When life gives you lemons

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


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


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

Passing through Watergate  Park

At Dunston Staithes

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


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


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

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


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


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

 
 

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

Not much to report

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


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

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

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

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

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

  

 

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

 

Lets see if it works this time?

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

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

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

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

Orbea Gain M20 1x sporting new bottle cage

 

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

Orbea at the bottom of the Black Path

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

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

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

Orbea computer

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

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

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

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

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

Lanchester Valley

Lovely Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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