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

Short tough ride, is it because I am getting old?

 It has been well over 2 months since I last had a ride out with my friend John. He has had a few days off work, so suggested we have a little look out. Both of us aren't exactly as fit as we used to be. I mean I have ridden every day for 579  days now, and I am on Day 161 of this year, however that has mostly been on my turbo trainer, and although I get quite the sweat on it is totally different to being out in the real world and climbing hills and going over rougher terrain. Not only that I decided to take my Fat Bike and although it is so much fun it can be a bit harder work.

Out with John Day 161 x

Did I mention I am riding every day this year for Arctic One, a charity who have supported myself and many other people? Arctic ONE is not one of these big, well known charities, however the work they do is nothing short of amazing. If you can spare anything great or if you just would like to see what Arctic ONE is about and what they do, either search for them on Facebook or checkout www.arctic1.co.uk

Virgin Money Giving Link

This morning I had to re-attach my tendons to my Bartlett Tendon. I got the first bolt in, tightening it up with my mini torque wrench and went to put the second bolt in for the cam and the bloody bolt snapped. Fortunately I had a spare and the broken piece came out fairly easily by using a screwdriver.

 

Broken stud in my knee

By the time I had fannied on with my leg, John had arrived, so as usual he had to wait a little while till I got my gear sorted.

We were soon off just making a route up as we went and deciding as we were not exactly fit just to stay local and not go too far. It was more just about being out than how far.

Basically, we headed over to Chapman Wells Nature reserve and just had a tootle around whilst chatting.

Out on the BTK and my Fat Bike

John patiently waiting for me to position camera

My Silverback Synergy Fat developed a horrible clicking sound, which progressed to a screech at times, so I think my bottom bracket is on its way out. Ern is going to inspect it for me, never mind the bike got me home and nothing dropped off or seized up.

John and Glenn

John

Not a very exciting tale I am afraid the heat has zapped my energy over the last few days, not complaining mind you. I just feel so fortunate and grateful to be able to do all the things I am able to do.

Riding back up the trail

Fuel

   Next week I am away to see the Cancer Specialist Nurse for a review, so far the treatment has kept my Non Hodgkin's at bay and I haven't felt any lumps or bumps. I am still having a few minor issues with socket fit, however again feel fortunate as it has been probably 3 or maybe even 4 years since Pace Rehabilitation  designed my current socket and in that time I have only been back to the Disability Service Centre maybe two or three times.

All about the things you can do

Pay it forward

A few days ago I was contacted via Youtube by a lady who had seen one of my Youtube videos. She wrote asking for advice on how to set up and use the Bartlett Tendon in order to be able to pedal foot over foot out of the saddle.

Now I know those of you reading who have not had an above-knee amputation will think it's no big deal, it's easy right? You just hop on your bike and when you feel like it just get up off your saddle and let your legs do the work, pumping away and gaining speed.



Well for an above knee amputee without the correct prosthetic knee, which to be honest are few and far between it is pretty difficult if not impossible. When you lose a leg your whole body dynamics are changed, you no longer have a long lever as in bones, you lack muscles, ligaments and tendons. So in order to be able to ride as close to as "normal" as possible a specifically designed sporting prosthetic is required. This is where the Bartlett Tendon Knee (BTK) comes into its own.

Brian Bartlett the designer of the BTK has continued in his development and as time has gone on the knee has become more and more advanced and user friendly. Lots of research and development has gone into getting the prosthetic to the stage it is at now and Brian has worked tirelessly and I have to say not for profit but to offer people something that actually works.

Brian knows only to well the frustrations of being told "you can no longer do that" and for him, that was just not an option. So he set about on his mission all those years ago to design and have manufactured something that would enable both himself and end-users a product that would replicate as much as possible the natural physical movement of a human leg when used in various sports, cycling being one of those.

Going back to the lady who reached out to me. It was very difficult to write to someone and try to explain just what to do in order to be able to set about riding out of the saddle. I have over the years tried helping many people with technique and setup, however, unless you can actually do a one to one session and demonstrate like I say it's difficult to put down in words.

The basic setup of the knee, things like air pressure in the shock, rebound damping and compression can be explained. What settings to have cam's on etc, but as mentioned actually riding is something that has to be practised, felt and learnt.

Whilst chatting with the lady in question I learnt that she was using an older version of the Bartlett Tendon Knee. This was the version with the receivers placed onto the socket and the pinned Cam's. She explained that she could pedal comfortably and stand with flat pedals but couldn't stand and pedal, foot over foot.

Her setup was 2 soft tendons in the 2nd cam position, and about 70 or 80 psi in Rockshox RT3 shocker. She also mentioned she weighed about 130 pounds and that she had the Rebound all the way up.

After reading her message I knew I had to familiarise myself with the older version of the Bartlett Tendon, you see I have been using the newer BTK Crossover which is a completely different animal.

Anyhoo in order to get to grips with the older knee involved quite the adventure, you see Ern, my pops had decided to not only put my old knee up in our loft but also dismantle the whole thing. I had a very scary job of retrieving all the bits by climbing our skinny, wobbly loft ladder, harder than you think when wearing a prosthetic leg and not being able to feel where your foot is, plus making sure my knee was locked upon each step. Wor Kyle waited at the bottom of the steps to gather all the components. Once passed down another scary venture down the ladders.

I had to then assemble the BTK, and attach it to an old socket which I reckon I hadn't worn in like 2 years. Overall the job didn't take too long and I was really surprised that I pretty much got the alignment sorted on my first go.

I put all the settings of the knee to there basics, no air pressure in, no pins in the cams, soft tendons and I had a little tinker with the rebound deciding to try the knee on 5 clicks which is halfway. I then jumped on my road bike set up in my turbo Trainer and went for a little blast.

Wow, the older BTK felt so different to my Crossover, so much so at first, I thought I had set it up incorrectly. However, after a little spinning then selecting the correct gears on my bike I was soon up and standing out of my saddle and pedalling foot over foot. It didn't look pretty, this being down to not adjusting the whole prosthetic correctly. I had not measured my pylon for height, or adjusted toe in or out and aligned the socket to the knee perfectly, however, I was pretty happy that I could do a little demo of the technique used.

I used my GoPro set up on the end of my bed and shot a short video in 2 clips which I then edited together, added some music and hey presto something that hopefully was a lot more informative than writing a long message.

For anyone reading this you will see I titled it "Pay it forward". This is an important message as it relates to all those people and more that have helped support me over the years. Far too many to mention, however, you know who you are. To name but a few Brian Bartlett, Pace Rehabilitation, Arctic ONE and my dear old dad who has always supported me in my challenges, even though I can be quite challenging at times LoL...

Thank You

Buzzing up the Bank

Yesterday morning I went out for a buzz on my Buzzraw. I actually took some video footage using my Hero 5, nothing special and with no real purpose. No, it was more just a leisurely cruise out on my wee retro electric bike on what was a beautiful day.
 
As it turned out when I got back from what I thought was quite an epic ride, could have sworn I rode more than 11 miles, and then checked my footage I was pretty disappointed. It's been some time since I shot a few clips and threw them together and well I just couldn't figure out how to edit all the stuff together to make it look half decent.

I kind of know what the problem was, and this is a top tip for all those budding video' ers... is that even a word. Anyhoo when you shoot your video's make them short and interesting. Yesterday I was lazy and basically just left my camera running whilst I cycled around Stanley.
 
So rather than make a long borrrring! movie I actually just deleted all the footage. Well tonight I was feeling a little bored so thought "Ooh I wonder if the 12.6 Gig of data I deleted is still in my recycle bin". It was so I threw this short movie together. I guess if nothing else it shows what a breeze it is going up wor big bank on an electric bike.

The End Lol

Oh, PS Thanks to Pace Rehabilitation and Leftside.Life and Brian Bartlett, as without you I wouldn't get out on my bike.

An honour and a privilege to support my good friends over at Pace Rehabilitation

Last month I got a message from none other than QuiggoldI thought he may have been inviting me to some Jedi get together, however, this was not to be the case. Quiggold aka Scott Richardson is Pace Rehab's PR Guru and he was, in fact, asking if I wouldn't mind supporting both himself and Toby Carlson up in Edinburgh. Toby being Pace's expert witness and director. 

Demonstrating adaption for my job role and being able to kneel behind patients

Scott informed me that Pace had arranged a presentation for a Law firm named Road Traffic Accident Law Scotland(RTALS LLP) and their associates. These guys are specialists in Road Traffic Accident Compensation, their mission statement being "We don't just make the difference, we are the difference". 

Of course, I wasn't going to refuse, as by now you will know if you have ever read my Blog, just how supportive Pace has been to me over the years, and it is always a real pleasure to give something back and help out where I can.

The presentation was up in Edinburgh, bonus a nice ride out to a beautiful place. I love Scotland. As usual, I brought my chauffeur, my dear old dad Ern. Well, I needed his car as I didn't think my bike would fit in my Smart Car and I didn't fancy having a go at trying to get it into "Grandma" my Beetle. Far better to bring Ern's mobile skip.

Getting back to the ride up, we made excellent time, in fact, we were a tad early so pulled over for a short break on the way up. Scott had informed me the presentation was to start around 11:00am and finish around 13:30'ish...No worries I thought. Well, that was until we got into the centre of Edinburgh. Dear me it was chaos, so much construction going on. What with roads closed, diversions in place oh and a Sat Nav woman trying to direct up roads and lanes that were closed off. Oh and then there were the taxi's, 6 wheeler buses, trams and irritate pedestrians.

After thinking we were where we needed to be I gave the number Scott had provided me with a call and spoke to Jodi, one of the ladies we were presenting to a call. Bless her she did her utmost to direct us. Apparently, we were only 2 blocks away. Jodi recommended we look for Hanover Street I think it was called, so I popped this in the Sat Nav and off we went doing a complete loop of Edinburgh. We finally got to where the Sat Nav lady told us we needed to be, and bloody hell the road was closed. So around we went again, quite the tour of Edinburgh may have been fun if not for time constraints .

Eventually, we arrived up by the Statue of George somebody or other, sure he is famous I just didn't have time for a history lesson. By this time I was a little stressed and back on the phone to Jodi. Jodi then did a splendid job of directing us around this maze of narrow back streets to get to where we needed to be. I was really impressed. Thank god Ern did come with me as I am terrible at directions and would never have found the place.

Both Scott and Toby firstly gave their presentation and when it was my turn they gave me the nod and I just had to wing my bit. Basically briefly explaining my journey, a little about provision and support, and the various prosthetics I have encountered. I also mentioned my thoughts on elective amputation, versus traumatic and the process of recovery and rehabilitation. I then went on to do a little bit of demonstration using my everyday Rheo XC and my BTK Crossover upon my bike.

Toby Explaining what Pace offers and the process

Toby and a captive audience

Scott doing his thing

Rotating my ankle

Talking about the importance of socket fit

At the end of the presentation it was really nice to chat have the opportunity to chat to a few of the people who attended and get some lovely feedback, which is always good for the soul and kind of gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, you know like you may have left a little impression or at least a good one on  Pace's behalf.

Demoing BTK Crossover usage/ability

Upon our ride home Scott messaged me and said one of the ladies in attendance had actually said to him, and I am sure she won't mind me quoting her, "I have been doing this job for longer than I care to remember and can honestly say that was the best presentation I have seen".

It's the little things that people can say and do that make a big difference.

A huge thank you to everyone in attendance, especially for all your kind words, it was a real pleasure meeting you all, sorry I didn't get to talk to everyone at the end. 

Big thank you to Jodi Gordon for her images and video clips

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

Do you think it's more difficult when you have more choice?

After starting to feel much better at the start of this year and getting back to both cycling, with the help of my new eBike and swimming (I did 70 lengths today at our local pool, which is just over a mile) well the inevitable has happened, and my addiction has returned... Yes "Bike Porn".
 
Last week, whilst venturing down to Pace Rehabilitation's Manchester clinic in Bredbury to pick up my awesome looking and of course feeling cycling socket, both Ern and I took a slight detour and headed to Cycle Gear  in Halifax. The reason for me wanting to visit there is I had seen online that they were a dealer for Orbea bikes and actually had a size large Orbea Gain in stock. I wanted to have a sit on one and see just what it felt like in comparison to my Derosa Idol.

The young lad at Cycle Gear, named Luke, was spot on and invited me to have a sit on a bike that was already fitted to a turbo trainer. Although I was not set up for riding, no Bartlett Tendon Knee, or my correct shoes and pedals, sitting on the bike gave me a good idea of size. The bike I perched myself on was a road going version, where as I fancy the "All Road", basically a cyclo x version, so fewer gears and slightly fatter tyres. Overall the bike felt good, the bike I sat on having a 120 mm stem, so think I would change that for a 110 mm as I just felt I was overstretching. Oh! and one addition I would definitely like to make, should I manage to save up enough pennies, is to fit a dropper seat post. As yet unsure whether I could fit a stealth remote or just have to pop an under saddle lever version, like the KS version I have fitted on my road bike.

Originally I had quite wanted to opt for the alloy framed version of the Gain, as there are mounting points for mudguards and panniers, however upon seeing the carbon version, well it just looked so dam pretty. There is a £1000 difference in price, and it's all in the frame as far as I can see, as the components all look the same. I could have quite fancied the Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon Wheel set, however that adds another £719 on to the bike.

Orbea's site is pretty neat. I like the way you can customise your ride on the higher level bikes, things like colour, wheel set, bars, stem, saddle etc.

As I spoke to Luke about delivery times etc, he mentioned that I could potentially have the bike customised paint wise. He also informed that if I got the bike through Cycle Gear they could offer me 10% off, which is £400 so nothing to be sniffed at.
 
Now, then this custom paint job. It has me in a spot of a dilemma. I mean it's great being able to have a nice choice of colours, however I now find myself in the position of "Oooooh what colour" I am like a kid in a sweet shop and there is just too much choice. Sweets are a lot cheaper, and you can get a sort of a mix up, where as once I have chosen a colour for a new bike I have to live with it.


Here are some ideas I have in mind...Ern quite likes the yellow version...

Yellow n Blue

Orange and Black

Orange and Blue

Blue and Fuschia

Fuschia and Yellow with Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbon Wheel set

I have just mocked up this version and man those wheels look sweet, Dang it more saving to be done I guess. I know colour is a bit out there but hey, kind of my personality, LoL

Oh! And what you may not realise is this bike is also an eBike. It has a hub motor and a smaller battery than what is in the current mountain bikes. The range should be something around 50 miles, I am hoping.

Watch this space, and please feel free to leave comments, why not pop over to Orbea and spec up a favourite colour...

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.

 

It's canny cad like

Yesterday both Ern and I were down at Pace Rehabilitation's Manchester clinic at Bredbury where I was going to test out a new check socket, specifically for use on my BTK Crossover. Toby one of my prosthetists had taken a cast from my everyday socket late last year. The socket this cast was taken from was actually a design, which Paul, again one of my prosthetists from Pace had designed and my local Disability Service Centre then copied, giving me the socket I use everday for work and what not.
 

 

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.

When a design becomes even better.

Hello
As usual I have neglected my blog for quite sometime. Oh sure there have been things going on, but unlike people who like to tell you on Facebook they are on to their 3rd Jaffa Cake  I figured I would contain myself until I had something of interest to share.

I have been off work, almost all of this month after being rear ended in Tango my Smart car and suffering from a spot of whiplash, so that hasn't been great. Especially as I just thought I had turned a corner health wise. The respiratory consultant I visited, appears to have done the trick with a combination of anti-acid tablets and a nasal steroid spray which makes me sneeze. I guess a cough is a fair trade for a sneeze. I think what has really helped me of course is knowing I am clear of requiring further treatments for the Non Hodgkin's. Back to watch and wait.

Anyhoo rather than bore you with why I have not been around, here is some news and info that I know a few people will be excited to read, well those missing legs, for the rest of you....Err did I happen to tell you I am on to my 4th Jaffa Cake LoL

Some of you may recall that last year I was blown away when Fabtech Systems announced, without my prior knowledge that I would be one of the first people to receive the new BTK Crossover Integrated Cams. It came totally out of the blue. I just happened to pop Facebook on and that is when I found out. Well that was well over 6 months or so ago. Greg Mattson the founder and CEO of Fabtech Systems had been keeping me up to date alongside the designer Brian Bartlett of the situation with the new design.

BTK Crossover Integrated Cams

Been asked to take part in an article for Silverback Bikes

On Tuesday I was contacted by Silverback Bikes Brand Communications Specialist, Temarah. You see I am an ambassador for Silverback Bikes, having got my Silverback Synergy Fat Bike way back in 2016. Temarah went on to explain that she had seen some footage of me riding my bike using my prosthetic sports knee, the BTK Crossover and she wanted to know would I been interested in doing a short feature for Silverback's Media Centre.

Love the Silverback Synergy Fat design, carbon front triangled frame

This involved answering a few questions to get a background, things like when I started riding, how I came to become an amputee and the journey I have been on since. Including how I came to start off on the Bartlett Tendon and involving the tremendous support I have had along the way. Of course when writing a blog such as this I have to mention my Good friends over at Pace Rehabilitation, Brian Bartlett, Fabtech Sytems and The Arctic ONE Foundation. All of whom have played a part in my life and adventures.

BTK Crossover, just needed aligning

Temarah, also asked would it be possible for me to get some new footage that Silverback could use upon their media centre. So I decided to do that today. I explained to Temarah that I am just starting to get back out there. As many of you who enjoy reading my blog will have noticed I have neglected it somewhat. On reflection I can look back over the last couple of years and see I have had a bit of a nightmare health wise. At first when I started my cancer treatment I thought "hey there is nowt to this", however as time progressed man I was feeling more and more wiped out. Like proper chronic fatigue. It's funny it wasn't until just the other day when one of my good friends and work colleagues Jennifer said in general conversation "Glenn you have been really poorly for sometime", that I actually took it in. You see I tend to be one of those people that beat themselves up and won't give myself a break. I didn't think of myself as being ill, more like I was being lazy and I had lost motivation.


Never mind I turned down my last treatment and have had good news today from my cancer specialist nurse, she rang me whilst I was riding up our bank, so I was quite out of breath. I grabbed my phone and she informed me everything looks good on my CT scan.


I continued up the bank to John my mates house and after he got his bairn sorted with her Gran, we set off. Continuing up the bank and heading off towards East Stanley, with the plan to head down to Beamish woods.


Once in Beamish woods it didn't take me long to figure out my Crossover was all out of alignment. I had had to swap my new socket out for a much bigger old one, the other week as my residual limb has gained so much volume, another word for getting fat. Anyhoo I didn't have the best tools in my backpack so had to ring Ern to get assistance. 20 minutes or so later Ern rocked up with some decent allen keys and we were able to align my knee and foot a tad better. Only problem being the bolt for my pylon and foot wasn't the best so my foot was still out of skew a bit.

My bud John

Coming down the trail

Cracking day

John and I rode up through the woods chatting as we went. Finally we got to where we thought would make a good start. The video only had to be around 1:30 long. Got some nice footage as the sun was out and it didn't take long at all. Bit gutted as the final bit of recording didn't appear on my memory card. This was the bit where John and I were acting like little kids playing in the ford. Tell you what it was proper slippy and we both almost fell off.

Off the back of the bike with the Crossover

Close up of the Crossover flexed

John playing in the stream

John having a right hoot

Man it was slippery coming across the ford

Splish Splash

Where we come from

Managed to grab a few pics today. The ride home was torture. When I say ride I will admit I cheated a little and had to push my bike up the Shepherd and Shepherdess bank, even when I am fit that bank is a killer.

Out for a blast on little Nelly

Wow where has this weather appeared from? Not complaining, in fact it gave me the opportunity to head out and finally test the new brake and clutch lever set up on my little Benelli TNT. I have had the bike for quite some time now, however not really had the chance to head out. In fact, the bike had only covered approx 15 miles, then had been sitting at the bottom of our stairs in the hall.

Boys and their Toys

Originally, I paid a small fortune for a Brembo master cylinder thumb brake. However, working alongside Ern we just could not get the thumb brake in a comfortable position, plus the feel of the combined brakes was awful. I struggled to not only stop, but also in actually trying to pull in the clutch, whilst using the thumb brake. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

One of my mates, Des sent me a link to Youtube of this kid who had incorporated what is known as a stunt clutch on his Grom. Essentially, it is a small clutch lever that can be actuated by a single finger. I researched the levers and discovered there was no way I would get one to fit with the original brake levers that were on the bike. This meant ordering some new radial type brake levers from AliExpress. This would allow me to use one lever on the left hand for my rear brake and the one on the front as normal for the front. Plus I ordered a (RSC) Righteous Stunt clutch lever, medium length. It was rather expensive, however appears to have done the job. The fit to get all the levers and switch gear is tight and as I will go on to explain requires a little tweaking from a comfort/ use point of view.

RSC Stunt Clutch and Adelin radial levers

Ok so like I said earlier this is the first time using this set up. It takes a little getting used to. I have discovered I am automatically going for the rear brake, which is now on my left handlebar, thinking it is a clutch lever. This means at first I clunked a few gears. It also meant I slowed down quite dramatically as I pulled on the lever. Then I got comfortable using the small clutch lever and the opposite happened, I mistook it for a brake and instead of slowing I just disengaged the gears. Also set up wise the levers feel as if they are in the wrong position. It's totally different going out for a ride compared to just sitting on the bike in the back garden. Due to the lack of space on the bars it can be difficult to adjust the position of the levers on the left hand bar, they are just so close together. Luckily there has been a little room for movement and on returning home Ern gave me a hand to adjust the levers. The radial brakes also have screw in/out adjusters for lever travel and this has helped a lot as the levers are now within reach.

  
What's it like riding as an above knee? Errr scary, well for me it is. I have not spoken to any other above knees, but what I am discovering is I am perfectly confident turning left, but I do not like turning right at all. It's weird as normally when you ride you wouldn't put a foot down and you use the power of the engine to pull you around or through a corner. Maybe it's psychological. I have noticed the same thing when I am out on my mountain bike. Left turns are fine, however rights can prove tricky. It would be interesting to hear from fellow above knees on this.

I covered roughly 50 miles today, heading up to Smiddy Shore and around by Stanhope. I pulled in at the petrol station at Lanchester to fill up...When I say fill up I put all of £4.08 in my tank. I felt so guilty and was not sure if the attendant would accept anything under  fiver that I bought a bottle of water. I then discovered I had nowhere to carry it so stuffed it down my jacket. It kept falling down and I almost lost it a few times.

Learning curve today

Little Nelly

Over on the moors

Bike is canny loud with pipe on

All in all I had an enjoyable ride out, the weather has been ace. I figure if I can work out how to get to somewhere purely by doing left hand turns I will be fine LoL. In reality it's just a case of building up my confidence and learning this brake/clutch set up. Another reason it was scary today is a lot of where I rode was hilly and well I am running my bike in. It's not good when you have a bloody huge artic up your arse as you tootle along at 40 to 50 mph. Plus when he passed me I thought he was going to suck me under his truck. The only thing I managed to pass today was a tractor, mind you he was doing 32mph as I looked down at my clocks.

Broom Broom!!!

Over at Wagtail Lane

A big part of why I can get out on my bikes, both motorised and push is down to Pace Rehabilitation. Paul Richardson my prosthetist designed me an everyday socket and it just shows that having a decent socket can enable you to do a lot more and just get on with life... The only thing I am really disappointed with after today's outing is that my socket has rubbed a small hole in my seat. To be honest the material used on the seat is not very thick or of great quality. It's just another small challenge to sort out. Hopefully if I get the seat re-upholstered in something harder wearing it should resolve the issue.

Just messing around in the woods

Today's adventure out with John on the bikes was a short one. I am having a few problems with socket fit, kind of changed shape once again so my socket feels rather tight. Not to worry everything is in place to get sorted by the amazing team over at Pace Rehabilitation. Really don't know where I would be right now without the support of these guys. Definitely not jumping around and acting like a teenager in the woods that is for sure.

Man why do I have to live in such a hilly area. No matter which direction I go, here in jolly old Mordor there is a hill. Hey Ho back up the farmers trail we go.

As John and I set off up the Farmers Trail we were followed by a combined harvester and two tractors one of which was pulling a large trailer. We pulled over to the side and let them all get past and they headed up to start work in the nearby wheat field.

John heading up the Farmers Trail

Mid way up the farmers trail

Beautiful sky

John had been talking of seeing one of our friends on Facebook, Mark Peterson and all the cool pictures Mark had been putting on. Saying "I would like to go somewhere and have a play at maybe jumping off some stuff". Although we have beautiful surroundings, like woods and countryside I couldn't really think of anywhere to errr "Jump off stuff". I then remembered this little place down Beamish woods. Funnily enough it is where I actually attempted my first little jump on a bike after receiving my BTK way back in 2009.

Checkout the facials LoL

I had been loaned a Transition Blindside and man I can remember having a wide range of emotions going on. Everything from being real excited to absolutely bricking it. I mean I had never jumped anything since I was a nipper and as I was just getting back to cycling and the use of the Bartlett Tendon at the time well it was very nerve racking. It's kind of a weird feeling strapping what is essentially a bucket with an artificial knee joint and then relying on 2 elastic bands to be there when you take off and land. Obviously the BTK and especially the latest incarnation the BTK Crossover have so much more technology and design put into them, but never the less it was and in a way still is a leap of faith. No matter what you pop on to replace a lost limb, there is still the fact there is nothing quite like your own bits...So look after them and appreciate them people.

BTK Crossover

Knee in hyper extension, not good

Anyhoo we arrived at Beamish Woods and I showed John the little jump. "Ok you go first" John said. Yeah I could see what he was thinking, "you have a go and if you fall off I think I'll pass lol". So we set up the GoPro and just started messing around.

Eventually John says "Ok I'm ganna have a gan". He pushes his bike up the hill and gets to the top and says "Bloody hell it looks steeper from up here like". I tell John, "you might want to drop your seat down. I mean you don't want to catch your nuts if...ahem! I mean when you land". John is cautious his first time down the hill, but enjoys it so much he attempts it a good few times, gradually getting faster and gaining confidence. We probably stayed there a good hour and had a blast, so much fun.

Coming through Beamish woods

Following on we rode through a bit of wood I had never been through until we came to this massive steep hillside that was proper rooted and gnarly. I couldn't see all the way down through the tress so wasn't sure what it would be like to ride down. There were 3 young lads at the top, so I said to them "What's it like going down?" Too which I got the reply "It's canny steep like mate". "Mmmm decisions, decisions"," Awww screw it" I just went for it. Fuck me it was steeper than I thought lol At one point I felt I was going to go over the bars. Just when I thought I was at the bottom, the trail turned and there was an even steeper bit. No stopping now, arse hanging over the back wheel, thank god I had put my Rock Shock Monarch on the highest  flexion resistance, as this allowed me to fully flex my Crossover and control my bike. Last thing I wanted was to be too far forward with a hyper extended knee, recipe for disaster. Once at the bottom, man did I feel like the cat that got the cream, a big grin all over my face. I know for an everyday mountain bike rider this would just be a walk in the park, however for me when I think back to when I first had my amputation I couldn't keep my balance on my bike and would fall off on the flat, in my garden. John congratulated me on my descent after deciding it was way too steep for him to have a go at and he pushed his bike cautiously down the trail.

A grand morning playing

My mate John

 As we rode on the trail became more familiar and I knew we would have an epic climb back up towards home. Once we started climbing out of the woods, coming up the back of Beamish on the road towards the South Causey I could feel my stump feeling like it was going to explode. Man so fatigued and my hip was killing me. I had been riding today with more resistance in my tendons as Paul my prosthetist over at Pace  had relocated my receivers, as well as me putting my old tendons in place and then around 40psi in the shock. It's like riding, then doing a whole separate work out as you ride. I should probably have thought on and reduced the pressure in my shock and put the cams on an easier setting for the rest of the ride home. It's weird after all these years riding with the BTK and now the Crossover I am still learning what are the best settings for what ever I am doing. I had never really used the Highest flexion resistance setting, until chatting to another user and friend Jude. Jude does a lot of Down hill and I was interested to hear about how he sets up his knee, using the Shock on max resistance and to my surprise a relatively low amount of pressure in the can.

So only 7.1 miles or so covered today and lots of pain, but man it was so much fun and for me that is what it is all about.