took me. I am not a competitive person, the majority of challenges I have faced in my life have been personal ones, and these have all shaped me into the person I am today, hopefully with a positive message to do what makes you happy and try to overcome your own personal battles.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in the making of this film and I look forward to peoples take on the film.