Seeing how far it is to the Wetlands

Out on my Orbea Gain

A week or so ago one of my friends and work colleagues, Anne mentioned that she was going to be taking part in this years Great North Bike Ride. As I understand it the ride is approximately 60 miles, starting at Seahouses Tourist Information Car Park at 8:55 AM and ending at Tynemouth, outside the Priory. The ride is to raise funds for vital cancer research.

Anne went on to tell me that so far she had not done a great deal of preparation, however she had thought about riding up from where she lived (Sunderland area) to the Wetlands Centre at Washington and from there head on up to Consett. I asked Anne " Have you ridden that route before" ? to which she replied "No".

I have ridden numerous times down from Stanley on the C2C going past the Wetlands Centre and following the route to take me down to Sunderland, the Marina and then looping back around, coming through Seaburn and South Shields and eventually making my way back home riding to Whitemarepool roundabout and turning up Leam Lane to Wrekenton, then down to Lamesly along to Birtley and then get back on the C2C home to complete an approximate 50 mile loop.

I explained to Anne that the ride up from the Wetlands would be a fairly tough one. Stanley is situated approximately 807 Feet above sea level and Consett is the third highest market town in England at 900 feet. 

Back in the day when Consett Steel works was operating some 40 odd years ago, there were sections of track, which the C2C now follows, that had the highest gradients of all the British Rail Network. These were at 1-55 Beamish and further on at 1-35 West Stanley.

During conversation I suggested to Anne I would  have a ride down to the Wetlands, turn around and come back and see how far it was and how my stamina was. Well this morning I had my alarm set for 5:00 am, my internal clock awoke me at 4:59. I had pretty much prepared my gear the evening before so I was up and out the door fairly sharpish.

Only one issue this morning my dam Orbea Gain wouldn't connect to my phone...again. After a bit  of fannying on I got it to connect and sync. I had fastened my Leyzene Lights on  and these added to the Gains installed lights. It was starting to get light anyway. I had put my new Oakley Sunglasses on with Prism Trail varifocal lenses, so to be honest I couldn't really tell you what it looked like outside, everything was "`Ooooh" to me

I cheated a little going up Durham Road, onto Wear Road and popped my bike on Level 2 assist. As soon as I got to the top of the bank I switched the assist off and never put it back on until returning to Stanley and the horrible little steep bank at the back of Iceland.

The ride down from Stanley to approaching the Wetlands was a breeze. Loving the new Oakley Sunglasses, as I rode into the sun, its was blinding as it was low in the sky

I do have to say no matter where I go, or how many times I always get lost, and this mornings excursion was no different.

Excuse the language... " Where the fuck am I"? 

"I can't ever recall being this close to a massive river"..." Oh it must be the River Wear". 

Just some of the things popping into my head, along with " Dear me I can't feel my foot"... Now I know I can't feel that one, however I also couldn't feel the other one. Obviously 2 pair of socks on my good foot were not working. Time to invest in new socks and possibly gloves, as my Seal Skin gloves were not keeping my hands warm.  It was brassic.

I got to the end of this very scenic trail, that was right beside the river, the grass all covered in a morning frost as the sun, glistened through the trees which cast distorted shadows all around. I then looked to my Left " Aww crap a geet big set of steps roughly placed up the Bankside". I had to get off my bike and push, until I found the trail again. My useless sense of direction then cut in and I just guesstimated where I should be going and rode on.

" I'm sure that fence looks familiar".

Suppose I am going to have to push

Just then as if showing me the way 2 geese flew over head, honking their little beaks off and circling a couple of times. It was great... "Keep your eyes on the path Glenn", as I wobbled after starring up in the sky.

 

Wetland Centre

Just then as I turned off the path I saw a large carpark looming ahead, and then I saw the signs for the Wetlands Centre 12.2 miles covered to get there. A few pics and then I turned to head back.

At the Wetlands Centre

"Mmmmm now then which way do I go"?  I found a sign saying C2C west. I knew I had been riding East to get to the Wetlands so West was a good bet. More riding along a section I swear I have never been along, and I discovered the large Asda depot. I could recall seeing this on the other side of the fence, so I rode past Asda and followed the path down until I saw another sign for Consett and knew I was going the correct way. I have to say the signs for the C2C are not particularly good.

  

Love my ne shades I can actually see.

Back on track and now knowing where I was going the ride from the Wetlands back up to Birtley went quicker than I thought and was easy.

Birtley to home....Grrrrrrr! 7.1 Miles approximately.

Now I don't usually us the word "Hate", it's such a negatively emotive word. And forgive me in my next sentence for using an expletive. Oh and whilst I am on I also don't like the word "But" as it's an excuse of a word, preferring to use the word "However".

"But I Fucking Hate that ride up from Birtley to Stanley".

Upon my research into the railway line, no I am not a train or track spotter, just wanted to give those of you an idea of how this climb doesn't appear steep, but just feels like it goes on forever and ever, well apparently the trains used to do 2 mph up the line, not sure how quick they went down, however bet it was a case of "Holy Shit, we have no brakes". Anyhoo  quite often the trains would get stuck on those notorious leaves that `British Rails always goes on about, and the trains used to overheat. Well I am proud to say I would at least beat a train upon the line as my speed was 5 mph at its slowest point.

As I approached Stanley, remember I had not used any assist I decided my bottom was too sore, my leg was to weak and basically I am another year older so Fuck going to Consett I am going home.

I can now tell Anne, the ride up from the Wetlands is ok until you get to Birtley, and from there up to Stanley and beyond is a slog. I covered 24.21 miles, and it took me just over 2.30 hours with a few stops to get some pics, climb some stairs and have a few drinks of the H20 variety, oh and almost crash as I checked out honking geese.

First Ride Out of 2024 Prosthetic woes and time to reflect.

Proper enjoyed the first ride out of 2024. Yes it was a tad chilly, yes my prosthetic leg was constantly coming loose and annoying me, and yes I had to wear a pair of gigs because my eyesight has continued to get to the stage where if I don't wear them everything is just a blur.

I went out for a ride with my long time pal John and he introduced me to one of his friends Peter. We had discussed earlier in the week via WhatsApp where to go and decided a short venture up to Hownsgill Cafe would suit us. John hasn't ridden for about 6 months and whilst I have been riding everyday, it's generally just 30 minutes or so indoors on my turbo trainer.

Usually my prep for heading out is a case of rushing around in the morning and trying to find things I have always mislaid, however lthe night before I had prepared my stuff, so this morning was a nice relaxed, well semi relaxed, as I was aggravated and stressed over my leg not fitting sort of morning.

I had made sure my Orbea Gain eBike was full charged. Deciding to take this, as it makes life a little easier, especially as I wasn't going to be wearing tendons on my Bartlett Tendon Knee. I am down to my last 2 shouldered studs for the cams, as I have been finding they have been snapping for some reason. I didn't want to risk snapping the last ones, until some replacements have arrived. So not taking my Fat Bike and therefore having to fit the tendons and cams, was the plan. As we were just going to be riding mostly on the C2C route and no muddy woodland trails. Ern (my Dad) has measured the shouldered studs and been able to source a place on line to get some replacements, almost £60 for 10, so quite expensive So hopefully I get out with tendons on soon. I have sold my `Specialized Turbo Levo and would dearly love a new E- mountain bike, it's just they are expensive and what with having my current leg issues I think I am going to have to put future plans on hold.

A nice steady ride up Durham Road and onto Wear Road and John's, yes I cheated slightly and had the bike on Level 2, however apart from coming up the bank I didn't have the bike turned on throughout the rest of the ride. I met John at his house and he introduced me to his new wee dog "Bruno", he is a Pomee something or other breed, definitely doesn't look like a Bruno, `I think `I am going to call him Frank. Nobbling after Peter rode over and John introduced us.

  

Glenn, John and Peter

We had a quick ride to Asda so I could get a few quid outdoor a breakfast then off we went heading to Consett . As we rode up towards Consett in certain areas single file, it gave me time to think, of how much I enjoy just being out in the fresh air and try to reflect on yeah things are not great prosthetic limb wise, nothing is fitting and a lot of stuff needs replacing. I have just been back to the Disability Services Centre, this is where I get my NHS funded bits and bobs. I attended yesterday to take delivery of a new socket.

I am currently on wearing it to see if I can get away with it. So far the jury is out, it feels uncomfortable compared to my old socket. When I fit a seal it feels like I am being pushed out of the socket and when I sit down I lose the vacuum seal which keeps it on. Im feel like Bambi on Ice walking. It is soooo! stressful and frustrating, I just want to get on and do day to day normal stuff, however at the moment almost every thought from getting up to going to bed is based somewhere around " Aww F@$king hell this poxy leg" or lack of it. So many people take for granted just being able to climb stairs, run, dance or even trip up but be able to catch themselves. I can deal with having my leg amputated, it's the fact of when my prosthetic leg doesn't fit, it just brings me right down. Anyhoo getting back to the reflection bit, I just thought "Glenn count your blessings, your out, your trying to make the best of a bad situation, and give yourself a little credit, you haven't given up". Maybe I am getting a little better at not being So hard on myself all the time.

  

Glenn on the Orbea Gain

My prosthetist from the DSC rang me in the afternoon following my visit to inform me my Rheo XC microprocessor knee is about buggered, so she is ordering me a new one, and would I also like a new foot. "Sure what ever you think best" I replied. Just a shame I cannot get a new Bartlett Tendon knee and socket from the NHS, as both of those need replacing. 

I can't imagine not being able to ride, it is so much of who I am, it has kept me going, given my opportunities and I have met so many awesome people through cycling. Being disabled... weird as I have just subconsciously stopped typing whilst writing this sentence and thought to myself " What I'm disabled ? I don't think of myself as disabled, I am just different". Yet being different is very expensive. Again it makes me realise how fortunate I have been in the past to be supported by various people and companies.

Moving on I guess I am going to have to look at approaching various foundations fort grants and doing a lot of saving if I want to continue cycling.

For the time being it's going to be a case of trying to prolong the life of my worn out bits n bobs, with replacement bolts and possibly some Gaffa tape to keep my leg attached LoL.

 

Parked up at the cafe

Anyhoo back to the ride, we ended up at Hownsgill Cafe, each of us ordered the full English breakfast and a cup of coffee. Not badly priced I think, I don't go out much for meals so not sure of the current cost of stuff, but £5.70 for the breakfast and £1.60 for a coffee which certainly hit the spot on a cold morning seemed like a good deal.

  

The ride back was as pleasurable as the ride there, a little easier coming back I would say, with some good craic, so all in all a canny morning.

 

Me and Peter

I couldn't be arsed to get my phone out and take pictures, so relied on John to send me some snaps through. John is like Inspector Gadget what with his new fangled Apple Watch and phone Lol.

Cheers John for the few pics.

The End.

Getting lost in Beamish

 I had no real plans for my days off, so it was a lovely surprise when my mate John Whatsapp'd me to ask did I fancy a tootle out on the bikes.

Farmer's Trail

 

I message John back telling him I couldn't be faffed with attaching my Bartlett Tendons, so I would be using my Orbea Cyclo X bike, so we would have to plan a route taking this bike and not one of my mountain bikes. John was happy with this, he just wanted to get out for a little while.


As I went to sort my gear out, I couldn't find my Race Face shower jacket. It's a handy thin bright Orange stowable pullover type affair. I then recalled I had left it in the back of Grandma my Bug, so I had a ride down to her garage, opened up the garage and grabbed my jacket from her boot. Whilst I was there, I started Grandma up, just making sure her battery wasn't flat. I have to take Grandma to the dent doctor on the 5th August as she has managed to get a dent in her... I hasten to add AGAIN! In exactly the same place. This was whilst she was sitting up in our backyard having her new brakes fitted just the other week.


Anyhoo gear sorted I had a leisurely ride up Durham Road, using my Orbea Gain on Max assist, level 3, as well... I can.

I didn't have long to wait for John, as he had been dropping his daughter off at school. I told John I had forgotten my bike pump and that on the way up, my tyres felt a little soft, so we headed back down to mine and I retrieved my pump and put some air in my tyres.

Then we were off heading for the Farmer's Trail, to No Place and then down into Beamish, passing the top end of Beamish Museum, dropping down to the Museums farm and past Beamish Golf course. We turned onto the trail opposite Beamish Hall and continued up through the woods, till we came to the road that can either take you to Sunnyside or Lamsley. We headed Left as if going to Sunnyside, however detoured along another trail and headed for Hedley Hall Woods and the car park.

John and the Woodsman

John taking pictures

 

Going through the car park, we were soon on the newly constructed pathway at Hedley Hall Woods and followed a route to where I wanted to show John the sculptures that had been installed. We then did a spot of off-roading down a trail that was rather overgrown, so much, so I ended taking us a different way to what I had planned, as I couldn't see the trail. I also fell off at one point as the undergrowth was so long, and I lost sight of the trail and went down a dodgy bit that was obscured. I wasn't going fast, so no harm done, and both John and I had a laugh about it.

Glenn

Undergrowth got a lot thicker

At one of the weird sculptures

 

Finally, I figured out where we were, we had done a large loop and actually came out at the pond we had not long ago passed at Beamish. We rode a little further, then I saw what looked like another nice off-road trail, amongst the trees. It was the sculpture trail, sure I have been on it before, so I led John up that way. It wasn't long before the trail became more difficult to see which way to go, as the undergrowth crept in, and before long we were off pushing our bikes. The tress then started to get thicker and the terrain muddier and steeper.

 

Duck

 Knackered after all this fighting with weeds and pushing

Low tree branches

John thought we were going for a ride, not a hike

I just appear to have this knack of getting us lost close to home. More pushing ensued, and we were both bad laughing as we were trying to avoid getting nettled, plodging through mud and then there were the really low tree branches and the slippery slopes both up and down. I kept getting my prosthetic foot snagged in the under growth, so the majority of the time I was tripping all over and in a constant battle to get anywhere. Eventually we came to an area after climbing a rather large bankside and John said "It's a dead end, no one has been this way". As I got to the top of the bank and surveyed the area John was right, the plants were like waist high and I couldn't see a path. Sod it I am not going all the way back I thought, so I spurred  us on, and we made our own kind of path.

Man with a spade

 

Yay! We must have been going in the right direction as we came back onto a trail at the top of yet another steep bankside, and we were back in Hedley hall Woods where we had already ridden.

Finding our way and heading back home was easy now, and that's what we did, a nice spin along the Causey Arch on the new tarmacked path, well until it ran out. Then up towards Shield Row, and we got on the C2C all the way up until the turn-off for Iceland at Stanley.

John popped into Gregg's for a couple of Gregg's dummies, mind you, he came out with a bag that looked like it would last a week. And that is another mini adventure completed.

Shut up irritating little voice

I know by now, those of you who do drop by my blog may be pretty bored by viewing my posts of what appears to be my only bike and the only thing I do on it. Don't worry, I am sure I will be featuring a few more posts soon about other stuff, including Myrtle, my 65 classic Bug. Yes I still have her, however I haven't really done anything with her over the winter, it's too cold to work outside, plus of late I haven't really had the money to spend on her. Never mind, like I say she will be featured soon, when I figure out what is the next on the lengthy list of restoration and mods. Oh! And let's not forget Grandma, my GSR Beetle. I have been waiting ages for EBC Direct to get the rear R32 discs and pads in stock, as I have pretty much got all the other modified bigger brake components. I will go into more detail when I get all the gear and take some pics of the parts, then again once fitted.


Anyhoo at the moment, I still feel pants after having a variant of covid. Although I am now testing negative, I just feel all out of whack, with fatigue, a sore throat and a tight chest. This morning I awoke somewhere around 6 am, just couldn't sleep, so I got up, had a bite to eat, watched a bit of news, then flicked through YouTube. After a few hours, I decided to go back to bed and awoke again at  11:25 am, still feeling like crap. I made a couple of Turkey sandwiches, which I shared with wor Baxter and had a cuppa. I then went back to bed, not so much feeling sleepy, No more just couldn't be arsed.

After lying for an hour or so meditating, well more just thinking with my eyes closed of being a millionaire and buying my dream house in Scotland, Oh yes the dream is still alive, my little internal voice spoke to me saying "Aww just stay on your bed", you see I was lying on top with my hoodie pulled over my head, "No need to get up," "There is nowt to do anyway". At this point there was a reply in my head which came across as "Fuck off, I'm going for a spin on my bike". 

In the past, I have let that little irritating internal voice get me down, it can suck the very life out of me, and make me question myself. Now it may sound like I am a bit cuckoo, but I answer it back, and pretty much tell it where to go. I guess I have developed this mindset. My way of thinking, and it can be incredibly difficult at times, is that no matter the negatives, ie: being on rock bottom, well once you are there the only way is up, and up has to be a positive.

I have really enjoyed riding this bike

 

Getting up, I then got changed into my bikey gear, grabbed my GoPro and chesty mount and headed downstairs to get my bike. I am getting really good at how quick I can manage to put my hands on things and in how long it now takes me to be up and out the house once my mind is made up. I think part of the reason I have not been going out as much on my bikes is that I get bored with riding the same roads and trails, that and my stoopid ill-fitting prosthetic of course.

Man, I have changed shape so much over the last 4 months. Four months is how long I have been off work. I am due to go back on the 25th April, and will have to try and get away with my old socket as the DSC has been unable to fit me for a new one. I guess it is partly my fault, as I have gone from my usual everyday socket being way too big, to it now feeling a bit too tight. I went for a walk yesterday and wow it was mega painful. My stump feeling like it is getting crushed and the worst lower back pain ever. Feels like my leg is proper out of alignment, as if my hips are getting pushed forward, causing me to arch my back and shoulders. I am still stiff today, and I didn't walk that far.

Anyhoo back to the mini adventure on my Orbea Gain. I am so pleased I invested in this bike. It feels mega quick where ever I go and so much fun, even if I do have to constantly ride it whilst sat in the saddle. It is pointless using my tendons on my Bartlett Tendon Knee with this bike, I would just expend too much energy fighting the resistance, and it's not like I am jumping or dropping off stuff.

I rode 8.35 miles today. It was a lot muddier than I expected, which had me sliding about in certain areas. As the bike is so quick, I find I have to be a bit more switched on. I just rode locally, making up a route as I thought about one of my friends brothers who had commented on one of my videos, saying it brought back memories of when he lived in the area.

Firstly I rode through "Glass Wood", I think I have mentioned this before, my dad and I just call it Glass wood as there are generally so many broken bottles strewn about from the local scumbag kids. I then visited the "Pines", these woods are a lot less dense than I remember in my day when we would climb the tress and play "Tally Ho". Next I rode through South Moor Park, when you are out and about you really get an idea of just how wild the weather had been a few weeks ago, so many fallen trees. Once at the end of the Park, at the drift, I made my way up and onto Chapman's Wells Nature reserve, heading towards the pond and looping around to come back down the Farmer's trail.

Back onto Chapman's Wells and I headed for "Quakies" and cut through a small section of woodland to get on a trail that took me back down to the drift. From there I headed up towards Langley View and turned right at the 3 stones to head down the Black Path. So many memories in this area for me. Funny, I always think of my mam when at the 3 stones, which are 3 concrete stones that have been there since the beginning of time. My mam and I used to walk this route regularly to get from South Moor to New Kyo, or "Kya" as we called it, where my Nana lived.

As I got to the bottom of the black path, so called because the coal slag heaps used to be there, hence making the path black, I cut across the green opposite Ivy Terrace. In years gone by this would have been impossible as there used to be a huge pond, complete with newts, tadpoles and frogs. I spent many a day in my wellies catching various critters as a little kid. The pond gradually got smaller and smaller over the years, as I can recall huge bonfires being held on the green around November, what with  Guy Fawkes. One year I can remeber finding the perfect stick for roasting my tatties. It had a bit of plastic on it so I grasped the plastic and pulled, to try and remove it. The stick split and as I pulled one sharp edge drove right through my thumb. I can remeber running home with this huge bit of stick stuck through my thumb and my dad having to pull it out. Turns out the stick was from a kite and made from some sort of fibre glass. Funny what sticks in your mind and also in your thumb if you go pulling on things you shouldn't.

I can also recall the big cooling tower that used to be at the top of the path, where the brick flats were. It was always known as the "Charlie". Something else I may have mentioned in an old blog, when thinking of the brick flats. My dad used to take wor Blackie, who was a big black Labrador for a walk up the "Charlie". Each night Blackie would carry a brand new brick home. One day a bloke came knocking on our door, telling my mam that my dad had sent him. The fella was finishing off an extension and had run out of bricks, well we had a shed full of tbrand new bricks all neatly stacked to the roof.

Coming off the green I rode down the back lane of where I used to live from the age of 3, and 29 Mitchell Street, in South Moor. I see they have clad the houses, so they look like they have new brick work. From the age of 16 this is where I have fond memories of my first motorbikes.

It is strange riding down the street, a memory came to me from years and years ago. It was of a house near the bottom of my street. There used to be a man and woman, who had two dogs, and the dogs had chewed a great big hole in the gate, which had then been boarded up. I can recall having some terrible nightmares about those two dogs escaping and setting about wor "Blackie". Funny what sticks in your mind and how revisting places, sights or sounds can bring stuff flooding back.

Turning left at the bottom of Mitchell Street, I headed over towards the old people's cottages. Deciding to take the route I used to take to get to my first school, which was called Greenlands. The old street hasn't changed a bit, it is still like a pottery old lane, with a terrible road surface. Greenlands is now boarded up and in disrepair, I have some good memories of that school.

Riding onto South Moor front street, I cut over the pedestrian crossing, and headed for home, cutting down through Hustledown and Holyhill.
Once at home, I had to give my bike a thorough wash, as she was up the naffs.

And that is the end...LoL...Well not quite.

 

Yesterday, as it is now today, and I have been on absolutely ages trying to sort my video editing software. So yesterday I decided to try another time warp video, making sure my camera was adjusted a bit better and got more of a clear image of where I was going, not just looking at either the ground or sky.

As the weather had been slightly colder on my previous days out, both walking and riding, I decided to pop on a couple of base layers and my Endura Hoodie, thinking I would pop my GoPro chesty mount on under my jacket and just leave the zip down so that my camera poked out. Unfortunately, when I came to get off my bike to lift it over a gate I must have accidentally covered my camera, so basically got a shot of the inside of my jacket. Never mind, I was able to fudge some footage together, you live and learn.

As I started up my Wondershare Filmora editing software, which by the way is so easy to use. I got a message saying I could upgrade to a newer version. As I have paid for the software, it allows me more items for editing, so I downloaded and installed the software. Then, when I had finished popping my footage in, editing it with titles and music, I began the process of rendering my project. Now when I say it took ages I mean hours and hours and yep a few more hours, so much so that I left my computer running as I went to bed. I awoke early this morning to discover my pc must have got bored and decided to turn off sometime during the night... Bloody hell man.

I then had another go at completing my project, lowering the settings, it has now taken 6 hours to get the video rendered and uploaded LoL. So now I am investigating with more settings to try and get the best video quality I can, however maybe in a different file type. I think because I have downloaded a new version of Filmora something must have changed somewhere.

As I have a 4/5K GoPro, obviously I would like to be able to upload to the best quality. Ah well, something to keep me busy, and try to figure out I guess.

Further, update, it has taken all day to render and upload the 4k version, so now I have two of the same videos on YouTube, one in 1080 HD and the other should be 4K when it is processed.

When life gives you lemons

 “When life gives you lemons”... What do I mean by that? Well this whole amputation business not only really sucks due to having lost a leg, but also in the fact that now none of my sockets fit, and I feel even more disabled, in fact I would say I am pretty much a professional cripple. That said, I have refused to just sit around and become a couch tatty. I thank the Universes that I am still able to ride my bikes, in a fashion. Yes my cycling socket is huge, and I have to stop every now and again and adjust it, to try to create some sort of a seal, but hey I am still managing to enjoy my riding. I constantly try to remind myself of all the things I have to be grateful for, yeah things come along in life, and we all get those “WTF” moments, however I guess it is how we then move on and deal with stuff.


My trip to the Disability Service Centre was a disappointing one on Friday. I knew before I even attended my appointment that the newly made check socket wouldn't go anywhere near my stump. I decided to take proactive action and so took my old socket, and just asked my prosthetist to pop my knee back under that one. I figured better to have a socket that is a wee bit too big, rather than something that feels like a boa constrictor attached to my stump, and prevents me from walking half a block.


Following the disappointment of Friday, I awoke about 7:00am on Saturday, it was probably the quickest I have ever made a decision to just get ready and head out. I even amazed myself as I found everything to hand, no searching for a missing sock, or a favourite pair of shorts or jersey. No fannying about with tech. I was just ready and out the door, heading out on my new Favourite bike, my Orbea Gain Gravel bike.

Passing through Watergate  Park

At Dunston Staithes

I won't bore you too much with my route, other than to say I ended up at Newcastle, crossed the Millennium bridge and so went from the Gateshead side over to the Newcastle side. I then rode up the Quayside and basically followed the C2C route 72 heading up and crossing Scotswood bridge. From there, straight up the Derwent Walk and a loop back home, covering 35.21 miles (ca. 57 km) according to my cycling computer.


It was interesting to see the stats created on the Orbea page whilst using the bikes App. I used a mixture of levels of assist, going from 0 all the way to level 3. I think what has made my riding more enjoyable is the fact I am using my bike to actually enjoy each ride, rather than trying to grind out a ride as if I have something to prove. This way of thinking and the use of the eBike has also allowed me to get out more as other than my ass being sore, I don't feel lacking of energy, whereas in the past a physically demanding long ride would have meant I was pretty fatigued a good bit of the week.


Upon arriving home after my ride out I made a couple of Turkey and jam sandwiches, petted wor Baxter, as he had been in by himself and of course shared a bit of my sandwich with him. I then went and had a shower and got changed. It was still reasonably early in the day, and I was thinking, “Mmmmm” what to do?

I decided to go for a walk and try out my old socket. I mentioned just the other day that with the new socket it was absolutely crushing me and I managed about half a block, having to walk on my tip toe on my good leg, in order to get my prosthetic one through. Well my old socket in order to get it to fit I had to wear two seals to try to keep it on. Nowt worse than your leg dropping off mid-stride and people looking, pointing and commenting... “Ohh look that blokes leg has just dropped off”.


The bank I live on is a pretty steep one, so by the time I was only a quarter of the way up I was thinking “Dear me, this is hard work”. It's bizarre, there I was thinking I was quite fit, yet I am struggling to walk a few meters. I simply turned my mp3 player up and continued on with the bright idea that I would walk from our house over to my mate Corkers house at Tantobie. To cut a long story short, some hour and a half later I arrived at Corkers. Man I was knackered and my hip and back were killing me, but hey I had achieved my goal, plus it was a nice day.


Moving on to today, I was again a bit bored so got me biking gear oot, got ready and decided to go for another tootle on the Orbea. This time I popped my GoPro chesty mount on and attached my GoPro, thinking I would have a bash at filming a Time Warp video. It hasn't come out too bad, though I think I need to adjust the camera up slightly if I do another one. It's hard to judge the position of the camera when I am leant over on the cabs on the bars.

 
 

Well that's about it, what to do now? Probably more food and then go practice some guitar and ukulele. I am chuffed to bits just learnt to play “Drunken Sailor”, it sounds so happy on my little ukulele...

Not much to report

 Not much to report really, so this is just a short entry.


After speaking to Occupational Health yesterday, and discussing a plan of action,  I agreed it would be a good idea to try and return to work in another 2 weeks.     I explained that I still did not have a good fitting socket, as a matter of fact the new socket I received which I have being trying to persevere with, is feeling way too tight. This was really evident following my chat with the OH nurse, as I decided "Oh if I am going back to work I had better start being more active wearing my leg, and so attempted to go for a walk". Needless to say, I managed 0.26 miles, which is roughly halfway around the block, before having to return home as my stump was being crushed.

Not good at all, especially as I am due back at the Disability Service Centre this Friday to re-try another check socket, which I now know is going to be no good as it will be way too small.

I have therefore retrieved my old socket from the loft and will ask my prosthetist to set up my Rheo XC micro-processed knee back on that, and I guess I will just have to grin and bare it..."Ahh! The life of an amputee".

My weight and I guess my fitness level has changed quite considerably ever since this whole Covid thing, what with shielding, then having nowt to do so starting to ride and exercise every day. Add to the fact because I have been off work and my appetite has increased, well it's pretty inevitable I was going to change shape. Obviously, I didn't expect all these problems with limb fit and then the psychological knock on effects, as man it is so frustrating and stressful, when all you want to do is crack on and be "normal".

At least I can still ride my bike. I am losing the seal in my cycling socket, however because I am pretty much in contact with the bike, via the saddle and through the pedals I can more or less keep my leg in situ. Of course, it sucks that I cannot ride using my Bartlett Tendon, along with the tendons and ride out of the saddle, but at the moment I am content just doing a few miles and being out in the fresh air on my Orbea Gravel bike. Guess it goes back to that old saying "It's not what you can't do, but what you can do".

  

 

Anyhoo this morning I completed a just under 12 mile loop. Very pleased the Mahle Smartbike App appears to be behaving itself. I had the Orbea Gain set in sports mode, this gives the bike it's full power when needed. I kind of cheated today as I used level 3 on some of the steeper banks. I was out mainly just to clear my head and not beast myself. That is the beauty of an electric bike, you can set it up and use it to make a ride that bit more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, even today there were certain sections where I turned off all assist, and no it wasn't just cruising down banks Lol.

 

Lets see if it works this time?

 Yet another lie in, following a late night. My body clock is totally out of sync, due to being off work. Normally I have my alarm set for 6:30 am, Sunday through to Wednesday, which gives me enough time to get up, have some breakfast and then head through to Newcastle for work.

Hopefully the Disability Service Centre will sort me out with a new prosthetic socket soon, and I can get back to work. It has been so frustrating and stressful being off, it's not like I am actually sick, I just don't have a limb I can wear for a prolonged period without it causing me a lot of pain and discomfort. It kind of comes with being an amputee I guess.

I have noticed my weight fluctuate quite a bit over the last few months, going from my old socket being way too big and requiring a smaller socket to be made to, jumping on the scales the other day and weighing in at just over 14 stone, with my prosthetic leg on. That is the heaviest I have been for quite some time. It is probably as a result of my changed diet, having decided to go from a vegetarian, to more of a flexitarian. Plus my ongoing exercise routine, which I do every day and has been going on for well over 2 years now.

Anyhoo just a bit of background there... It's relevant, in that the exercise, which includes my cycling, has really kept me sane. There is nothing worse than feeling just when things are getting back to normal, something else comes along to take the wind from your sails.

Orbea Gain M20 1x sporting new bottle cage

 

So upon waking up this morning I didn't give my little internal voice the chance to say "ahh just stop in, you can always go out another day". Instead, I quickly got my bikey gear from my wardrobe, got ready, popped my Bartlett Tendon on, using it without tendons as I was intending on using my new Orbea Gain gravel bike.

Orbea at the bottom of the Black Path

Yesterday I had fitted a new VEL RL Carbon bottle cage to my Orbea, got it as it matched the colour of my bike. I also bought a Camelbak Podium bottle and filled this up with water straight from the fridge.

Made sure I had the required gear in my Camelbak, how do they say in the US? "Fanny pack", and I was just about ready for the off. I asked Ern to watch me set up the Mahle Smartbike app and connect it to my bike. If you read my other blog post about the first ride on my Orbea, you will know I was most disappointed with the app. I just wanted to make sure I had actually connected the bike to the app.

Ern and I watched as the display said connecting, then a count-down and Go. I decided I would just go out for a ride and not keep stopping, fannying on with the app if it wasn't working. I had figured out the Orbea computer, which sits out in front of the bike's stem. If I hold down the left lower button it resets the distance and the right button when held turns off the bike's lights. Pleased I discovered the button for the lights as I think it's a right faff on trying to switch them off by the frame mounted button, I end up just switching the bike off.

Orbea computer

Oh! And I forgot to mention I adjusted the motor map from custom which is one of the settings to urban. Urban if I remember correctly gives 40% power assist on level 1, 70% on level 2 and 90% on level 3. Now I know that sounds like a lot, however the bike only has a 250w battery, so the power, and its delivery feels a lot less than say on my Specialized Turbo Levo, I will explain as I get further along.

As per usual no real plan of where I was going, I was just out for a ride, it was a canny nice day too. I jumped on the bike, felt weird riding without the resistance of the tendons on my BTK, in a way I didn't feel as confident. What I did notice immediately is without the resistance how much easier it is just to spin. That said, as I didn't have much air in my shock, I couldn't stand out of the saddle if I wanted to do any out of the saddle climbing or if taking in a bumpy trail.

I headed over Durham Road and cut through Holly Hill coming out at St Marys, then headed up towards South Moor passing the "Pinneys", as we used to call them back in the day. Once at South Moor I went up Pine Street and at the top of the street went past the allotments and came to the Black Path. Little photo opportunity.

Dear me, me and technology. I tried to connect my GoPro to my phone, and it just wouldn't connect. This got me thinking, does technology actually help or hinder us? I mean, here I was out for a ride, stopped to take a picture and ended up fucking about with gadgets. In the end, I manually pressed the GoPro button and then spent the next 5 to 10 minutes riding up the Black Path muttering under my breath. I rode up the Black path with my bike set on level 1. I could feel I was still having to put some effort in, but could feel some gentle assistance.

At the top of the Black Path as I passed the houses at Langley View, I used the Orbea computer to turn off all assistance, so selecting "0" on the display. From here to Consett and all the way down the Lanchester Valley, I just rode with no assistance. Have to say the bike rides really well, feels quick and not heavy at all.

Lanchester Valley

Lovely Day

Going down the Lanchester Valley I came to Langley Park and knew which ever way I decided to head there would be a bank. I choose to head towards Jaw Blades, knowing it was a long climb, however thinking this would be a good opportunity to try out the Orbea and see what the assistance was like on all levels. As I started climbing the bank I went from level 1 and 40%, stepping up to level 2 and 70%, then as I reached the toughest bit I had to drop to the smallest cog and climbing at about 4 mph using Level 3 and 90% assist. Again, I know it sound like a lot, however I still found I was working hard. I could hear my rapid heart beat in my ears as I pushed myself up the bank.

Just before coming into Burnhope, I turned right and went down the quiet single track road, where the wind turbines live. Here I was able to turn the bike to level 1 and pretty much coast along the road in a high gear. As I reached the end of the lane, which turns right and heads down a pretty steep bank, I was on the cabs doing about 25mph. My eyes were streaming, and I almost crapped myself when I hit a pothole, and it sent my bike a bit squirrelly. It brought back memories of when I was a teenager and a bus knocked me off my bright red racer, when coming down Crook Gate Bank. Following the squirrelly incident, I then took more care coming down the bank towards the scrapyards at Sacriston. The road here is pretty bumpy, could lose a filling.

From Sacriston I was back on the road and headed towards Daisy Hill and Edmondsley... "Wheeeeeee!" all the way down Edmondsley bank and turned Right at the bottom. Scary being on the road and travelling quite fast, then knowing you have to indicate with your arm out, luckily upon checking over my shoulder no cars behind me.

A climb up another bank, mainly using level 2. This brought me to the road that goes from Craghead down to Chester Le Street, pretty much opposite Fox Parrot Wood. I turned Left and headed up into Craghead using a combination of power especially towards the cross roads at Craghead opposite the Punch Bowl Pub as there were cars about, and I wanted to get away from the junction. It's difficult getting started off as an amputee on an incline, as you sometimes cannot get your good foot up on the pedal quick enough to give you that initial push away.

From Craghead a pretty easy ride back to Durham Road and home. A check on the Mahle App when I arrived at home ad it had tracked me all the way, and then went on to upload the data to my Strava, today being Day74 with a total of 834 consecutive days ridden. Covered 26.77 miles today, my longest ride for a while.

I really like the Orbea Gain, in that it offers just enough assistance, however unlike my Specialized Turbo Levo where if I left it on Turbo all day I just wouldn't get a workout, the Orbea makes you work. By that I mean if you were relatively unfit and had this bike on 100% assist, you would still be knackered after a good ride out. The power delivery also works in a very different way. When I have my Specialized assist on as soon as I push down on a pedal I can feel the motor kick in, whereas on the Orbea it is kind of like a delayed response, then as you pedal it is a weird feeling in that you cannot really feel the assistance, however you know it is there.

Hopefully next time out I will get a lot more pictures, to make up for all this writing, Oh! And get all my tech to work.

Maiden Ride

 Finally, put my ass in gear, and took my Orbea Gain out for her maiden ride.

 

Initial thoughts, I love the feel of the bike, by that I mean it's size and positioning for comfort and use. I obviously had the assisted power set slightly wrong, as man the pull up Durham Road and on to Wear Road was a slog. I had thought it would be a breeze on level 2.

Upon a quick check of my power settings, which you can customise using the Mahle Smartbike App, I saw that I only had 15% on level 1 and around 20 or was it 30% on level 2.

While I am on about the Mahle Smartbike App I have to say I absolutely detest it. I was running the App through my old Samsung Galaxy S9. It took an absolute age to connect, and then counted me down, saying I was connected.

My first ride out on the Orbea Gain was totally ruined by the Smart bike App, due to it constantly loosing connection, requiring me to turn it off and reset it, then also resetting my bike and in the end fannying on trying to reset the GPS on my mobile phone.

All I really wanted to do was go for a cruise and get to grips with the bike and see what the different settings did and how the motor preformed.

Things I do like are being able to adjust the power of the motor, there is a customisable setting, called "motor maps" so you can set power for levels 1, 2 and 3, or you can use the defaults of Eco, Urban and another couple which escape my memory.

The bike it's self just feels right, it is comfortable, when the motor is engaged and working it is quiet and when you get over the 15.5 mph cut off with pedal assist the motor disengages and doesn't hold you back with any resistance. Obviously the bike is heavier than a standard road/gravel bike due to it being an electric bike, however you don't actually feel it once aboard. The Orbea Gain also looks aesthetically pleasing, love this Ice green colour, which looks like a blue at times. Also like the internal cables and the dropper seat post I asked to have installed works super smooth from the Left Shimano R810 lever. I like the fact you can adjust the seat post gradually and smoothly, with a gentle flick of the lever.

In ending, if I can get the Mahle Smartbike App to work correctly and not keep disconnecting then having to reconnect upon each ride which is very frustrating, 

I would be so happy with this new ride. Apparently Mahle decided to change from the previous App to this new version and a lot of people have been complaining about the same issues I have experienced. The old App looked far superior, even allowing for mapping in conjunction with a mobile phone.

Next time out, I will try and set up the app again and also look at the various power levels, experimenting to see how much peak power the motor can provide, not that I ride using full assist. Just enough to give me my leg back is enough for me.

Looks so good I don't want to take her out and get her dirty!

 Sometime in August of this year I made a post about waiting long enough to first decide if I really needed another bike and then if I could warrant spending more money on one. 

Orbea Gain, now a M20 1x

I had thinned my fleet of bicycles down from 10 to 6, so figured one more couldn't hurt. I had had my eye on this particular bike for some time, an Orbea Gain  M20 1X gravel bike, which is an eBike, however the bikes always appeared impossible to get a hold of.

Bike comes with its own lights

Easy to use iwoc button to operate bike

I would have preferred a bar mounted power button, but sure I will get used to this frame mounted version.

Originally, I had set my heart on a stealthy looking grey coloured version, but like I say no matter where I looked online there were non to be had in my size, which for me is a size Large. I then saw Leisure Lakes Bikes had an Ice Green size Large M20 for sale, so smashed open my piggy bank and pretty much without a second thought put a deposit down on the bike and sorted out the finance for the remainder.

Leisure Lakes Bikes then organised to get the bike to me via a courier, and the bike arrived on the 19th August.

I have to say the box which the bike came in was absolutely "Humongous", however it was also the best packaged bicycle I have ever received. All I had to do once removed from the box and all the protective packaging was fasten the handlebars in place.

I then stood back to admire my new ride, she sure did look better than the pictures online and the design is beautiful. The bike having internal cable routing and this being the carbon frame model. Other than the weight due to the batteries you can hardly tell it is an eBike. The bike having a MAHLE ebikemotion X35+ hub motor. I wanted something simple, so opted for the 1 x 11 drive train.

eBikemotion X35+ Rear Hub

 

After checking the bike over, my dad asked should he get rid of the huge box, saying he would have to cut it in half to get it in his car to take to the tip. I figured we wouldn't be needing it, so made one final check to make sure nothing was left in the box, then gave him the go ahead.

My next though was to use the QR code on my bike and go online and register the bike. I got all the way to the end completing the relevant information for the warranty, when I happened to notice, just by chance, a message congratulating me as I recall on registering my new Orbea Gain M30. Hold on a minute, did you almost miss it too? M30 I thought I am sure I ordered an M20. I then had that sinking feeling.

I immediately went downstairs to my new bike and started checking her out for signs of different components to verify what model I had. I also asked my dad to bring up on his computer what the difference was in the two models, so that I could do a quick comparison check.

I discovered some tiny writing on the back of the brake calipers so used my camera on my phone to take a picture and sure enough it said Shimano RX 400. Oh dear, not good. Upon further inspection, it became clear that I had the wrong model bike.

 

New Shifters RX-810's with a dropper lever on Left Lever

New RX-810 Calipers

By this time it was about 16:45 pm. I rang Leisure Lakes Bikes and fortunately got to speak to one of their supervisors. He explained that he was off the following day, but that he would pass the information over to someone to follow up with the next day.

I wasn't really hopeful that anyone would contact me the next day, as many of you will no doubt have had the same experience when buying stuff, it generally takes a few calls to get anything done. So imagine my surprise when a very friendly chap called Jack got in touch and explained the situation.

Apparently the bike I received had been at a different Leisure Lakes Bikes store and had been mistakenly put in stock as an M20 size Large. Jack had contacted Orbea, and they had informed him that there had never been an M20 delivered to Leisure Lakes Bikes. Well, that solved that mystery.

Jack then offered me a few options, with no pressure.

1. return the bike and get a full refund of my deposit, saying he would ship a new box up and all costs would be paid for by Leisure Lakes Bikes.

2. Keep the cheaper model bike and have the difference refunded.

3. Keep the bike and Leisure Lakes Bikes would get in all the components required to upgrade my bike to the M20 model I wanted at no further cost to myself.

I explained to Jack option 3 sounded good, as the reason I wanted the
Shimano ST-RX810 shifters was that they are dropper seat post compatible.

Jack then said to leave it with him, and he would see if a dropper post could be retro fitted. Something Orbea informed me couldn't be done due to the battery pack. Oh! And I also asked Jack could he have my bike wrapped.

A few days later Jack got back in touch saying yes he thought a dropper post could be fitted, however the other components would take a little while to come into stock, asking did I mind waiting. I thought I had waited this long, what was a few more weeks/months.

Mahle mini computer that came with the Orbea

X-Fusion Manic Dropper post successfully installed and working a treat

And so last Saturday the 13th November, my dad and I went down to Leisure Lakes Bikes at their Leeds shop and picked up my new ride. She is completely upgraded to an M20, with an X-Fusion manic 27.2 dropper post, activated from the Left shifter, and she has been wrapped to protect here and looks superb. I have some TIME ATAC XC pedals to fit. I know they are more Mtb orientated, it's just I hate wearing road shoes and using road pedals as when I need to walk anywhere in the shoes I am all over the place. Plus, I always get a nice secure clipped in feeling using my Time pedals, essential when using my Bartlett Tendon Knee.

Time ATAC pedals

I haven't as yet had a spin on her as I am having serious socket issues and have a poorly painful stump, plus in all honesty she looks so good I don't want to get her all dirty.

The bike looks stunning

The protective wrap is flawless

I know things didn't go as planned with the bike at the start, however I can't fault Leisure Lakes Bikes for their customer service, how friendly and professional they were, especially Jack who rang and emailed me throughout the process Oh! And for their attention to detail, plus the handover of my bike down at Leeds.

Thanks Guys.

I will give a more in-depth review of the Orbea Gain once I get my butt in gear and I head out on her.