What a month - A camera up the rear and a New Bike Day.

The last few months, well I should rephrase that to most of this year, since May in fact I have not been feeling well at all. My diagnosis was confirmed last Saturday when I had to have another camera up me hoop.

This time I attended my appointment for a sigmoidoscopy. It was no less uncomfortable than my two previous colonoscopies, but hey the procedure needed to be done to try and get to the bottom of what is going on with me.

I have currently been placed on another 2 months of predisanone, steroids and at least when I am on these they help with my ongoing symptoms. Though I must hasten to add I still do not feel my usual self. I have been able to return to work on a phased return and this is a massive help for my mental health. There is nothing worse than being at home with loads of time on your hands, but feeling to ill to do stuff. It just gives you too much time to think of all the negative stuff and end up feeling sorry for yourself.

Anyhoo onto something more exciting and positive. As I have wrote in a previous blog post I had been waiting for a new Orbea bike to arrive in at Wheelbase, in Darlington. As I recall I placed an order for a Cannondale Mottera, then changed my mind and opted for an Orbea Rise M10.

Adam kept me informed about the delay in the delivery of the Orbea, however as the months passed by, no sign of the bike. This was down to Orbea and nothing to do with Wheelbase, something to do with the components I had asked to have on the bike I believe.

Eventually I decided to cancel the Orbea and was indeed going to put a new bike on hold, due to my ongoing health concerns. I then thought "No, you know what a new bike will inspire me to get out there". Did I need a new ride? Well Yes of course I did I am addicted to shiny new bikes. I have already got my eye on another one for if I am invited to take part in next years Artic ONE charity bike ride, around the Isle of Wight. I can't be seen cheating on an e-Bike now can I?

 

New Bike Day

Getting back in touch with Adam at Wheelbase I mentioned I had seen a good deal on a Santa Cruz Heckler SL and could he possibly do a price match. Adam said to give him a day or so, and he contacted the distributors, getting back to me with the good news, a bike easy available and he could price match. Great I placed an order and following my bike coming into the shop one of the workshop team fitted a Ridewrap protection kit, as I had requested.

Wheelbase Darlington

Wheelbase Darlington

I'm over the moon as my bike also came with a Fox Transfer Kashima Dropper seat post, and I am sure it has a lot carbon Reserve wheel set. Adam finished off the bike with some little trick Bugtec trick bits. A Bugtec top cap and, stack spacers.

A great choice of bikes from various manufacturers 

Santa Cruz Heckler SL

Santa Cruz Heckler SL

I am just on my way home now, with Ern. As my dad is driving us back I am typing up the very thing you are reading. A nice cup of tea when we get back and then I will fit a few parts to my new bike which includes  Rockgaurdz front and rear mudguards, plus a K-Edge adjustable stem mount bracket to hold the new Beeline Velo 2 I purchased.

K-Edge adjustable stem mount

I am looking forward to reviewing the Beeline Velo 2 as in communication with the guys who make the small device, they have been ever so friendly and helpful. Each of the back and forth messages made me feel like I wasn't just another customer. I like the fact that they listened to my feedback and where actually interested in my continued journey and cycling. So once I  get the chance to test out the new bike and give it a bit of an informal review from a non professional riders point of view I will also get around to reviewing the Beeline Velo 2. I am lexcited to seeing if the small Beeline will help with my atrocious sense of direction.

 

Looking forward to reviewing this little GPS and offering Beeline some feedback.

Ooh decided to pop down to Team Cycles to treat my bike to a Peaty's Fidlock bottle and mount. Got a chance to see a DJI Amflow in the shop. First one I have seen, looked canny. The rear triangle looked thinner than I thought, but overall a nice looking bike.

A Peaty's Fidlock  bottle

Thanks for reading. Best wishes to everyone for the coming holiday season, and a Happy New Year 2025.

Abarth 124 Spider - Hardrace Strut Brace + other mods I forgot about.

It's probably a good few months now when I did a little research into what strut brace I could purchase to fit my wee Abarth 124 Spider. There were a few on the market, however I really wanted a blue coloured one to tie in with my car, call it OCD.

Another reason for a replacement strut brace was for more practical reasons. You see as I am running Yellow Speed Racing coil overs, with the original brace I could not adjust the suspension, through the top mounts. without removing the factory strut brace. The original brace completely covers the top of the struts, so has to be removed for any adjustments to be made, which means it is a right faff.

Hardrace strut brace,

Now as many of you will know the Abarth 124 shares the same platform as the Mazda MX5 ND, so when I couldn't find a suitable Abarth version I started looking at braces that were made for the Mazda.

I happened to come across a blue Hardrace Strut brace, so decided to go ahead and purchase one. 

When the strut brace arrived, it was well packaged and the box contained all the required mounting plates and fasteners.

Can now get access to top of coil over struts

Both Ern and myself got cracking with the job in hand and soon the old brace was removed, and replaced with the new Hardrace version. It was a very easy job, and not only does the new brace look a lot better astheticaly, but I think I have noticed improved stiffness when driving. So I am very happy with my new mod.

Oh and I also forgot to mention whilst we were on, around about the same time I had a Sports CAT fitted to my car, Well the garage that fitted it were unable to pop the heat shield back on, as there were no mountings on the new CAT. After driving my car I noticed it smelled and felt very hot. My da and I ended up remobing the CAT in our back yard. It was easy yo get off, however after wrapping the CAT with Funk some Lava Wrap, what a nightmare getting the bloody thing back on. It was one single bolt in a suport bracket that we had the issue with.

   

The Ern working on my wee Abarth 124 Spider

Follwing putting the CAT back on we fitted another of my new mods a PTP Lava Turbo blanket. Now with both the wrap on the CAT and the turbo blanket my wee Abarth is sorted. 

  

PTP Turbo Blaket for Abarth 124 Spider.

Oh and finally I ordered an eMotion2+ Personal OBD Tuner from Celtic Tuning. I attached the tuner to my car, downloaded the file to the box, and then uploaded to my PC and sent the file off to the eMotion2+ people. Within a short space of time I had a new modified file and was able to pop that on the tuner box and reupload to my car.

   

eMotion2+ OBD tuning Box

The whole process was pretty easy anI didn't encounter any issues. The eMotion2+ guys were very friendly and helpful. Now that the remapped file is on my car I can definitely tell a difference. I am not sure how much extra horses it has given me. My car now along with the Sports CAT and the new remap, where I get some small pops and bangs with the valves open on my Ragazzon exhaust sounds absolutely epic.

As a 56 year old old fart I now love driving my car in "Hooligan Mode" and it makes me feel relatively young again, especially in the fine weather with the top down.

Arctic ONE Forward Motion

Hi

Many of you may not have heard of The Arctic ONE Foundation I am not sure how I became aquainted with the charity to be honest, whether they discovered me or I discovered them. Thinking back I may have been introduced to Matt Kirby and Bex Stubbings, two of the leading representitives of Arctic ONE when I was being supported by the lovely people over at what was then Pace Rehabilitation. This was way back in 2014. 

Anyhoo from my point of view with dealings with the lovely people over at Arctic ONE what I like about the foundation is their transparency, their passion and how they treat everyone equally, striving to offer support where they can. Arctic ONE makes you feel like part of a big family, and friendships are formed.

  

A little about what The Arctic ONE Foundation is all about:

The Arctic ONE Foundation provides opportunities for people to get active and enjoy sport.

We believe that Everyone should have the chance to be active. We set up Arctic One to provide opportunities to people with disabilities to get involved in sport through our grants system, our events and training days and through working with other charities to provide resources and raise awareness

22 Minutes of Fame in Spain

           Well, here I am in Spain, writing parts of this blog, I will finish it upon my return. 

  

So fortunate to have these guys as friends.

My dad had taken me to Newcastle Airport, on the 17th of September, and came inside with me briefly. The parking charges at Newcastle Airport are extortionate.

It has been some time since I last travelled, 2013 to be exact, when I travelled to America, which was my first time taking a flight and being outside of the UK, so not being experienced I found trying to find my way around the airport quite daunting. I could feel myself getting anxious, however, I am getting better at understanding my inner feelings, so changed this to a more positive "Oh you are just excited". I decided to approach the man on the Bureau de Change and after getting initial directions I figured out the next steps to eventually get to the boarding area.

I was flying with EasyJet and have to say the plane was a little smaller than I expected. My recollection of my last flights all those years ago where of bigger planes with more room, this is of course, when I think about it, was because they were International flights, taking many hours and not just a 2-hour hop over. 

The flight over was without incident, I was in a window seat and as we were coming in towards Alicante I could see the sky light up with flashes of lightning which looked amazing.

Hopefully not to many Err's, Ahh's and Mmm's as I get interviewd at BBC Radio Tees.

 Things are going very well with the short documentary film I was invited to be featured in. So far, the film has won 6 awards, and it is still in the running to be chosen for more. As I posted last week, I had some exciting news about the film being screened in Barcelona and being invited to the event, I am so excited not only to attend the screening in September but also to get to spend some time with some of the amazing people who worked on creating and telling my story about part of my journey and who are also now dear friends and lovely people.

I have often been asked, "Where and when can we see the film?" well, I am sure at some point, it will be available to the general public however, for the time being, it has to do the rounds at film festivals. Rest assured, as soon as I can pop a link to the full film, all 22 minutes of it, I will. The film has quite an emotional effect on me each time I watch it. I think, No, in fact, I know that Dragos has captured something in the film that is very special.

With regards to the film and me now having to find money to privately fund my sporting prosthetic needs, I thought it may be a good idea to get in touch with BBC Radio Tees and see if they would be interested in my journey, encompassing the ups and downs of what has been going on.

Go Fund Me

Within the hour of firing off an email, I got a response from Dave Llewellyn, a producer and presenter over at BBC Radio Tees. Dave simply said, "What a Great Story," and we arranged a quick chat on the phone. I was then invited to BBC Radio Tees on Friday morning (yesterday the 30th of August) to meet with another presenter, Gary Philipson.

Real pleasure to meet with BBC Radio Tees Gary Philipson, what a nice fella.

The interview aired on the 30/08/2024

BBC Radio Tees Interview with Gary Philipson - I totally forgot to mention my Go Fund Me and the title of the Film- which is "Meet The Local Hero - Glenn Johnstone"

The film can be found on Internet Movie Data Base and has a Facebook Page. It has recieeved some very positive feedback, as it deals with things such as disability, love, family and overcoming challenges.

Upon arrival at the Radio station, a parking place had been reserved, and everyone at the station was very friendly and welcoming to my dad and me. We were invited in by Dave and taken upstairs in a small lift to a long waiting area. Here, we were invited to a drink, coffee/tea, and we had a little chat with Dave, before Gary came along and took us through to the Radio room with the recording set up.

On my previous visits, I had done live broadcasts. However, this time round, it was to be a recorded interview that could be edited and aired at a later date on Dave's show.

We pretty much got into the interview straight away, Dave checking his equipment and then starting by saying, "Let's start with your name". It's always slightly nerve-racking when you are trying to think of answering a question, trying not to ramble on and the dreaded "Err's, Ahh's and Mmm's" that can occur as you try to give yourself time to think. From my point of view, poor Dave hardly got a word in. However, he did ask some pertinent questions, which allowed me to explain what was going on.

 

BBC Radio Tees with the Ern

In hindsight, although I had mentioned the short documentary,  I wish I had mentioned the name of the film, which is "Meet the Local Hero - Glenn Johnstone" I think I have mentioned in previous blogs about the film, but I most definitely did not choose the title. I don't proclaim to be any sort of Hero I am just an ordinary bloke who has been through some extraordinary circumstances. What I do find remarkable is, upon my journey, some of the amazing people I have had the great pleasure of meeting. In a world that appears to be going mad, there are some really genuine, nice folk out there with their own interesting and important stories and messages of hope and inspiration.

Following the interview, we said our farewells, and Ern and I went for a cruise in my wee Abarth 124. It was a lovely day, so we had the top down. My dad directed me over to the Transporter Bridge, and I got a few shots for posterity. We then head home via Costco at the Metro Centre, this little car guzzles fuel I can't get it over 31.1 mpg, and I drive like Miss Daisy. 

  

Abarth 124 Spider at Middlesbrough

Me and the wee Abarth 124

  

Here's one of The Ern

On the ride home, we encountered one speed bump which my car scraped off. This is after having my car fitted with coilovers and lowered, plus larger wheels fitted. As I recall, the bump was somewhere near Wingate. My car also scapes off the mountain of a speed bump at the end of our street. When we got home my dad got changed and jacked up my car, popping it right up on ramps so that he could have a look underneath to see if he could see exactly where it was catching. Ern removed the under tray protecting the exhaust, and it became clear the protective skid pan was the culprit. I'm just pleased it isn't my exhaust I can live with the pan doing its job. My dad refitted the pan, and the car is now all good.

The interview aired on the 30/08/2024

`

New Bike - However Not New Bike Day

It has been quite a few months since I sold my Specialised Turbo Levo. In that time I have ventured out a few times on my Silverback Synergy Fat Bike, which was very enjoyable, however also made me realise just how unfit I actually am, Oh and of course I have also been out on my Orbea Gain Gravel bike. Now the Orbea is electric so can offer assist, however I always try to go out and use as much of my own power as I can, rather than rely on the bike. When using the Orbea Gain even on full power up hills I still have to do a considerable amount myself, so it gives a good workout.

Recently as you will have seen on my blog I have been checking out various new E- mountain bikes. Models from Santa Cruz and their Heckler SL, Pivots, Shuttle SL and Transitions, Relay, all of which are powered by the Fauza 60 motor.

Then just by chance I saw a video on Youtube of a new model by Cannondale, it's  called the Moterra SL. Now this bike is a totally different animal, in that it is classed as a Super Light, however it has the Shimano EP801 motor, kicking out 85 nm.

  

Cannondale Moterra SL1 Raw

The Cannondale in its SL1 form comes with some good kit, such as Fox Float Factory Suspension & SRAM XO AXS shifting. I really liked the look of the bike, I mean I would prefer more colour choice as the 'Jade Green" doesn't really do it for me, but hey the Raw colour looks pretty cool.

SRAM XO  AXS Shifting

Simon EP801 85 nm

Electronic SRAM XO AXS shifting

Another thing I wasn't sure of was the 'Flex Stays', I mean they look thin and weedy. I did a little research and apparently they are up to the job and you get a fairly good warranty on the frames so it's all good.

 

Super Thin Flex Stays

There are now loads of reviews online so I am not going to bore you with the details, plus as yet I haven't actually had a go on the bike. That said it hasn't stopped me from finding my local Cannondale dealer which happens to be Wheelbase down in Darlington, and heading down there today with Ern to pop a deposit down on a new bike. Yeah it is a lot more than I wanted to spend, but for me it is worth it as my passion for cycling has kept me fit, focused and given me drive.

I had been speaking to Adam from Wheelbase via email and he sounded dead on. Keeping me informed when he said he would, about the current delivery schedule of the bikes and when I got down to the Wheelbase, Adam was again great. What I liked was he didn't just try to sell me a bike. He went onto Geometry Geeks, sorted out the sizes and then managed to get a bike as near to the Moterra as possible for me to have a sit on, the gave me his recommendations size wise and the potential things we could change, like a stem and bars to get the new bike just right.

I have always been right in-between sizes Large and XL so getting the right fit is very important.

 

Cannondale Moterra SL1 Raw

Anyhoo hopefully if all goes to plan my new ride should be in sometime around June. Looking forward to getting out in the better weather this year, just hope my old Bartlett Tendon holds up. If not well I guess I will be saving like mad for a new knee too.

A few more additions for the Abarth 124 Spider

 A couple of weeks ago I had managed to save up a few more quid, so took my wee Abarth 124 Spider down to see the Exhaust Doctor based at Shiremoor. 

Abarth 124 Spider

After doing some research on the Spider I had learned that the standard Crosspipe was quite restrictive, plus as my car is an automatic, no one offered a larger bore centre pipe.

Exhaust Doctor Abarth 124 Spider

I have already fitted a Ragazzon valved rear backbox, and although I like the look of the exhaust, the sound to me is just not as good as the standard Record Monza. My Record Monza's valve was stuck in the fully open position, and sounded a bit more "raspy". Anyhoo  I was hoping putting on a larger Crosspipe and centre pipe may help my car sound a bit better.

I don't really want to change the Cat to a race one, as this involves remapping the car, something I intended to do a bit later on, but not just yet.

So the new sound of the car, well it's better than it was, a little louder and a deeper tone. I suppose the good thing is the car can be driven and doesn't have a constant "Boom", unlike Grandma my VW Beetle GSR, which constantly drones and becomes creative on long journeys. Well I imagine it would in a long journey, what did I know, having just had "Grandma" for her MOT, she had only done 206 mikes last year.

Next on the mods list was a new set of EBC dimpled rotors and Green Stuff pads. I had been waiting what seemed like ages for EBC to get these in stock. I was chuffed to bits that I checked my Blue light card, as I got £75 off, which was a canny saving.

EBC discs & pads

My dad did most of the work removing and installing the new components. I'm currently off work on the sick yet again, due to my prosthetic limb not fitting. I've been trying to wear my new socket to do everyday things, but man the socket is really uncomfortable, causing me a fatigue like pain, and also causing phantom pain. It's like having a turnaquet in my stump each time I wear my leg.

Following fitting the new brakes, my dad and I tested my new OZ alloys, using the 5 mm spacers I bought, in order to clear the Brembo calipers in the front.

Once I get a bit more money saved and the weather improves I'll get the wee car back along to Performance 28 to get the coilover suspension fitted that has been sitting in a box at the bottom of our stairs.

Super Clarty Super Fun

 

Playing on my Silverback Synergy Fat Bike

Everything pre-sorted the night before for this mornings mini adventure. To be honest when I checked the weather yesterday I wasn't sure I would be heading out for a ride with John & Peter, I'm getting soft in my old age.

I messaged John telling him I would have a look out my window early on and make a decision based on A. The weather and B. If I could be arsed. Anyhoo I was up relatively early, peered out of the window and thought it didn't look bad and I felt up for it.

I had already chosen my weapon of choice, and as such had fitted the tendons to my Bartlett Tendon. I had decided to take my Silverback Synergy Fat Bike. My other bikes are in need of some TLC, my old Ibis is a bit of a dog and needs pulling out of the shed and servicing. My Sandman Hoggar, which I love hasn't been used in a while either. Not sure I would have got all the way around on that bike, as man the Surly Tires fitted drag like hell.  My Orbea Gain gravel bike wasn't suitable for where we planned, so it came down to the trusty Silverback Fat. You see now that I am down to 6 bikes it's very clear I need to restock my stable so that I have a choice dependent on conditions and what I intend to do LoL.

And to that I am still on the fence about a Santa Cruz Heckler SL and recently I have been looking at an Orbea Laufey H-LTD 2024 which is an analogue 29'er.

Orbea Laufey H-LTD 2024

As I mentioned the tyres on My Sandman I may as well tell you about the Shwalbe's fitted to the Silverback. These are absolutely terrible in the mud, how I never fell off today is just pure luck as I was sliding and loosing traction all over.

On to todays mini mud fest. Well 9:00 am arrived and no John or Peter. There I was waiting outside and trying to see up the bank, the fog becoming thicker in the 10 minutes I stood waiting. John then called saying Peter had a puncture in his back wheel and was on trying to fix it. I took the time I was waiting as an opportunity to go across over on to the green opposite our house to clear up a black bin bag which had been left by some scuffy git, the contents strewn all over the grass, empty beer cans and pizza boxes and other various bits and bobs of rubbish. Ern came out to help and  gave me a pair of gloves and one of those picky uppy thingies. After completing my community service John rang again saying Peter had now tried fixing the puncture 3 times, but it just kept going down.

Time to call on the services of Super Ern. Ern and I had a quick rummage in our shed and found two 29'er inner tubes, jumped in Ern's car and headed up to Peters. After inspecting his tyre and wheel and handing Peter one of the new inner tubes he went about installing it. "What do you mean Peter you don't have any tyre levers"? Peter then tried using two spoons. Upon going to inflate the tyre "Psssssssssss"! "Ok lets go down to ours and try the other tube down there as we have more gear"  

Yay it stayed up

Down home Ern removed the tube Peter had just put in, Peter must have nipped the tube a there were two small nicks... Damn spoons. Ern and I then had a go at putting in another new tube and although it was a faff and really hard to get the tube in without being nipped, the tyre appearing to wide for the skinny little rims, we eventually managed and the tyre stayed up. Moral of the story "get some tyre levers, oh and a track pump".

Ok we were off, heading down the street and going up to the farmers trail. 

Heading to No Place and then Beamish.

Farmers Trail 

Me and Peter coming up the muddy farmers trail

Going into Beamish Woods and having a little play. I took John & Peter to where the jumps and berms had been put in. Quite a bit of pushing up the hills as they were slippy as hell with mud and  roots.

Pleased I put my long Endura pants on today

The Stream was pretty high today 

John

All the fallen leaves looked pretty

I had a quick bash at coming over one of the drop offs and John who was acting camera man with his fancy Apple phone got some decent shots today. 

Beamish Woods

Love not acting my age

Useless Fat Tyres with no grip at all

Following on from Beamish and having traversed the trail at the top of the woods, we then got on to a off road section that would bring us to the main road, and we headed as if going towards Sunnyside. I was pretty tired, however just kept plodding away, until we got back on ayet another off road trail that would take us towards Tanfield Railway.

A little plays in the puddles at this point.

Nowt like playing in puddles

Don't think the old dears where impressed with me playing

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Peter having fun

Once opposite Tanfield Railway's car park, we headed along the Causey Arch Road and to the picnic area and took the trail towards Tanfield, riding along past the Industrial estate and  up on to the C2C and from there home.

This burn was hand dug out and is really steep at yon side

I said my goodbyes to the lads and when I got home was he my bike. Ern and I had a Quick Look at my Race Face dropper seat post as it had been sticking throughout my ride, then. went indoors. My dad had got me an allay breakfast. I had a  lovely hot shower got me clothes back on and the wolfed down the breakfast which I was really ready for.

A very enjoyable ride, even if my old bones are slightly aching a bit.