Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me...

Birthday McMuff

Another year older...I'm now at the age where I try to keep my birthday a closely guarded secret...awww crap another Fail!  Saying that I have to admit this birthday has been quite enjoyable. Maybe it's because I have lots more supportive friends who I enjoy spending time with and who in turn give me the kick up the arse I sometimes need in order to get me into action. Maybe it's because I'm a lot happier in myself as things are pretty tickety boo at the moment (well apart from this dam blog thingy going from my chosen text Verdana to something completely different as I type Grrrrr...Bloody just stop on Verdana)  Oops sorry side tracked there...Omg why is it doing that... Focus Glenn, Focus.

An old friend I had yet to meet...

Isn't it strange the power of the internet. Almost all of us are connected to a world which has become increasingly smaller thanks to the World Wide Web.

This adventure started many years ago as I recall, when I had the pleasure of becoming Mick's acquaintance on-line, through some amputee group or another. To be honest both Mick and myself can't recall just how long we have known one another or when we first started chatting on the internet in various groups/ forums etc. It's been a while, Mick has followed my progress, joining my Facebook Amputee's group and also becoming a follower of this here blog, oh and not to mention just recently as I started up a new forum called It's Gone Move On and offering great support there.

So anyhoo I noticed Mick had posted on my forum about his passion for getting out doors and going for a jolly good walk throughout various parts of our beautiful countryside. He had asked me to join him on an outing sometime ago. And though I had initially agreed it was at a time when I was having real bad socket issues, so we had to put our meeting and outing on hold. Well like most things it just got forgotten about and though we saw each other posting from time to time, well it just didn't happen.

As I saw Mick posting a little more about how much he enjoys his own adventures I thought I'd contact him and try and arrange to meet him and head out somewhere. Well this finally happened yesterday.

Mick standing under Coe Cragg

OMG! I think I've broke my bot...

    John had asked me earlier in the week did I fancy a look out and did I know of anywhere to ride that maybe interesting. I told him yeah I wouldn't mind having a ride out, however I was really running out of places to go locally that quirked my curiosity. Although I get out and about it's generally only a radius of around between 20 to 30 miles away from home, so in the years I've been cycling I've just about gone everywhere I can think of as interesting.

Anyhoo I had a think about it and suggested we maybe ride to Newcastle and we could always have a look around Leazes Park which is opposite where I work. John was up for this as he's a Newcastle United fan and St Jame's Park is right beside the Park.

Leazes Park, band stand, looking onto back of St Jame's Park

Wheeeere Off to see the Wiz...Ahem OX!!! lol

During the week my friend John had asked me had I seen the photo's and Youtube footage of the Old Baths at Durham, to which I replied "No". So I decided to checkout the video and images and found them really interesting. It's a real shame that such a beautiful building which opened back in 1932 has not been looked after an converted in to something useful. The place has so much character

During my search I found various articles and thought I'd post this link to show you what the building looks like and just how it has fallen in to disrepair and been vandalised

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=23941#.U0F9AVfIvRU

Both John and I would have liked a look inside, well maybe not John as he thinks the building is "spooky" as he describes it lol

Anyhoo whilst searching on the line I discovered there was a sculpture down on the riverside in Durham. It was done by Andrew Burton. So I mentioned this to John and we both decided to have a ride down to Durham to try and find it and get some pics.

Mooooooooo!

I'm expanding...No not that way silly!

Instead of saying I'm expanding and having you all think I'm getting a little tubby, maybe I should have said I'm branching out. Now to many of you this won't really apply,as well you have all your bits...yes, yes I know some of you think you have all of your bits, yet are still lacking something, but hey who am I to judge lol.

Anyhoo instead of being cryptic I will explain. I have decided to start a forum, which hopefully is going to benefit the amputee community.

I have had great success with my Facebook group, Facebook Amputees, so much so that it now has over 1,000 members and counting. You know I say "MY" group, when in fact I feel I have actually handed the group over to it's members. So really now I class it more as "OUR" group, after all it's a joint venture of over 1,000 amazing people who make it what it is.
 
 I decided to try and start my first forum as whilst I like Facebook I do not like the new style format where important and helpful information scrolls off the page into oblivion. So my thoughts for a forum were, Mmmmm have a place that has the same kind of friendly atmosphere, the same kind of information,stories,support and advice, BUT have it on a board where if people wanted to add to a topic they readily can. This means anyone who needs certain information on a subject can either ask the question or it may already be laid out there for them to read.

So to the name of this new forum... Well I was thinking and thinking for ages and in the end after Googling and finding most stuff was taken I decided on something that was kind of fitting when thinking back on my situation. And so chose to call the forum "It's Gone Move On". Now yeah this won't suit everyone's Mantra, but hey. I guess I'm the type of guy who whilst I know what it's like to suffer from depression I also know that for me loosing a limb wasn't going to be the end of my world.

And so for those of you who are interested, if  you think you could either do with a little support or offer a whole shed load,why not come pay us a visit.

you can find us at 

http://its-gone-move-on.proboards.com/

New friends and old bones

    I had been looking forward to today all week I was going to heading out on my bike,   regardless of the weather, well unless it was a full on down pour with thunder and lightening (I get scared in case my metal bits get struck lol)

Earlier in the week I had planned a ride to the coast with my new riding bud John. The pair of us aren't exactly fit, so we had come to the decision we would ride down to Sunderland, go along the sea front and then follow the coastal path to South Shields, then cheat a little and ring Ern (my dad for a lift home. The way I see it is it's enjoyable having a nice ride, but when you push things too far well you just sicken yourself off.

Today was also special because I was going to be meeting up with a very nice lad called Lee, who was going to be joining John and I for a look out.

Allreet there John

A random yet enjoyable loop with my friend John

I had arranged to go out for a bit of a ride with my friend John today, around lunch time, after I got home from work.

So after work I drove home, got in and made myself a nice cup of coffee with our new fangled Tassimo machine. The coffee,tea and other assortments of drinks are quite nice and it's a nice treat on a morning to have a strong cup of Costa coffee or a hot chocolate before going to bed.

I finished my coffee and  went and got changed into my biking gear. Picked up my small Canon camera and then headed back down stairs to adjust my cleat on my good legs shoe. Past few bike rides I have had I have been getting a really painful knee. Originally I put this down to riding up our big bank last week with my seat way to low on my Ibis. I then thought maybe  my cleat was in the wrong place. Well to be fair I now don't think it's any of those reasons, maybe I'm just getting old and that's where the pain is coming from.

John arrived at my house around 1:30pm and I provided him with a couple of nice new stickers which he had asked me for, so that he could pop them on his bike. The stickers being the ones I had printed last week and advertising this very blog. Hey you have to take free advertising where you can right lol. Ern very kindly applied them to John's bike (John's hands where to cold and hey I already had my bike gloves on raring to go)

Cool Sticker

A special gift from a special friend

Late last week I received a very special gift from my friend Lee Kinder, also known as Artisan Attributes.

Mr Hink's... Thanks Lee

I had the great pleasure of meeting Lee in Logan Utah when I was out visiting another good friend of mine Mark Peterson.

Mark had very kindly allowed me to crash at his pad whilst I was on my 3 week holiday in the US last September and it was an awesome surprise when he had arranged to drive the hour or so to hook up with Lee over in Logan.

WoW I still find it amazing how just by getting a Fat Bike I then go on to meet so many wonderful people. Fat Biking and the whole Fat Biking community is unlike any other. The sense of camaraderie is unreal. As soon as I started posting my first few pictures of my Fat Bike I found I was getting friends requests and invited to such things as Fat Bike festivals.

It had been a long time dream of mine to travel, however I never seemed to find myself  in the position to do so. Tied down when I was younger, then illness as I got older.

Then I caught a bit of a break and managed to get myself a part time job and  was able to get myself back on my feet (even if one of them is made of carbon and plastic). Really I owe a huge thanks to my fantastic work colleagues who pushed,as well as supported me in following my dream and making the decision to travel.

My original plans were just to go visit Brian, my friend and sponsor on his fantastic Bartlett Tendon, however when I mentioned to Mark I was thinking of going on holiday ,he was like "dude you have to come stay with me and ride my trails". From there I had another friend Shannon, who I have known as a fellow amputee for years, again via Facebook and she wanted me to visit her. And so things started to gather momentum. I just wished I had had more time and more guts (my first real trip away I was scared I would get lost) as I dearly wanted to visit my friend William Rosche in Atlantic City. It just came down to logistics in the end and time, too many flights and trains not enough time.

Anyhoo back to Mark and Lee... Just like when I met Mark at Salt Lake Cities airport, as soon as Lee and I met I knew we would get along famously. That day riding in Logan's mountains will be permanently etched in my memory. The scenery, the smell, the atmosphere and of course riding with these two amazing new friends.

As our time was just about done as we ended back up at the car park I asked Lee would he mind doing a carving for me. To which he replied "sure, just send me what you would like done", needless to say it had to be Mr Hink's, my beloved English Bull Terrier.

And so my pendant arrived late last week and I thought I'd take a little pic, which actually doesn't  do the workmanship any justice.

Oh and on a side note . I also tried to take a few pics of another very precious gift I received from Mark, however it's late here and a bit dark to capture it properly. Mark gave me a very special necklace. It's hand carved from bone, like little skulls, with what look like blue sapphires. I'm sure if Mark reads this he won't mind me telling you he has struggled financially since taking a pay cut. I know he wanted to give me something on my leaving and when he gave me this gift, saying he didn't have much, but wanted me to have this necklace which was very personal to him, as he had had it for a long time. Well it blew me away. To be honest there is no better gift than that of friendship and I feel incredibly lucky.

Decided to treat my Sandman

My Sandman Hoggar Fat Bike will soon be approaching 2 years old. I have enjoyed every moment of owning and riding her and since purchasing my Fat Bike she has seen more use than any of my other bikes.

Some new bits n Bobs