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 :/

Out with Daddy & Baxter in Myrtle

This blog is about the wee adventure I had out with my dad and Baxter today, however I thought I would also add a few words about the misadventures this week, LoL

Myrtle up on the Moors

 

What a nightmare few days I have had. It all started with me planning a leisurely ride out on Sunday on my Buzzraw. As I have not sold the bike, I thought I may as well enjoy it and go for a leisurely cruise. So I got all togged up, complementing the fashion of my bike, and went to head out. Well, it wasn't going to happen, as the bike's battery was completely flat. "Never mind" I thought I will pop it on charge and go out in the afternoon".

Batteryless Buzzraw

 

After about 5 hours of charge I replaced the bike's battery into the bike's cradle and "whey hey", absolutely nothing. I checked the battery charger, it appeared to be working, so I left the bike to charge a little more.

By this time it was getting a bit late to go for a ride and the battery didn't appear to be working. I tried it in the bike one final time, and unexpectedly the bike's display powered up when I pressed the power button. It showed no errors and 100% battery... Strange.

So I thought I would get up early the following day and take the wee bike for a spin. Righty Ho! All geared up and ready to go with a mini picnic and a planned route. I went to get my Buzzraw and...crap, no juice yet again.
 

I have decided to keep the wee bike as a play thing. I haven't done many miles on it in the 3 years I have had it, around 85 I think. I have had to try and locate a new battery, found one on eBay, so that is another £190, but at least my wee bike should be good to go.

I took the old battery apart and Ern and I had a look to see if we could find any obvious faults. My dad has then left it on charge and hooked up a multi meter.

Ok so no Buzzing around until the new battery arrives.

Anyhow whilst I was on fannying about with my bike, my dad decided to start Myrtle up, as she has been standing in our yard for some time, up on stands whilst I have been waiting for her steel smoothie wheels to come back from getting powder coated. The nightmare continued, Myrtle refusing to start. By this time, I had come back out into our yard in a somewhat pissed off mood. My dad had removed Myrtle's oil Bath air filter and was checking to make sure her electric fuel pump was working.

My dad asked me to spin Myrtle over whilst he checked at the rear to see if anything was going on engine and fuel wise. As I spun Myrtle over, my dad shouted for me to stop. When I joined my dad at the back of the car, Myrtle had spat out what appeared to be oil  from the crankcase breather, we then  smelled a strong odour of petrol. Kind of reminded me of Herbie, when he didn't want to play.

We jacked up Myrtle, so she was sitting level off the ground and popped her on stands, then my dad dropped Myrtle's oil. When I say oil, it was a combination of oil and petrol, so much so that about 5 litres of stuff came out. Once the horrible mixture had been allowed to completely drain out, we replaced the oil with some fresh and tried Myrtle again. She pretty much started first click. My dad thinks the engine must have got flooded, however he has bought a compression tester to check everything is ok.

As Myrtle appeared to be running ok, no horrible petrol smell and ticking over, with no blue smoke I suggested we take her out for a run and that was today.

So this morning I packed a make shift picnic, with a flask of coffee and some yum yums, plus turkey sandwiches. Wor Baxter promised to be a good lad, so we took him for a ride out too.

Before setting out I asked my dad how much petrol he thought we had in Myrtle, as her fuel gauge isn't exactly reliable, "enough to get to the petrol station, at Cost Co's", he said. I wasn't too keen driving through to Cost Co's as it can get busy, and I am still learning the fickle nature of this car and its clutch, nevertheless, off to Cost Co we headed.

The first obstacle was in our backstreet, and the poxy speed humps. The first one we came to, Myrtle ground her front end over. I had to stop, take out the AirLift control and pop 95 psi in all four corners. Even modern cars rake over these humps, they are so steep.

Myrtle was running pretty good, I mean she has loads of rattles and is very noisy, but she now steers 100% better and has a decent turning circle. As we went from our house and approached Gateshead, almost at Cost Co's Myrtle's electric fuel pump sounded like a Tommy Gun, getting louder and louder. Myrtle eventually ran out of petrol, right at the side of the fuel pump at Cost Co.

This motoring Malarkey is expensive £56.76 of Super unleaded to fill Myrtle up, and then we were off for a ride out. We ended up going from Gateshead all the way up to Weardale and Teesdale

We drove to Hamsterley Forest to have our picnic and let Baxter have a walk and a breath of fresh air. It has been a lovely day weather wise, there were loads of people at Hamsterley. We sat at a picnic table on the green to have our stuff. A nice relaxing break before returning to work next week.

Ern & Baxter

Ern enjoying the Turkey sandwiches I constructed.

Myrtle 65 Bug

 

From Hamsterley we just followed road signs to make our way back towards Stanhope and from there home. The electric fuel pump and regulator appears to have solved Myrtle cutting out, as she drove solidly today. My dad checked the oil dipstick and there doesn't appear to be any petrol in the oil. Myrtle's fuel gauge cannot be relied on, my dad mentioning he wished he had brought a stick to dip the tank, however when he looked under the bonnet into the petrol tank he said she had not used that much. I am still getting used to the clutch operation and found 3rd gear really difficult to get in, especially when trying to use the engine braking going from 4th to 3rd and panicking somewhat when going up some steep climbs with impatient drivers behind and not being able to hit 3rd, then having to drop to 2nd and on one occasion hitting 1st and almost throwing us through the wind shield "Oops". I definitely think a future mod will be a more powerful engine, not so much to thrash around, just something that you don't feel you are thrashing the life out of.

Ern Checking the fuel situation

The engines the other end dad

Myrtle 65 Bug aired up

Baxter enjoying his ride out

Myrtle 65 Bug

Myrtle aired out, she wasn't sitting right down as pan on bumpy grass

Nice to be out in the old girl

 

I really enjoyed today, being on the quiet country lanes up in the moors, just tootling and spending time with my dad and Baxter, drove 115 miles today.

Upon arriving at home, Baxter didn't want to get out of Myrtle, I think he loves going out in the Wee car.

Baxter

Baxter

Shut up irritating little voice

I know by now, those of you who do drop by my blog may be pretty bored by viewing my posts of what appears to be my only bike and the only thing I do on it. Don't worry, I am sure I will be featuring a few more posts soon about other stuff, including Myrtle, my 65 classic Bug. Yes I still have her, however I haven't really done anything with her over the winter, it's too cold to work outside, plus of late I haven't really had the money to spend on her. Never mind, like I say she will be featured soon, when I figure out what is the next on the lengthy list of restoration and mods. Oh! And let's not forget Grandma, my GSR Beetle. I have been waiting ages for EBC Direct to get the rear R32 discs and pads in stock, as I have pretty much got all the other modified bigger brake components. I will go into more detail when I get all the gear and take some pics of the parts, then again once fitted.


Anyhoo at the moment, I still feel pants after having a variant of covid. Although I am now testing negative, I just feel all out of whack, with fatigue, a sore throat and a tight chest. This morning I awoke somewhere around 6 am, just couldn't sleep, so I got up, had a bite to eat, watched a bit of news, then flicked through YouTube. After a few hours, I decided to go back to bed and awoke again at  11:25 am, still feeling like crap. I made a couple of Turkey sandwiches, which I shared with wor Baxter and had a cuppa. I then went back to bed, not so much feeling sleepy, No more just couldn't be arsed.

After lying for an hour or so meditating, well more just thinking with my eyes closed of being a millionaire and buying my dream house in Scotland, Oh yes the dream is still alive, my little internal voice spoke to me saying "Aww just stay on your bed", you see I was lying on top with my hoodie pulled over my head, "No need to get up," "There is nowt to do anyway". At this point there was a reply in my head which came across as "Fuck off, I'm going for a spin on my bike". 

In the past, I have let that little irritating internal voice get me down, it can suck the very life out of me, and make me question myself. Now it may sound like I am a bit cuckoo, but I answer it back, and pretty much tell it where to go. I guess I have developed this mindset. My way of thinking, and it can be incredibly difficult at times, is that no matter the negatives, ie: being on rock bottom, well once you are there the only way is up, and up has to be a positive.

I have really enjoyed riding this bike

 

Getting up, I then got changed into my bikey gear, grabbed my GoPro and chesty mount and headed downstairs to get my bike. I am getting really good at how quick I can manage to put my hands on things and in how long it now takes me to be up and out the house once my mind is made up. I think part of the reason I have not been going out as much on my bikes is that I get bored with riding the same roads and trails, that and my stoopid ill-fitting prosthetic of course.

Man, I have changed shape so much over the last 4 months. Four months is how long I have been off work. I am due to go back on the 25th April, and will have to try and get away with my old socket as the DSC has been unable to fit me for a new one. I guess it is partly my fault, as I have gone from my usual everyday socket being way too big, to it now feeling a bit too tight. I went for a walk yesterday and wow it was mega painful. My stump feeling like it is getting crushed and the worst lower back pain ever. Feels like my leg is proper out of alignment, as if my hips are getting pushed forward, causing me to arch my back and shoulders. I am still stiff today, and I didn't walk that far.

Anyhoo back to the mini adventure on my Orbea Gain. I am so pleased I invested in this bike. It feels mega quick where ever I go and so much fun, even if I do have to constantly ride it whilst sat in the saddle. It is pointless using my tendons on my Bartlett Tendon Knee with this bike, I would just expend too much energy fighting the resistance, and it's not like I am jumping or dropping off stuff.

I rode 8.35 miles today. It was a lot muddier than I expected, which had me sliding about in certain areas. As the bike is so quick, I find I have to be a bit more switched on. I just rode locally, making up a route as I thought about one of my friends brothers who had commented on one of my videos, saying it brought back memories of when he lived in the area.

Firstly I rode through "Glass Wood", I think I have mentioned this before, my dad and I just call it Glass wood as there are generally so many broken bottles strewn about from the local scumbag kids. I then visited the "Pines", these woods are a lot less dense than I remember in my day when we would climb the tress and play "Tally Ho". Next I rode through South Moor Park, when you are out and about you really get an idea of just how wild the weather had been a few weeks ago, so many fallen trees. Once at the end of the Park, at the drift, I made my way up and onto Chapman's Wells Nature reserve, heading towards the pond and looping around to come back down the Farmer's trail.

Back onto Chapman's Wells and I headed for "Quakies" and cut through a small section of woodland to get on a trail that took me back down to the drift. From there I headed up towards Langley View and turned right at the 3 stones to head down the Black Path. So many memories in this area for me. Funny, I always think of my mam when at the 3 stones, which are 3 concrete stones that have been there since the beginning of time. My mam and I used to walk this route regularly to get from South Moor to New Kyo, or "Kya" as we called it, where my Nana lived.

As I got to the bottom of the black path, so called because the coal slag heaps used to be there, hence making the path black, I cut across the green opposite Ivy Terrace. In years gone by this would have been impossible as there used to be a huge pond, complete with newts, tadpoles and frogs. I spent many a day in my wellies catching various critters as a little kid. The pond gradually got smaller and smaller over the years, as I can recall huge bonfires being held on the green around November, what with  Guy Fawkes. One year I can remeber finding the perfect stick for roasting my tatties. It had a bit of plastic on it so I grasped the plastic and pulled, to try and remove it. The stick split and as I pulled one sharp edge drove right through my thumb. I can remeber running home with this huge bit of stick stuck through my thumb and my dad having to pull it out. Turns out the stick was from a kite and made from some sort of fibre glass. Funny what sticks in your mind and also in your thumb if you go pulling on things you shouldn't.

I can also recall the big cooling tower that used to be at the top of the path, where the brick flats were. It was always known as the "Charlie". Something else I may have mentioned in an old blog, when thinking of the brick flats. My dad used to take wor Blackie, who was a big black Labrador for a walk up the "Charlie". Each night Blackie would carry a brand new brick home. One day a bloke came knocking on our door, telling my mam that my dad had sent him. The fella was finishing off an extension and had run out of bricks, well we had a shed full of tbrand new bricks all neatly stacked to the roof.

Coming off the green I rode down the back lane of where I used to live from the age of 3, and 29 Mitchell Street, in South Moor. I see they have clad the houses, so they look like they have new brick work. From the age of 16 this is where I have fond memories of my first motorbikes.

It is strange riding down the street, a memory came to me from years and years ago. It was of a house near the bottom of my street. There used to be a man and woman, who had two dogs, and the dogs had chewed a great big hole in the gate, which had then been boarded up. I can recall having some terrible nightmares about those two dogs escaping and setting about wor "Blackie". Funny what sticks in your mind and how revisting places, sights or sounds can bring stuff flooding back.

Turning left at the bottom of Mitchell Street, I headed over towards the old people's cottages. Deciding to take the route I used to take to get to my first school, which was called Greenlands. The old street hasn't changed a bit, it is still like a pottery old lane, with a terrible road surface. Greenlands is now boarded up and in disrepair, I have some good memories of that school.

Riding onto South Moor front street, I cut over the pedestrian crossing, and headed for home, cutting down through Hustledown and Holyhill.
Once at home, I had to give my bike a thorough wash, as she was up the naffs.

And that is the end...LoL...Well not quite.

 

Yesterday, as it is now today, and I have been on absolutely ages trying to sort my video editing software. So yesterday I decided to try another time warp video, making sure my camera was adjusted a bit better and got more of a clear image of where I was going, not just looking at either the ground or sky.

As the weather had been slightly colder on my previous days out, both walking and riding, I decided to pop on a couple of base layers and my Endura Hoodie, thinking I would pop my GoPro chesty mount on under my jacket and just leave the zip down so that my camera poked out. Unfortunately, when I came to get off my bike to lift it over a gate I must have accidentally covered my camera, so basically got a shot of the inside of my jacket. Never mind, I was able to fudge some footage together, you live and learn.

As I started up my Wondershare Filmora editing software, which by the way is so easy to use. I got a message saying I could upgrade to a newer version. As I have paid for the software, it allows me more items for editing, so I downloaded and installed the software. Then, when I had finished popping my footage in, editing it with titles and music, I began the process of rendering my project. Now when I say it took ages I mean hours and hours and yep a few more hours, so much so that I left my computer running as I went to bed. I awoke early this morning to discover my pc must have got bored and decided to turn off sometime during the night... Bloody hell man.

I then had another go at completing my project, lowering the settings, it has now taken 6 hours to get the video rendered and uploaded LoL. So now I am investigating with more settings to try and get the best video quality I can, however maybe in a different file type. I think because I have downloaded a new version of Filmora something must have changed somewhere.

As I have a 4/5K GoPro, obviously I would like to be able to upload to the best quality. Ah well, something to keep me busy, and try to figure out I guess.

Further, update, it has taken all day to render and upload the 4k version, so now I have two of the same videos on YouTube, one in 1080 HD and the other should be 4K when it is processed.

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.

Maiden Ride

 Finally, put my ass in gear, and took my Orbea Gain out for her maiden ride.

 

Initial thoughts, I love the feel of the bike, by that I mean it's size and positioning for comfort and use. I obviously had the assisted power set slightly wrong, as man the pull up Durham Road and on to Wear Road was a slog. I had thought it would be a breeze on level 2.

Upon a quick check of my power settings, which you can customise using the Mahle Smartbike App, I saw that I only had 15% on level 1 and around 20 or was it 30% on level 2.

While I am on about the Mahle Smartbike App I have to say I absolutely detest it. I was running the App through my old Samsung Galaxy S9. It took an absolute age to connect, and then counted me down, saying I was connected.

My first ride out on the Orbea Gain was totally ruined by the Smart bike App, due to it constantly loosing connection, requiring me to turn it off and reset it, then also resetting my bike and in the end fannying on trying to reset the GPS on my mobile phone.

All I really wanted to do was go for a cruise and get to grips with the bike and see what the different settings did and how the motor preformed.

Things I do like are being able to adjust the power of the motor, there is a customisable setting, called "motor maps" so you can set power for levels 1, 2 and 3, or you can use the defaults of Eco, Urban and another couple which escape my memory.

The bike it's self just feels right, it is comfortable, when the motor is engaged and working it is quiet and when you get over the 15.5 mph cut off with pedal assist the motor disengages and doesn't hold you back with any resistance. Obviously the bike is heavier than a standard road/gravel bike due to it being an electric bike, however you don't actually feel it once aboard. The Orbea Gain also looks aesthetically pleasing, love this Ice green colour, which looks like a blue at times. Also like the internal cables and the dropper seat post I asked to have installed works super smooth from the Left Shimano R810 lever. I like the fact you can adjust the seat post gradually and smoothly, with a gentle flick of the lever.

In ending, if I can get the Mahle Smartbike App to work correctly and not keep disconnecting then having to reconnect upon each ride which is very frustrating, 

I would be so happy with this new ride. Apparently Mahle decided to change from the previous App to this new version and a lot of people have been complaining about the same issues I have experienced. The old App looked far superior, even allowing for mapping in conjunction with a mobile phone.

Next time out, I will try and set up the app again and also look at the various power levels, experimenting to see how much peak power the motor can provide, not that I ride using full assist. Just enough to give me my leg back is enough for me.