Meet The Local Hero

About 6 or 7 months ago, I was contacted quite unexpectedly by a gentleman named Dragos Mostenescu. Dragos went on to explain that he was a producer, writer and actor in his native country of Romania, and that upon discovering my Blog, he and a friend of his, also named Dragos, Dragos Teglas, who is a film director, were very interested in my story.

In further conversation, Dragos mentioned that they already had an idea in place, for a short film, something along the lines of "Meet the Local Hero". Dragos provided me with links to his website and also for the other Dragos, so that I could see their past work and accomplishments, that they had each been involved in.

 

From left to right, Cosmin, Dragos M, The Ern, Oren, Me & Dragos T, plus Joy the dog and Kosher the kitten

Random biking shit!

 Over the last week or so, I have really been enjoying my biking, and I actually mean in the real world, not just spinning indoors on my turbo whilst watching music videos on YouTube. In fact, I have been having so much fun that I have not really stopped to take too many pictures or concerned myself about relating a story to you all.

That is why I have just decided to call this particular blog post random biking shit! It's a bit of a hodgepodge of my week's adventures in no real particular order.

So, as you will all know, I love my new Orbea Gain gravel bike. It's so easy to ride, especially as when I ride this bike I don't wear my tendons on my Bartlett Tendon, so no additional resistance. Well, I decided to go for a blast sometime last week, even thinking I would try taking a few shots with my GoPro.

Time Warp, then took a snapshot

Now GoPro wise, even though I have a Hero 9 Black edition and I have watched hundreds of video's on how to set the wee camera up, no matter how hard I try, photo wise they always come out looking naff. It is particularly hard as an amputee, setting up the camera and trying to use the 30-second timer to grab a shot. By the time I press the GoPro button, get re-clipped back in and set off on my bike, trying to time a shot I have either missed it, cut some part of my body off or failed in some other way.

Well the other week I did a Time Warp video whilst out on the Orbea and using Wondershare Filmora I was able to grab a snapshot. I thought "Hey that doesn't look half bad" so decided to try using the time warp feature more often for grabbing images.

I had intended to take a few more, however as I was fannying on with my camera someone rode past me whilst I was checking out my camera. Then I heard a voice call to me on the lines of "Hey Glenn, how are you doing". At the time I didn't have my glasses on so shouted back "Oh Hi, sorry I can't see who it is, I am blind as a bat, without me gigs". The rider approached me, and it took me a little while to figure out it was a lad I know very well, however had not seen in years, Tony Banks, we used to go to Kung Fu, back in the day. After a brief conversation, Tony mentioned he was heading up to Waskerley, "Oh I am heading up that way" I said, so we rode together all the way there and back, stopping to have a lovely cup of coffee at Parkhead Farm. Cheers for getting the coffee's in Tony. Really enjoyed seeing Tony and reminiscing about the old days and what we have been up to since, we exchanged numbers, so hopefully we can get together for some more rides out.

Next thing I can recall...Oh yeah, the new battery came for the Buzzraw. My dad and I had to change the battery mount as the new battery has a 5 pin connection, it is also a much sturdier mount and wasn't a big deal to fit.

Old Battery Mount

New Battery Mount

New Battery Mount fitted

I charged the new battery overnight, with a plan to head out the following morning early and shoot a GoPro video of me just playing about on the bike. Well after setting off up the Farmer's Trail to No Place then crossing the busy Chester Le Street road and taking the trail down to Shield Row and dropping down to Beamish I was bloody freezing. "Sod this" I thought, summer is bound to provide a warmer opportunity. So I turned and headed towards the road that would take me to Beamish Museum, headed up the bank and got onto the C2C and rode home. I covered around 9 miles. The Buzzraw is such a fun bike, however a wee bit small for me, so I could properly feel my good leg cramping up as I got home. I also have to be aware of my prosthetic knee when turning the bars right, as it is easy to catch my knee under the bars and come a cropper. When I got home I loosened the 4 studs holding the bars in place and also loosened the brake levers, shifter and power button. I then adjusted the bars so that they would give me a bit more clearance by angling them slightly forward. If I had the cash I would buy a Buzzraw X as I believe they are a bit bigger, plus they look so cool. Never mind, the Buzzraw is still fun for shorter, playful adventures.

And so to my Specialized Turbo Levo. Man, it was so weird jumping back on this bike after the Orbea Gain gravel. The Levo felt huge and so plush when riding up the Farmer's Trail. Something else I really noticed was just how much extra work I was doing now that I had my tendons re-fitted. My socket was being drawn up, right under my thigh, due to the resistance in the tendons, and was a bit uncomfortable, my socket isn't fitting great. Now that I am an amputee, I can really appreciate just how amazing our own two legs are. It didn't take me long to become accustomed to the extra resistance, I mean I have been riding on this knee since 2009. I don't even have to think about standing and peddaling out of the saddle, it just comes naturally. I still love this knee and over the years what it has allowed me to do.

Tendons fitted and up the Farmer's trail

Out the saddle for a bit of a climb

I decided to head over to Hedley Hall Woods, as it had been ages since I was last over there. And onto one of my "bug bears". In days gone by, I would have ridden along the trail at East Tanfield, heading towards and over the Causey Arch Bridge, now however signs have been put in place to say "NO Cyclists". This means I now have to ride on the road, something I am not keen on doing, especially along the Causey Arch Road as cars often break the speed limit and go flying past you way too close. The alternative is to go the back roads up past the Aston Workshop or the long way around and head towards Tanfield Village, again on the road. Some public footpath legislation is so outdated and has not moved along with the times. I don't want to go flying along a public footpath like a man possessed, I would just like to be able to take a more scenic and safer route.

Heading down towards Shield Row

 

Smile for the Camera

Over at Hedley Hall Woods..."WoW" there has been a lot of work done. There have been proper footpaths put in, and I am so pleased to say that cyclists have not been prevented from using the beautiful area. There are also some sculptures and numerous trails to follow.

 

Woodsman Sculpture

 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself exploring the area. I discovered the Ancient wood trail, which loops around and is a natural place for wildlife. No dogs are allowed in this particular section.

Ancient Wood

I enjoyed my ride out on my Turbo Levo so much visting Hedley Hall Woods that I visited it again the following day.

A few indoor spins on my De Rosa and then today which is "Errrr Thursday" I am all out of sync, having been off work for 4 months and then returning this week on a phased return. Anyhoo today I thought no way am I going to be caught out by the cold. So I got wrapped up and took my Silverback Synergy Fat Bike for a ride. Upon getting on the Synergy, I noticed my Raceface dropper was sticking. "Ah well, sort it when I get back".

Boy, the ride up the Sandy Lonnen was tough, going up to the windmills on Wagtail Lane. No electric to assist me this morning, just relying on sheer determination and trying to motivate myself. Oh! I almost forgot to mention, at the very bottom of the Sandy Lonnen, near to Reiver Boats, I had to stop, drop me shorts and take my leg off. The socket was absolutely crushing me, right at the front of my thigh. I had put two seals in place, as normally my leg drops off, after loosing suction, however for some reason that extra seal was killing me this morning. I removed it, popped it in my pocket and replaced my leg, then carried on, and it felt much better. By the time I got to the top of the hill I checked my Fitbit, my heart rate was only at 107 bpm, I thought I would have been into peak or at least cardio, as I could hear my heart beat in my ears..."bump, bump, bump!

I am a creature of habit, so those who read my blogs will know "Oh he is off to Chapman's Wells" Lol. Love this place as it is quiet, off the road, and you don't see too many people. Wish it had more trails and routes like. I love looking around at all the stuff people just take for granted, it was lovely seeing the newborn lambs in the field with their moms, bleating and scampering about.

A roundabout loop of Chapman's Wells, and I decided to whip out my GoPro and see if I could get some pictures using the Time warp feature. Upon editing the footage at home I am quite impressed with the quality and think this may be how I can capture stills when out by myself, with no cameraman, other than myself.

Happier with these few shots

Silverback Synergy Fat

Silverback Synergy Fat

Another fun bike to ride Silverback Synergy Fat Bike

 

I should also really comment on just how many trees I have seen down, whilst out on my adventures just this week, following that really bad weather we had. When I rode in Beamish Woods, I was on and off my bike, as huge trees had fallen across the trails. Today at Chapman's I had to go under a tree. I tested it first, as didn't want the thing falling  on me.

Oh! And all the wild garlic is out in Beamish Woods...

 

Tight Squeeze under tree

 

Upon my return to home, coming back via South Moor Park, my dad and I had a look at my Raceface Turbine dropper seat post. We firstly removed it and then went and watched an online video to see how it operated. My dad went up to Stanley and bought a new cable, and we discovered from the video, that the post has an air valve under the saddle. When we checked this out, there appeared to be no air in the post, so I used my shock pump and filled up the post to about 25psi. It is the first time the post has ever been looked at, and my bike has stood sometime, so hopefully this will solve the problem.

Dropper lever

Air Valve on Raceface Turbine Dropper Post

Following this, I gave my Synergy some love and washed and cleaned her thoroughly before putting her to bed.

Tomorrow I think I am off to pick up Myrtle's 15" Steel Smoothies which have been powder coated gloss black and new tyres fitted. I will take some pics and show them off. May need to get some new clips to keep the hubcaps in place as the guy at the Wheel Specialist said the clips may dissolve in the acid dip process :/

Just making it up as I ride along.

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

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

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

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

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

Up the resurfaced Farmer's Trail

Down the Farmer's Trail to pick up my camera

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

Lots of Bails in the fields

A little further up the Trail

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

At the entrance to Beamish Museum

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

Having a nightmare setting camera up

Clip In Damn You

Out the saddle

 

Arctic ONE Band

At the Pond

Me Bike

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By that Wind was Proper Cold Like

 My last long lie in before heading back to work tomorrow. I have been shielding since December of last year. I didn't really have anything planned for today, however received a surprise message from my friend John, asking did I fancy a tootle out on the bikes.

"May as well". I hadn't even looked outside to see what the weather was like, but Ern had said it was really cold and had been snowing. "Give over" I replied, "snowing indeed". As I came downstairs to have a quick cuppa before getting sorted to go out, sure enough as I looked out of our kitchen window, poor Myrtle sitting on axle stands and wheel less had a covering of snow on her bonnet.

"I had better get wrapped up" I thought so after finishing my brew hopped back up to my room and grabbed my gear, making sure I got my legging out and my thicker Endura Hoodie jacket.

I had to quickly pop the tendons back onto my Bartlett Tendon along with the cams, as I have been using the knee on my road bike, set on my turbo trainer, so tend not to utilise the tendons when I am just spinning, it's a waste of energy.

By the time I just about got sorted John was at the kitchen window and ready to go. As I stepped outside to go get my bike WoW! Did I feel the cold, weird as it looked such a nice day with the sun shining and blue skies.

Sorted we were ready for the off, well we would have been if my dam Specialized would connect to the bloody Mission Control app. It was keep asking for a poxy pin code to connect. It must have been after my bike was away getting repaired the other week, that and "Oh yeah" my old Samsung Galaxy S9 had gone tits up the other week, it  kept closing apps and coming up with errors, so much so that I had to do a complete system install and try and retrieve as much of my stuff back as possible. Anyhoo after about 15 minutes of fannying on I eventually figured out the pin code, it wasn't a four-digit code at all like what the app was suggesting, it was actually the BLE Code that came with my bike and I had stuck in the instruction manual. Just in case you lose your code, if you remove the display/button on your top tube apparently it's also printed there.

Now we could go. John fancied a ride down to Beamish, sounded like a plan as we could get some shelter amongst the tree lined route for a little bit of the ride.

Feels like ages since we have ridden up the farmers trail, it was surprisingly dry, so although it was a bit of a climb, it was slightly easier due to it not being so muddy. I won't bore you with the details of the whole route, just that we went down towards Beamish Hall and then detoured into Beamish Woods.

Beamish

John was dying for a tinkle, so we stopped opposite the small pond, and he headed off into the woods to relieve himself. I was complaining about a dog bag when he returned, honest John just went for a wee, he didn't have a dump, it wasn't John's bag. Oh! And there was also an old discarded bike, man why can't people just look after places.
  

First picture of the day, and it's of a Dog Poo Bag. It's not John's I can assure you!

Second picture of an old rusty thrown away bike

 

  

Still Cold

 

As we rode out of the wooded trail area and got back on to the road the wind was freezing cold. It got even worse as we crossed over by Tanfield Railway and headed down the trail with open fields on either side. 

John got this picture from the small bridge at Tanfield railway

It was freezing coming down this stretch of trail

Proper cold on this part, the wind blowing right across the open fields

Looks a lovely day, the wind was freezing though

 

We stopped off at the old ruins of a building and got out of the wind for a while, and had a bit banter. John even gave me a small chocolate egg, saying "here you go m8 and chocolate egg for Easter". It's the only one I have received, it sucks when you get old and no one cares LoL. I would have liked to take more photos, but I couldn't feel my hands. I am so glad I always carry my Arctic ONE buff, today it came in especially handy, well more ear'y, if that is even a word, as my lugs would have got the full brunt of the chilly wind.

The One and only egg I received this year

A ride back to Stanley and home, opting to cycle through Tanfield Village and onto the cycle track at the Factories and that was another little excursion done.

Upon getting back home my bike then wouldn't upload to Strava. All this technology that is supposed to make your life easier does my nut in. Eventually figured out it was because I had two Strava accounts, so I have deleted one, and it looks to be working now. So that was Day 513x of riding every single day in one form or another.

This leads me to the bit everyone gets fed up with, Sorry, but it is for a very worthwhile cause and that is Arctic ONE. If you sponsor me a penny a day that is only £3.65, just think about my sore bottom...Errrr! Well maybe don't, but go raid your piggy bank and pay it forward. Thanks

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GlennJohnstone1

Well this has kept me busy this week.

     It's a bit of a mixed bag this blog entry...

I am pretty sure many people must be feeling like myself, well the ones who are shielding that is. You know when you have been off work for going on roughly 8 or 9 months I think that's how long it has been, on and off, more off than on. Well you kind of get to a point where you have binge-watched everything on Netflix, Amazon Prime and even Disney. You are fed up reading and there is only so much Facebook you can handle, as it's mostly doom & gloom. So what then?

I mean I have Myrtle my we 65 Bug back, however I have discovered whilst she was away and out of sight, as it were, she was also out of mind, and since her return I have felt really anxious... I know sounds stupid, but I think it's because she still requires loads of work, and it's like I am ploughing money into something that feels like will never be complete.

Myrtle I know the rear wheels don't look right just, yet they aren't finished

 

Myrtle is 56 years old this year

I have been out for a few practice drives in myrtle, all very enjoyable, however the clutch is not quite right, so I am waiting to take her back to Bewick Mobility to get her sorted. I can't go for a drive with the fitter until I think it's the 12th of April due to Covid restrictions.

Oh! And whilst I am on about Myrtle I may as well tell you about the new 15 x 8 steel smoothie wheels I bought for her a while ago. I wasn't sure what tyres to go with so rather than go out and guess and buy a new pair, my dad visited one of our local scrapyards and managed to pick up a pair of 195/65/15's for a fiver. The lads up at the General Garage fitted the tyres for my dad for nowt, so a huge thank-you goes to them.

 

Anyhoo we got the new wheels on, and instantly I could see the passenger side wheel was sticking out further than the drivers side. After much measuring, it seems a theme on this car, and writing a post on the Classic VW Forums we had a kind of plan of attack.

More measuring, told you it was a theme, and we discovered that the rear wings are slightly mismatched. Apparently this is common with 'repo' wings. The passenger side is about 10 mm narrower than the drivers side and making the car look slightly wonky.

Myrtle cannot be bent as since having her tracking set up, again at the General Garage, using a laser alignment gizmo, she drives very straight and does not pull or drift. I am now trying to convince myself that it is just a quirk of Myrtle and I can live with it, however my OCD is really niggling me and fighting me every step of the way.

Ern also cut off Myrtles rear bumps stops, which allows her to sit a lot lower at the rear.

Rear Bumps stops gone

Other things to sort in the short term I think I need a new brake master cylinder as Myrtle's brake pedal keeps dropping to the floor. My dad thought he had fixed the old one as it was sticking, however it now appears as if this maybe the culprit in my brake problem again.

And I am sure sometime ago I must have mentioned Myrtle's wipers, they simply will not 'Park'. You have to manually turn them off at just the right moment. Myrtle has a full brand-new custom wiring loom, so it can't be that, so when my dad and I do the brakes job I am going to remove the wiper motor and get it sent away to get looked at. I have checked on eBay for a recon motor, Wow! They are canny dear like.

Following these bits n bobs this is where I am getting a bit anxious as the next jobs are all big money ones. Things like do I go for a new engine and box, a total respray and then of course she needs a new interior.

Ok enough of Myrtle...

On to my bike, my Specialized Turbo Levo ebike to be exact. A good few weeks ago my bike stopped working correctly, it wouldn't switch on by the top tube button. If I fannied on with the handle bar buttons it would start working, think I have mentioned this in a blog too, dear me I sometime think I am going nuts, it's like ground hog day, anyhoo I digress.

After making a telephone call to Rutland Cycles Nottingham, the place where I had purchased my bike from and trying to get it booked in for what I thought was a warranty claim problem I soon became rather pissed off. Initially I managed to get booked in for an appointment no problem, however my dad informed me he had a hospital appointment on that day, so I had to call Rutland the following day to try and make another appointment. The bloke I spoke to was most unhelpful and was making up all sorts of what appeared excuses. I can understand we are in a lockdown, however my bike is really important to me as it has helped keep me sane.

So firstly he got on about lockdown, then he said a local dealer would fix it. I informed him I had been Intouch with a local dealer who advised me they may charge for any repairs. He then advised I call another local dealer which I did, to be told exactly the same information, that they would charge for repairs. Upon calling Rutland up, this guy still didn't believe me, so he advised me to call the Specialized Concept Store in Harrogate. So that was another call, just to be told the same thing, that they would possibly charge and that there was a 4-week wait before my bike may even be looked at. I then rang Rutland yet again and again was not believed, however did manage to get an appointment for the 17th of March.

Anyhoo long story short I decided the amount of fuel to get down to Nottingham and the chance of being fined for being caught out of area I would just take the bike to Infinity cycles over at Durham. They had my bike 2 days, and it was sorted, free of charge under warranty...result.

As I mentioned earlier and gets me on to my next bit of what has kept me busy this week. I have been watching various things on YouTube. Quite a bit to do with cryptocurrency, however I came across a few videos about Redbubble and t-shirt designs. "Ooh" I thought "I might give this a bit play with".

Redbubble

 A few of my designs LoL

And so this week I have been messing about with various web based design programs and also learning how to do certain things with an old version of Photoshop I have installed. I used to use Photoshop a lot back in the day when I was doing custom CD & DVD covers, but haven't use it in yonks, so I have had to learn by experimenting and watching a few online tutorial videos.

I have to say, although my designs are not exactly professional they have kept me entertained and busy I will be chuffed to bits if I make even one sale. I have 43 designs so far. I would have had more, however a few have been taken down as I inadvertently breached some copyright or other, by using images containing Lego and Star Wars. Oh! And not sure if my classic VW designs are available.

  

Well that's about it, it's 3:36 am, so another late night. I am on day 498x of cycling today and I have done 2750 sit-ups this month so keeping up with my challenge to cycle another year in support of Arctic ONE. As usual any donations greatly accepted. 

All for Arctic ONE

Not exactly an exciting blog I know, but hey keeping it real, it's just what I am doing at the moment.