What a month - A camera up the rear and a New Bike Day.

The last few months, well I should rephrase that to most of this year, since May in fact I have not been feeling well at all. My diagnosis was confirmed last Saturday when I had to have another camera up me hoop.

This time I attended my appointment for a sigmoidoscopy. It was no less uncomfortable than my two previous colonoscopies, but hey the procedure needed to be done to try and get to the bottom of what is going on with me.

I have currently been placed on another 2 months of predisanone, steroids and at least when I am on these they help with my ongoing symptoms. Though I must hasten to add I still do not feel my usual self. I have been able to return to work on a phased return and this is a massive help for my mental health. There is nothing worse than being at home with loads of time on your hands, but feeling to ill to do stuff. It just gives you too much time to think of all the negative stuff and end up feeling sorry for yourself.

Anyhoo onto something more exciting and positive. As I have wrote in a previous blog post I had been waiting for a new Orbea bike to arrive in at Wheelbase, in Darlington. As I recall I placed an order for a Cannondale Mottera, then changed my mind and opted for an Orbea Rise M10.

Adam kept me informed about the delay in the delivery of the Orbea, however as the months passed by, no sign of the bike. This was down to Orbea and nothing to do with Wheelbase, something to do with the components I had asked to have on the bike I believe.

Eventually I decided to cancel the Orbea and was indeed going to put a new bike on hold, due to my ongoing health concerns. I then thought "No, you know what a new bike will inspire me to get out there". Did I need a new ride? Well Yes of course I did I am addicted to shiny new bikes. I have already got my eye on another one for if I am invited to take part in next years Artic ONE charity bike ride, around the Isle of Wight. I can't be seen cheating on an e-Bike now can I?

 

New Bike Day

Getting back in touch with Adam at Wheelbase I mentioned I had seen a good deal on a Santa Cruz Heckler SL and could he possibly do a price match. Adam said to give him a day or so, and he contacted the distributors, getting back to me with the good news, a bike easy available and he could price match. Great I placed an order and following my bike coming into the shop one of the workshop team fitted a Ridewrap protection kit, as I had requested.

Wheelbase Darlington

Wheelbase Darlington

I'm over the moon as my bike also came with a Fox Transfer Kashima Dropper seat post, and I am sure it has a lot carbon Reserve wheel set. Adam finished off the bike with some little trick Bugtec trick bits. A Bugtec top cap and, stack spacers.

A great choice of bikes from various manufacturers 

Santa Cruz Heckler SL

Santa Cruz Heckler SL

I am just on my way home now, with Ern. As my dad is driving us back I am typing up the very thing you are reading. A nice cup of tea when we get back and then I will fit a few parts to my new bike which includes  Rockgaurdz front and rear mudguards, plus a K-Edge adjustable stem mount bracket to hold the new Beeline Velo 2 I purchased.

K-Edge adjustable stem mount

I am looking forward to reviewing the Beeline Velo 2 as in communication with the guys who make the small device, they have been ever so friendly and helpful. Each of the back and forth messages made me feel like I wasn't just another customer. I like the fact that they listened to my feedback and where actually interested in my continued journey and cycling. So once I  get the chance to test out the new bike and give it a bit of an informal review from a non professional riders point of view I will also get around to reviewing the Beeline Velo 2. I am lexcited to seeing if the small Beeline will help with my atrocious sense of direction.

 

Looking forward to reviewing this little GPS and offering Beeline some feedback.

Ooh decided to pop down to Team Cycles to treat my bike to a Peaty's Fidlock bottle and mount. Got a chance to see a DJI Amflow in the shop. First one I have seen, looked canny. The rear triangle looked thinner than I thought, but overall a nice looking bike.

A Peaty's Fidlock  bottle

Thanks for reading. Best wishes to everyone for the coming holiday season, and a Happy New Year 2025.

Abarth 124 Spider - Hardrace Strut Brace + other mods I forgot about.

It's probably a good few months now when I did a little research into what strut brace I could purchase to fit my wee Abarth 124 Spider. There were a few on the market, however I really wanted a blue coloured one to tie in with my car, call it OCD.

Another reason for a replacement strut brace was for more practical reasons. You see as I am running Yellow Speed Racing coil overs, with the original brace I could not adjust the suspension, through the top mounts. without removing the factory strut brace. The original brace completely covers the top of the struts, so has to be removed for any adjustments to be made, which means it is a right faff.

Hardrace strut brace,

Now as many of you will know the Abarth 124 shares the same platform as the Mazda MX5 ND, so when I couldn't find a suitable Abarth version I started looking at braces that were made for the Mazda.

I happened to come across a blue Hardrace Strut brace, so decided to go ahead and purchase one. 

When the strut brace arrived, it was well packaged and the box contained all the required mounting plates and fasteners.

Can now get access to top of coil over struts

Both Ern and myself got cracking with the job in hand and soon the old brace was removed, and replaced with the new Hardrace version. It was a very easy job, and not only does the new brace look a lot better astheticaly, but I think I have noticed improved stiffness when driving. So I am very happy with my new mod.

Oh and I also forgot to mention whilst we were on, around about the same time I had a Sports CAT fitted to my car, Well the garage that fitted it were unable to pop the heat shield back on, as there were no mountings on the new CAT. After driving my car I noticed it smelled and felt very hot. My da and I ended up remobing the CAT in our back yard. It was easy yo get off, however after wrapping the CAT with Funk some Lava Wrap, what a nightmare getting the bloody thing back on. It was one single bolt in a suport bracket that we had the issue with.

   

The Ern working on my wee Abarth 124 Spider

Follwing putting the CAT back on we fitted another of my new mods a PTP Lava Turbo blanket. Now with both the wrap on the CAT and the turbo blanket my wee Abarth is sorted. 

  

PTP Turbo Blaket for Abarth 124 Spider.

Oh and finally I ordered an eMotion2+ Personal OBD Tuner from Celtic Tuning. I attached the tuner to my car, downloaded the file to the box, and then uploaded to my PC and sent the file off to the eMotion2+ people. Within a short space of time I had a new modified file and was able to pop that on the tuner box and reupload to my car.

   

eMotion2+ OBD tuning Box

The whole process was pretty easy anI didn't encounter any issues. The eMotion2+ guys were very friendly and helpful. Now that the remapped file is on my car I can definitely tell a difference. I am not sure how much extra horses it has given me. My car now along with the Sports CAT and the new remap, where I get some small pops and bangs with the valves open on my Ragazzon exhaust sounds absolutely epic.

As a 56 year old old fart I now love driving my car in "Hooligan Mode" and it makes me feel relatively young again, especially in the fine weather with the top down.

Waiting is the worst part

       As we approach the end of another year and I reflect back, I have to say this year has been, without sounding to depressing almost a complete fail. 

      Of course there have been some exciting and positive moments, like my involvement in all of the success of the film "Meet the Local Hero", and the very kind invitation to travel over to Spain from my friend Dragos, the director to spend time with him and his partner Ana, then being able to attend the film screening in Barcelona, at the Love & Hope International Film Festival. 

Dragos and myself during filming

      There has been the help and support of various generous people alongside the Arctic ONE Foundation, on my Go Fund me page in trying to help me raise enough funds to buy a new G3 Infinity Knee, so that I could continue riding. 

  

Arctic ONE - what an amazing foundation

G3 Infinity Knee

      And there is the fact I have found trying to write a book quite intriguing, and have enjoyed the journey of reflection and putting my thoughts and memories down. There is still a lot of work to do to get it all finished, mostly to do with grammar and getting a front and back cover done, however the story is just about at a point where I am happy.

      And so to this year and why I consider it a fail. Well I decided to treat myself to a new ebike, way back in May of this year 2024. After doing some research I opted for a Cannondale Moterra SL. I contacted Wheelbase in Darlington and went down to put a deposit down and place my order. I knew with the bike being a new model it would take some time to arrive, however whilst waiting I got my eye on a different model bike, so I decided to change my mind, and opted for an Orbea Rise M10 LT. I custom specc'd the bike down at Wheelbase and then I waited, and waited, and waited some more. Finally after waiting over 6 months the bike had not arrived, and I was informed it wouldn't be here until possibly December or even later. Apparently there was a problem with getting components.

      Now at this point I must make it clear, Wheelbase had done everything they possibly could to get the bike to me, it has had nothing to do with their customer service. I spoke to another local bike shop lately and they stated they have had the exact same problems when it comes to delivery times from Orbea. The same thing actually happened when I was looking to buy my Orbea Gain, I just couldn't get a bike for love nor money at the time.

      Anyhoo just this week I cancelled the order for the Orbea Rise with Wheelbase. There are other reasons, other than the long wait. I currently have stuff going on that have me kind of all over the place. If you are a follower of my blog you may have read that I have been going through some health issues, which funnily enough started just after I ordered a new bike, oh and when my old Bartlett Tendon Knee started acting up and became pretty much un-useable. 

   

Orbea Rise Cancelled - Took way too long to arrive

      Going back to this health thing, I originally thought I had just picked up a really bad bug from work, however after a prolongued period of illness I was to discover this was not the case. 

      It has hit me really hard as my intention was to save up for a new bike, then my knee fucked up so I started the GoFund Me, and then this whatever it is health problem started getting worse. Obviously best laid plans and all that have not gone as I thought. I think I must have been off work going on 6 or so months this year, with what had been described as Ulcerative Colitis by the Inflamatory Bowel Disease clinic.

    Things got a little better following the taking of some predisanone which are steroids, these allowed me to take the trip over to Spain and even do some riding, however upon my return home and gradually coming off the steroids I found I was feeling unwell again, which has meant more time off work and I cannot ride my bike. I just feel so unwell. Whatever is going on has me wiped out, and in so much pain, alongside lots of stress.

      Having been back to the IBD clinic and now been put back on steroids alongside another medication, Salofalk Granules I am now waiting more investigations, this is to be another camera up my hoop, something called a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy and a MRE, which is similar to a MRI, however is apparently better for observing soft tissue.

      My IBD nurse has been wonderful in her support, she says there is a Big question mark over my diagnosis, and I am a trickey customer, due to my past history with the Non Hodgkins Lymphoma and having treatment for that. Now that I am needing more tests  I am obviously concerned, however trying to stay positive.      

      I just feel my whole life is back in limbo again, waiting for a definitive diagnosis, and then to see what will happen. My health has to come first as without it I can't do jack. I am stressed about work, and I know I will have the Department of Work and Pensions on my case and the awful people over at Universal Credit. I was sanctioned £800 the first week I was forced onto this new benefit system, and went from disabled tax credits which I used to receive from HMRC without problems.

       Now recently I have been sanctioned by Universal Credit, 2 months in a row since being on the sick, and I have been informed I owe £900 quid back. The people at Universal Credit took great delight in telling me there is no such things as "disabled tax credits", basically you are treat like a benefit scrounger. I hate it on the rare occassion when I do have to attend the Job Centre, as you have to face the demeaning glare of the so called advisors, who look at you like you are pure scum. I don't get a great deal a month from the government, it's just supposed to be a little help to bump up my wage, to meet the national standard. I have had to reduce my hours at work, as I have been struggling for sometime, so I am now down to 24 hours per week, well when I feel well enough to even go.

      Man this all sounds like doom and gloom and I apologise if you are reading this and thinking " Wow I could do without reading all this negativity", however my blog has always been about telling it how it is. Life for a lot of people isn't like in the movies, or like on social media, where everyone is trying to portray this amazing, yet fake lifestyle. Yes I have had a bit of a whine in my relaying of events, or is it more of just getting my thoughts out there ?

      You see I find writing stuff down helps with my thought process. I know I have faced serious health concerns in the past, so although I am stressed to fuck at times, due to the unknown, I also feel pretty well equipped to deal with what is to come. The best bit of advice I can give anyone, I guess is to talk to someone and try not to keep things bottled up. Although it may feel like moaning and it can get tedious as your whole life appears to revolve around whatever problem you have, talking to someone you trust can help relieve a great deal of pressure.

Of course I also have that internal dark side to me, and if you know anything about me you will know I love quotes. This one is by Lou Holtz who used to be an American football player, coach and analyst, and it goes like this...

" Never tell your problems to anyone... Eighty Percent don't care and the other twenty percent are gald you have them"

      I just keep telling myself take one day at a time and live in the moment, the past is the past and the future is not here yet so it is no good getting all wound up, of course its difficult, however I am a lot better at stopping my over active imagination and telling my inner voice to do one, when it starts with all its negative questions and scenarios. At the end of the day this is just life, and part of my journey.

     I am going to focus on keep going with my goal of getting a new G3 Infinity Knee, and looking ahead to getting a new bike so that I can follow my passion of being out in nature on some beautiful trail or another. It kind of reminds me of way back in 2007 when I knew I was going to have my leg amputated. I bought a new bike, way before my surgery and that was the inspiration to overcome and move forward. 

     Future inspiration a picture for now...

Santa Cruz Heckler SL

For now I will probably wait a little while for a more positive diagnosis, then I will know exactly what I am dealing with, and I can figure out a way forward. Hey its just another challenge Right?