To ride or not to ride that is the question?

As the title says "To ride or not to ride, that is the question". Ok so whilst out for a walk with Ern (my dad) and Mr Hinks our slightly fruit cake of an English Bull terrier, we ventured out to an area which I won't disclose for a walk.

Though I had been to this place before I hadn't really explored it, however on having a look around yesterday I thought "wow this would make an awesome place to shoot a short Fat Bike movie". Now here's my dilemma, the actual place I'm talking about has signs up saying "No Horses or cycling". So on the one hand as a law abiding citizen the little angel on my shoulder is saying "No stick to the rules", yet on the other shoulder my little devil is saying " Be a rebel just go for it". I mean if I did go ride the trail I have seen it would be very early in the morning I'd like to catch a nice sunrise. Also I wouldn't be riding this area on a regular basis it would be a one off, just to get the shot I'm after.

So I don't know what to do, guess I'm looking for input from people, what do you think? Am I seriously impacting on the eco system by riding maybe an hour or two in this area. What will happen if I get caught will I be slapped with an Asbo or have to face criminal proceedings.

After a slightly elusive sunrise

I'm determined to catch a nice, or should I say beautiful sunrise. So far I've failed in my last couple of attempts. I used to be up at the crack of dawn when I worked as a postman, but that was years ago, before I became ill with my leg. Since then well I can find myself in bed till all hours of the morning and don't get to catch too many sunrises. Just lately however I've been getting up at silly o'clock like this morning for instance 4:00 AM and heading out on my bike.

 Last night I checked the weather on-line for our local area and from what I read I thought it was going to be a canny morning.......how wrong was I ? I had intended riding up to Consett to catch the sun coming up over the Hownsgill Viaduct and shoot a small movie with my GoPro.  Well to cut a long story short the weather was pants, very dull, lots of clouds, mostly of the miserable variety. I decided I wasn't going to let this ruin my day. So Kyle my son who had joined me on this early morning adventure thought about where we could go and capture a few photo's and a bit of movie footage. We decided to head towards Waskerley and the reservoir as we hadn't actually visited it before.

Once you start to get up into the moors and the area opens up, it's so beautiful over there. It's so peaceful down by the reservoir. I rode right down to the edge of the reservoir and got a little bit of footage and even had a bit plodge in the water at one point to capture some pics of my bike at the waters edge. I reckon we did around 35 miles or so today and had a really enjoyable time, even if the weather was caca doo doo.

 Oh one thing I'm not happy with is my new cycling shorts, the lycra padded variety. I bought a pair of Funkier 8 panel gel filled shorts thinking they would help me out in those long rides in the saddle. Boy how wrong was I, these particular brand or design of shorts are so uncomfortable for me and have actually chaffed me pretty bad on both my good side and socket side, so I think I'm going to have to invest in another pair from a different manufacturer. I've been sore in the saddle before but not like this Ouch lol !!!!

Here's a few photo's from today

I saw that some kind of work was being carried out on the Hownsgill Viaduct as there was a few barriers up. I then spotted this notice when heading over towards Waskerley Way near the farm.

Apparently some sort of fencing is being put in place in the hope it will stop people committing suicide off the viaduct, as it is a pretty well known area for people to actually jump off.

A Notice of work being carried out on the Hownsgill Viaduct

Me playing on my Sandman coming down a trail near the Viaduct

Kyle and me on our way up to Waskerley. Rowley Station was actually dismantled brick by brick and is now at Beamish Open Air Museum

Yeah I know it's just a gate, but the sky and trail leading off into the distance caught my imagination so I thought why not take a snap

Here are a few shots which I experimented with using different camera settings and a filter I got of my good friend Adrian. I took quite a flot of shots,  didn't want to bore you so only put up a few....

Sandman Hoggar Ti at the shore line of Waskerley Reservoir

In at the deep end lol

The sky was quite heavy with clouds, added to the shot though

Spent a morning with some fantastic guys from the BBC

Had a really enjoyable morning today. Three really nice guys from the BBC arrived where I live to do a short report on my use of the Bartlett  Tendon which I am sponsored on and to find out where things started in my mountain biking adventures.  Damian who is a Broadcaster and Journalist,was there to do the interview with me, Adam who is a video/camera man to take some footage and shots and David who is also a Broadcaster and Journalist tagged along for the experience.

Upon meeting the guys they were all very warm and friendly and we went over just what was going to happen during the course of the morning. They were fantastic guiding me through what needed to be done and offering lots of encouragement and reassuring me, making the tasks at hand easy to get on with.

I was very proud that I got great positive feedback on stuff I had shot, both photo and image wise. In fact Damian and Adam actually asked if they could copy some of my work over on to Adam's laptop as they may use it in doing the final news report.

Though very nervous about doing the interview (I'm not good in front of the camera) I felt it went well and was very pleased when Damian said it was spot on. I'm so thrilled to be actually able to get to thank those people and companies who have actually helped and supported me along the way and hope this kind of media stuff gives them a bit more recognition for the amazing work they do for others.

So in ending I would just like to say a huge thank you to Damian, Adam and David of the BBC. I really enjoyed meeting you all, your an excellent team and good to share a bit of banter with you.

And to those people and companies who have helped me so much over the past 5 years.

Pace Rehabilitation for your commitment and support when ever I have needed it.
  www.pacerehab.com

Brian Bartlett @ Leftsideinc for sponsoring me on your knee unit and taking care of me.
 www.leftsideinc.com

And to

Sandman Bikes for your excellent customer service, your always there to answer a query and your bike design is just awesome. I'm proud to be an ambassador for your company.
 www.sandmanbikes.com

A Sunset at Waskerley

Decided to head straight off up towards Waskerley on our return from Middlesbrough yesterday. I really wanted to try and catch a nice sunset on the reservoir up there but unfortunately we were a little late.

Never mind I did get  some shots, mind you I had to wade through the heather and almost fell a few times to get in position. It's real difficult walking at the best of time with this stoopid leg, but add confounded weeds,undergrowth and heather and well it's just not funny at all.....well maybe to others when I'm either goose stepping to get through the stuff or falling over as I've snagged my foot and my leg gives way unexpectedly lol.

Anyhoo hope you think the shots were worth it, all of the shots have the same basic composition I was messing around with different light settings,apertures etc.  I'm a total noob to this lol.

Near Waskerley on the moors

Whilst I was in Middlesbrough

I was invited along to BBC Radio Tees today to do an interview regarding my limb loss and to chat about my mountain biking and the unique sports knee, the Bartlett Tendon I am using.
After I had finished up at the Radio station I decided to go checkout the Tees Transporter Bridge and also have a look at the Newport Bridge which we had seen on the journey in.

Tees Transporter Bridge

A pretty interesting day

Like my post title says I've had "a pretty interesting day"..... It all stems from an interview I did for one of my local newspapers, (The Northern Echo) a week or so ago. A couple of very nice guys from the newspaper came out to see me to find out a bit more about me and my story in regards to loosing my limb and also to hear about the fantastic people, clinic and companies  who are supporting me in my mountain biking endeavours.

Earlier today Scott Richardson who is Pace Rehabilitation's Business Development Manager got in touch with me informing me BBC Radio Tees would like to do a short interview with me and was I available. Scott gave me Neil Green's number over at BBC Tees and I got in touch. Neil was busy but I was told he would contact me a little later in the day. I had no sooner put the phone down than a very nice gentleman John Williams from the BBC  rang me asking if I would be interested in doing a short interview and story for Look North......WoW it's all happening I thought. You see I wasn't aware at the time that the article had ran in today's Northern Echo so it seemed a bit weird all of these people calling me and taking an interest in little old me.

Neil as promised rang me back and we arranged for me to pay a visit down to BBC Radio Tees in Middlesbrough where I took part in a small interview, basically explaining what had happened to me, About my mountain biking and how I got to be so fortunate in finding people/companies to help and support me in my journey.

So overall it's been a busy kind of day, though I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The real bonus for me is being able to thank all those people who have supported me. It's also great to be able to spread a little more disability awareness as who knows it could inspire and motivate others.

Checkout the below link for the Northern Echo Article

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/stanley/9861551.Amputee_biker_from_County_Durham_tests_prosphetic_limbs_for_US_firm/

And the BBC Radio Tees interview can be found here (skip to 1 hour 39 approx to hear my interview)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/p00w7jdb?t=5936.635

Just like to go on and thank everyone at the Northern Echo, Gavin Havery (reporter) and Dave the camera/video man.

Everyone at BBC Radio Tees, thanks for the warm welcome and coffee.

Oh and a huge thank you to my dad, your my biggest supporter, always there when I need you and my best friend, cheers dad.....

Would like to add one of these to my bike collection, maybe if I win the lottery

I love all things bike, it doesn't have to be just mountain or Fat bikes. I also like to go for a blast on my single speed NS Analog. With it being a single speed it's tough work, what with only having the one leg to power me along. Banks and hills can be a nightmare, thing is with the single I find you can have a great ride out if you plan your route and kind of zig zag your way up any inclines. Riding my Single speed kind of takes me back to the days I rode my old Raleigh Grifter or Peugeot Bmx,back in the 80's. It's just a back to basics steel frame with bog standard calliper brakes, it's no frills fun biking.

 Anyhoo as I was saying......I got my eye on this English Bikes awesomely cool frame design. The attention to detail of this bike is fantastic. It's called Project Right and I dare say if I came into some money I would like to invest in one. I always like to own things that are just that little bit different and this bike certainly fits the bill.

Project Right

To read more about Project Right and see more images as well as English Bikes other designs checkout  http://www.englishcycles.com/custombikes/project-right/

Ventured out to Barnard Castle

Today's adventure was to Barnard Castle.I'm getting a bit bored of the usual local 20 odd mile loops so thought I'd venture a bit further afield. Barnard Castle is around 40 miles away from where I live. I didn't think I could manage it there and back so arranged for Ern to pick Kyle and myself  up when we had arrived at our destination.

Heading down towards Barnard Castle isn't to bad, we picked up the cycle route at Lanchester on the Lanchester Way Railway Path and headed towards Durham. We then continued on until we saw a sign for the Walney to Wear cycle route,( route 20). Overall getting to Barnard Castle wasn't too bad, though in certain area's the route is marked as Regional Route 20 but has now been resigned as National Route 70 which can be confusing, plus I don't think there are enough signs dotted around. You really have to keep your eyes peeled as it's quite easy to miss a sign and head off in the wrong direction,especially if your like me and get lost after leaving the corner of your street. Never mind a couple of helpful people around the Bishop Auckland area soon pointed us in the right direction and we were off again.

We climbed up the hill of the A688 and at about 9 miles away from Barnard Castle broke out the rations. This was one sausage roll, large which we shared and a couple of sandwiches which I had prepared before we set off. Consisting of 2 strawberry jam and 2 chocolate spread all on delicious fruit loaf. Boy they went down a treat and gave us a bit of a boost for the climb into Barnard Castle.

Met Ern and my friend Essi who's been visiting us this week at Barnard Castle and took a few quick snaps before popping the bikes onto the bike rack and heading home. A really nice ride out even though I'm a bit knackered and sore lol......

Me with my slightly retarded son

A Network Sculpture sign post type thing

@ Barnard Castle

@ the park Barnard Castle

The gates to Barnard castle

Coming down the footpath @ Barnard castle

A lookout to the Scotish Borders

On my return from Edinburgh the other week I got my eye on a fantastic looking  viaduct and made a mental note to have a look back up to check it out. So along with my dad,Kyle and Mr Hinks, as well as a few friends including Essi and the Hair family we all ventured up to the Scottish borders to take in this amazing piece of construction.

The viaduct in question is called the Leaderfoot Viaduct, it was constructed in 1865 to carry the Berwickshire Railway, connecting Reston on the East Coast Main Line with St Boswells on the Waverley.

  A little more history of the Viaduct can be found here
http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/gallery/leaderfoot.html

Leaderfoot Viaduct