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

In search of a reminder from the past

For quite some time now I have been wanting to go back to my youth, and when I say go back I mean about 40 or so years. You see when I was a young lad of around ooh I would have to say 10 or 11 years of age my dad bought me a car. Now I am talking a proper car not a Dinky or Matchbox. No, it was a Classic T1 shaped VW Beetle. The car was a light blue, a bit like a baby blue and although it was nothing out the ordinary, for me it was a very special little car.

Similar to the car I had

A ride around the Bath Tub Loop 10 times

The weather didn't appear too bad this morning, as I just had a nice relaxing mooch about indoors. I then became a little bored, having watched the stuff I had recorded over the course of the week. I love watching The Curse of Oak Island and also enjoy Forged in Fire, so have these programs set on the set-top box.

Coming up the Bath Tub Loop Trail

I had checked the weather forecast the previous day so had an idea it was due to rain, never the less I decided to head out on my Specialized Turbo Levo. There is a trail over on Chapman Wells, a local nature reserve and I quite enjoy riding over that way as there are not a lot of people or cars. 

Heading down past Stream Valley

I had gone out on my Fat Bike sometime earlier in the week and measured the Bath Tub Loop, using Strava, it came in at 1.8 miles, starting at the Stream Valley Equestrian/Farm of course, I had to also ride there and back so that also added a few miles.

As I set off I was pleased I had prepared for the weather, having put on a base layer, my Race Face Jersey and my Endura Hoody. To be fair it was not really cold as I rode to start with, without my gloves. It was, however, a tad damp and overcast.

A spot of rain over by the pond

Puddles starting to accumulate upon each lap

The ride to Chapman Wells is only about 2 or so miles. I had brought my GoPro, however, had an inkling that it would not be of much use today. I have mentioned this before I have the GoPro Hero 5 and it is terrible in poorly lighted situations. It is hard trying to get a photo of yourself using photo mode as the timer is only 30 seconds long. And when you try to use the time-lapse photo, well you do not have as much control over the image settings. Needless to say not too many quality images today.  Never mind the purpose of today's ride was more just to get out of the house and challenge my self to do 10 laps of the Bath Tub Loop.
 

Over by the small pond. Gets some lovely wildlife here

 

I kept my bike in eco mode throughout my time out, and this gives me a canny workout on the off-road trail.
 

  
It has been some time since I have been out and got a good soaking, however, I really enjoyed my time out. It's nice to have a bit of solitude and just relax and reflect on all that is going on. I also use this time to reflect and generally just be grateful for the small things in life, the things that don't cost anything and all of us take for granted.

A ride out with Reptile Number 2

Awaking this morning I was kind of lost as to what to do, and as the morning slowly passed away and I couldn't think of anything I decided to hide under my throw and see if possibly falling asleep would help either motivate me or bring some positive ideas to spring to mind.

Just as I was dropping off, wor Kyle (Reptile #2) poked his head into my room and said: "hey what are you doing in bed, it's a lovely day do you fancy doing something, maybe go out in the bug?" Well obviously now I thought I was having some sort of a weird sleepy dream state event, as Kyle rarely asks me to do I fancy doing anything. Apparently, it had been really slow at KFC and the Colonel had given Kyle the day off.

I agreed to a lookout and suggested Bamburgh, well it was a nice day and it is pretty beautiful up that way, plus Kyle had never seen the Castle before.

On the beach at Bamburgh

Urban Cow Spotting

For years and years, going back as far as ooh 1995 - 96,  when I was unwell and a patient over at the Freeman, to the present, I always thought that the cows in the field over on the Town Moor, were a rather unusual sight.

Urban Cows

I mean usually, you see cows either on a farm or in a wide-open expanse, in the country. Not that the Town Moor is a small area, no it's the whole backdrop of where the cows are really. 

When you come across a film that gives you that "Feel good factor"

One morning a few weeks back, whilst getting sorted for work, grabbing a quick cuppa, and watching a spot of breakfast news, there was a story about a group of fisherman from Port Issac in Cornwall. These group of fishermen had for years been singing old maritime sea shanties, both upon their boats whilst out fishing as well as onshore where they practiced together once per week. The story goes that a record producer spotted them singing whilst on holiday and well from there the rest is history, and I do not want to spoil the story, for those of you who may wish to go and see the film. 

What really perked my interest was the fact that one of the actors present on the sofa, was David Johns. I loved his portrayal of Daniel, in the fantastic film I Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach.

Anyhoo upon watching and listening to the interview of both some of the actual characters who the film was based on and the actors playing the role of the fishermen when I arrived back in from work that day I did a little research and discovered the FishermensFriends were actually going to be playing at the Sage in Gateshead later this year, the 24th September to be exact.

The following day arriving at work I mentioned the story to my friend and colleague Sue. Like myself, she was very interested and we decided to ask around within our team if anyone else fancied going for an outing, come September to go and see the group of Fishermen sing their songs. Sue also suggested, "hey why don't we go and check out the film". 

I had a quick scooby online to see where the film was playing and we decided to go along to Cineworld at the Gate in Newcastle yesterday evening. After experiencing Cineworld at the Gate, although I don't go to the flicks often, I do have to say it is one of my favourite theatres. The seats were ever so comfortable, the screen just big enough and a delightful atmosphere.

The film didn't start until 18:15pm, so following work we had a walk down into the Toon and just had a relaxing cup of Coffee at Starbucks in Old Eldon Square, opposite the St George and the Dragon Statue.

Getting back to the film and what I said earlier about not wanting to spoil it for anyone fancying seeing it. What I can say is it is one of those memorable feel-good films, a little bit like the Full Monty or going back The Commitments. You know the ones, about the working class, hardships and adversity, but also with a few tunes where you find you are tapping your feet along to the rhythm, or in my case foot LoL. There are some sad moments, together with some really funny ones and you really feel yourself being drawn in by the characters. I am not a film critic, and I am sure that certain people in the know will say that the accents or something like that was not correct, however, for me the acting and their portrayal was superb.


It's great to watch a film with some originality and not just another remake of something that has gone before. I am now very excited to head off in September and listen to the Fishermans Friends live. I have never been to the Sage before so it will be a real treat.

Hey if you find yourself at a loose end, why not grab yourself some popcorn and head off to see this, sure you won't be disappointed.

I can't remember that bridge being so narrow ... Abort..Abort!

    Over the last few weeks, I have gradually felt my Mojo returning. Whilst the weather has been poor I have taken to my road bike which is now set up in my bedroom, upon my turbo trainer. I generally ride around 20 minutes or so, covering around 5 miles per night. I set the turbo on a resistance that is quite challenging and whilst riding I generally watch and listen to folk rock videos on Youtube. Following my ride, I have been whipping my leg of then completing sets or press ups, abdominal crunches and some single leg bridging to strengthen my core. 

It hurts a lot when you hit one of these at speed

I actually had some points to spend at Rutland Cycles after buying my Specialized Turbo Levo, around £60 and I used this towards a neat little gadget so that I could track my mileage. I purchased a Wahoo Elemnt Mini and have to say after a week of using this little device I love it. It is great for tracking both indoor and outdoor rides and can upload data directly to Strava. It also has a few other neat little tricks, however, I have not used it outside as yet so not got around to trying anything other than recording my indoor data.

Wahoo Elemnt Mini

Yesterday I had intended to go for a night ride, however following my usual Thursday morning swim, yes that's right I am also back to swimming and completed 2 kilometres in about an hour, the day just got away from me and to be honest I felt a little tired. I ended up watching a movie and just messing around on the interweb, checking on how my e-currency was doing, I'm not a millionaire, seeing if anyone had checked my Plenty of Fish profile and wanted to come and misbehave with me, oh and looking at the various things that I could potentially pop on my dream board, so that I can dream about them and bring them to reality. It has not worked yet, but hey I am still thinking positive and trying. My latest item is an old 1968 VW Beetle. Gutted my two dream houses have been sold, ahh well time to move on to plan B.

This morning I gave wor Kyle a hand wash, clay bar and then polish his little car. Then just after lunch one of Ern and my friends, Corker popped in. We popped on the computer and browsed various houses across the country and also looked at the usual cars and motorcycles, before having a nice cuppa and checking out a few videos on Youtube. When Corker had gone I watched a couple of episodes I had recorded on catch up, Knife Fight and Forged in Fire. Of course my favourite show I had already watched on Thursday after recording it Wednesday night and that is The Curse of Oak Island.

Following this, I was in two minds as to head out on my bike. It was starting to get a bit dark. I had had my lights on charge so thought what the heck. Even though you ride the same trails it always feels different on a night with your lights on. I even had the chance to use my little duck who lights up and is placed on my bars. He looks pretty cool and also works as a warning to people if you squeeze him as he squeaks LoL.

Just as I got to the top of Durham Road I snapped one of my BTK Crossover Tendons. I have been having a wear issue with my tendons the designer Brian Bartlett is aware of this and we are working on trying to find a solution. My other tendon snapped a few miles later at around Tanfield Railway. Never mind I can still ride my bike on the air in the RT3 Shock and this is what I did.

Apart from a minor stop at Tanfield Railway to grab a picture as I crossed the line, man was I flying. My intention to see how quickly I could get to Newcastle. I cut down the back of Sunnyside, crossed Watergate bends at the pedestrain crossing and headed down through Watergate Park. At this point it was pitch black, there are no lights in the park, so I had my main light on full beam. It gives off a very good beam and I could see where I was going. I had been down this particular trail a number of times and thought I knew it quite well. Thing is in the dark, things can appear a canny bit different and catch you out.

Quack Quack

So there I was almost in full "Toot" mode, probably doing 20 to 25 mph, thinking to myself "Whooo Hoo I'm flying here, your da man". When all of a sudden I approached this kind of bend, "Errrr I can't recall this bit" and I most definitely do not recall the bridge which crosses over the water that runs into the small waterfall being sooooo narrow. I tried desperately to grab the anchors, skidding my rear wheel out and did one of those strange leans to the left thinking, my bars were going to miss the fast approaching barrier. The thought "awwww shit I am going to smack this" quickly coming into my head. Then BANG! I twated my bars right off the edge of the barrier and this sent me flying off to the left and spilling onto the wooden planks of the bridge.

A bit like that nursery ryhm, but instead of woods and bears it's...If you go down to the park tonight, you better be aware of that fucking skinny bridge...
No Joke I thought I had both broke and torn my good leg open. I couldn't get up the pain was excruciating and I was expecting to see some sort of a jet of hot thick blood squirting from my thigh like in the movies. As I lay there I saw a small light approaching. No silly, not that sort of light it wasn't like the angels were coming and I was dead or owt. It was a fellow cyclist on his way home from work. The guy in question stopped and was really concerned asking if I needed an ambulance or wanted to call anyone. Obviously, all he would have seen coming from the other direction is a small bright light and possibly a flashing yellow duck take a dive. I had to sit there a few moments, as like I say I thought I had broken my leg. Eventually I was able to get up, however my leg and knee was killing me. I then said thank you to the very kind gentleman and assured him I was ok. As we both went to set off I introduced myself and he told me his name was Ian. I mentioned "hey at least this will make a good story for my blog" and Ian then asked me for my blog address, one way to get more readers I guess. Anyhoo Ian if you do happen to come across my blog, cheers for stopping and making sure I was ok, much appreciated.  

Crossing the A1

Dunston Staithes

Anyhoo I decided to man up and continue to the Toon. Riding a little more cautiously. I didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped, when both approaching and getting into Newcastle this was because my leg was seizing up and proper aching. A quick ride past the Sage and toward the Millenium Bridge. I had intended crossing the Millenium Bridge however it was up. There were a lot of cars down by the Baltic, like performance cars, Porches I think. So I came back and crossed over the Swing Bridge and then rode along the quayside just a little way. As I stopped to take a few snaps a lad and his girlfriend came over and he very politely said "hey man is that a bike shocker in your leg", "Errr yeah it's a Rock Shox Rt3" I said. Too which he replied "That is so cool". By then the Millenium bridge was down so I went back over the Tyne that way.

I pretty much rode the same way home, using a combo of Trail and Turbo mode to get up through Watergate Park and along the Causey. Oh, and of course up Shield row Bank. I figured I needed the assistance as after all I was riding with one prosthetic leg and a beat up good leg.

When I got home I shouted for Ern to come and help me with my bike and began getting some of my gear off. At one point I sat down on the kitchen floor in order to take my shoe off from my good foot, and then I couldn't get back up. So I had to go on my ass, to the bottom of our stairs all the while getting accosted by wor Baxter, who thought it was a game and great fun at that. There's me going "ahhh, ooooh" and a geet daft dog jumping on me. Once at the bottom of our stairs I had to lift myself one at a time to get to my feet and pop my everyday prosthetic limb on.

Getting in the bath was a drama in itself, however, I will spare myself the embarrassment of too much detail. Every time I bent my leg in the bath it was like having a dead leg and weirdly enough it made me kind of laugh and cry at the same time.

I am now sat at my computer desk, recounting my adventure and wow my leg is fecking killing. I know come tomorrow I am going to struggle to walk, so it is going to have to be a day of rest as I have work on Sunday. Just hope my leg doesn't drop off during the night, bad enough with the other one dropping off all the time. Tomorrow I will check the damage to my bike I just can't face it tonight.  

A Venture out on Nelli the Clothes Horse

Since getting my little Benelli TNT monkey bike, Ooooh about a year and a half ago I have only covered 50.6 miles on her. This is to do with a combination of things. Firstly sorting out the God awful linked braking system and making it possible for me to use the rear brake from upon my bars.

Out on Little Nelli

A drive to a place, followed by a walk to a gap where there is a tree.

    There are so many beautiful and cool places to visit locally. Well when I say locally I mean within 40 to 50 miles away from home. Over the last few weeks I have been checking out the internet upon my days off, trying to discover places I have not been to before and quite fancy visiting. Last week it was Whitby (Yeah I know about 70 miles away), where the weather was glorious. 

Sycamore Gap

Where can we take "Grandma"

When I returned home from my ride out this morning Ern was no where to be seen. Obviously he had taken wor Baxter out. Just as I was making my way into our bathroom to have a shower I noticed Ern coming down the back street, through the landing window. I proceeded to the shower and as I got in, heard Ern shout "so how far did you get". "About 17 miles I said, shouting from within the shower. "What" he said, again I repeated "about 17 miles", "what 37 miles", Ern said, too which I shouted "Howld on man am in the shower". Ern is hard of hearing at the best of time and shouting from the shower whilst trying to wash me bits just wasn't going to work.

Grandma @ Whitby

After coming out the shower smelling all coco nutty, from the body wash I had been using I popped on my gear and headed downstairs to carry on the conversation in less shouty tones. I told Ern where I had been and then asked "do you fancy a look out somewhere". I just thought as it was my day off I would rather head off and do something.   
   

Whitby Abbey

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...

Say a Little Prayer

A short Blog, with a few pictures. Just a there and back, completing roughly 30 miles.
 
Basically got ready and out the door and headed up past Consett on the C2C and going to Waskerley Way.

Saying a little prayer

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.
 

 

Baxters Turn...

After leaving wor Baxter in yesterday whilst Ern and I had a little bimble out in Grandma, well we kind of felt a bit guilty. You see I don't let Baxter get in my cars as his hairs are a complete nightmare. Ern on the other hand couldn't give a rats and is quite happy riding around in a mobile skip. Hence Erns car, his Citroen Berlingo Multispace is the designated "dog" and mountain bike car, as well as make shift removal van and general work horse.

I know both Ern and Baxter don't look exactly raring to go

I think Baxter was quite excited to be going out for a slightly longer walk, especially as the area we decided to go was all grassy and soft trails. Baxter hates pavements and rough, stoney pathways. He does a funny walk when ever on these types of surface, over exaggerting lifting his paws, as if the ground were red hot. Baxter has been having problems with his claws, two in particular, one on each foot which for some unkown reason have decided to grow wonky. He hates his claws been cut so I have had to resort to filling his nails using a diamond file that Ern got from thge man on Mordor market, a good few weeks back. This appears to be doing the trick as Baxter will tolerate me filing his claws and it has prevented them from turning into his pad which is what originally happened and made him limp. Most dogs wear their claws down naturally and this is the case will all his other claws, apart from these two bothersome wonky ones.

Baxter trotting along

Baxter is also suffering from an allergy and to have blood tests done to discover the culprit of his problem will cost a small fortune, so we have been trying out different things, or should I say stopping different things. Baxter no longer gets biscuit type treats and is only on his dry feed, which contains no wheat and additives. We also give him antihistamine tablets and he appears to be much better I did notice he looked a little sore on his tummy today, however that could be due to the fact he had been sliding on his tummy along the grass, something I try to prevent him doing. I mean he could be allergic to the grass I suppose.

Had a right sweat on by the time we went around

Baxter's a strong lad and when he pulls he is a complete nightmare

My Log

Of we went to Hedley Hall Woods, it has been ages since I had a walk around here. There appears to be a few more footpath trails in place and I did not see any no cyling signs, so it may be a place I will venture to on my bike as I think it will make for an interesting video. There would be some nice shots in and out of the trees and some lovely scenery. Hey may be do it in the warmer weather and even bring a picnic.

 

Baxter with his Arctic ONE Buff

Suppose you think your funny

  

Forgot to pop Strava on again, so not sure how far we walked, we didn't exactly follow a set route and were in and out of the various trails kind of exploring. It has been great to get out over the course of the last few days and actually do something with my time off, even if it is just local.

Afternoon Tea with Grandma

Due to my regular work pattern I generally have Thursday, Friday and Saturday off. Last year I really did not do much at all with my days off, other than lounge around in my shorts and t-shirt. Of course a great deal of that was to do with how I was feeling following ongoing treatment for my NHL, no not the Hockey league...Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I pretty much always felt drained after 4 days at work, or I had some cough, cold or bug.

Well this year I have made the concious decision, no time for all that crap. I need to get out more doing different stuff and filling my time in more productively.

VW Beetle (Grandma) GSR

Memory card mishaps and a new Duck

After snapping one of my Bartlett Tendons last week I did not want to miss out on heading out for my first ride of the New Year I mean my Duck has arrived from somewhere in China and I wanted to test her out. So I retrieved my BTK Crossover from the cupbaord in the kitchen and unbolted the Cam along with the broken tendon. I tend not to ride out of the saddle when I am using my Coast Cycles Buzzraw, as the bike is small and the handlebars always feel like I might tear them off, or bend, so this was the ideal choice for going for a "Buzz" whilst I only have one tendon in place.

Coast Cycles Buzzraw with Duck

Super fun this little bike

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.