Discovering memories in the loft

Isn't it funny how the smallest of things can bring memories flooding back?

So upon my quest to either save or raise funds for the classic VW Beetle I am after I decided to venture up into our loft and see if there were any hidden gems, hiding amongst the cobwebs and dust. May be I would discover some rare piece of art or at least something worth selling.

Funnily enough, I have not done too bad selling various bits and bobs, things like older electronical tech, bags I no longer use and even a model of a Ferrari, but hey that is another story.

What really got me reliving a mixed bag of memories, both good and bad, was this old Fila shoe box. As I wiped the dust off it and lifted the lid, then peered inside I discovered all these old wrappers from the 90's. When I say wrappers I mean from things like chocolate bars, or biscuits, crisp packets and even Smartie tubes and a old Pot Noodle container.

Various 90's wrappers

So tell me what you want, what you really, really want

You see there is a bit of a story to these items, hence the memories, good an bad.

In 1995 I was diagnosed with a giant cell tumour in my right knee. It came as a total shock. There I was walking around delivering letters as a postman and then "Bang" I start limping visit the docs and I am diagnosed with this horrible, bone eating thing in my leg.

Anyhoo that was a brief history and all I am going to say on that. This is where the bad memories came in. The good ones are of my dear old mam. You see she used to work at a local news agents, Chrisp News, which used to be in the old Stanley Bus Station. My mam would quite often bring me in a different chocolate bar, or packet of crisps, especially if they were new out or limited. It was her way of trying to cheer me up as I was stuck in the house. I started saving the wrappers just popping them in a shoe box, not sure why, but hey I am glad I did as they have really brought a smile to my face upon finding them.

I have now thought about using the wrappers more pro-actively and put them all up for sale. I know may sound silly I mean who wants to buy old wrappers from the 90's right. However you ould be surprised. There are over 80 and people do trade and sell these things.
 

Salt n Lineker

I actually had a great idea to get myself a large clip frame and mount them, possibly creating some kind of retro, modern art design. Ah well will see if they sell and if they do, another memory will be created as I add the funds towards a classic Bug.

If you enjoy walking,rowing, running, swimming or cycling why not join in and get that feel good factor.

 

Summer is approaching and many of you will be out enjoying the great outdoors, whether this is going for scenic walks, attempting to get that beach body by going for a run, or maybe enjoying a nice cool swim or a ride in the country, taking in all the beautiful sights and sound that come with being outside and a warmer time of year.


If so why don't you join in with Arctic ONE's Summer of Sport? It is a great opportunity to discover a Foundation you may never have heard of before. A Foundation that is very transparent and as you follow them upon their page you can actually see where the money you help support them with goes.
 
Each year Arctic ONE attempts to raise enough funds so that they can go on to provide support and assistance to a wide variety of individuals and groups, both able-bodied and disabled. They do this with a grant system, which they call their " Forward Motion Grant". Anyone can apply for this grant who is taking part in some sort of sport. You can find out the details upon their page. All they ask in return is that you help spread the word and help the Foundation grow. The more money raised the more people who can be assisted in taking part in what they love to do.
 
Please find below the link to details of entering Arctic ONE's Summer of Sport. I know everyone and their dog is asking for charitable donations, however, I believe giving to this Foundation is very different as you become part of a family and if you are in turn needing help at some point you can apply for a grant and the guys over at Arctic ONE will definitely look at your application. They have helped people up and down the country with some great projects.

So if you are going to be doing stuff in summer, why not do it and at the same time help out Arctic ONE. Oh and don't worry, if you decide to give they won't be knocking on your door, sending you spam emails and expecting you to donate each month. It is an opportunity to get involved, a one of payment and you can check out either their Facebook Page or website at your leisure and see how things are going and just what your support is supporting people to do. 

Arctic ONE Summer of Sport

Cheers Guys
 

An honour and a privilege to support my good friends over at Pace Rehabilitation

Last month I got a message from none other than QuiggoldI thought he may have been inviting me to some Jedi get together, however, this was not to be the case. Quiggold aka Scott Richardson is Pace Rehab's PR Guru and he was, in fact, asking if I wouldn't mind supporting both himself and Toby Carlson up in Edinburgh. Toby being Pace's expert witness and director. 

Demonstrating adaption for my job role and being able to kneel behind patients

Scott informed me that Pace had arranged a presentation for a Law firm named Road Traffic Accident Law Scotland(RTALS LLP) and their associates. These guys are specialists in Road Traffic Accident Compensation, their mission statement being "We don't just make the difference, we are the difference". 

Of course, I wasn't going to refuse, as by now you will know if you have ever read my Blog, just how supportive Pace has been to me over the years, and it is always a real pleasure to give something back and help out where I can.

The presentation was up in Edinburgh, bonus a nice ride out to a beautiful place. I love Scotland. As usual, I brought my chauffeur, my dear old dad Ern. Well, I needed his car as I didn't think my bike would fit in my Smart Car and I didn't fancy having a go at trying to get it into "Grandma" my Beetle. Far better to bring Ern's mobile skip.

Getting back to the ride up, we made excellent time, in fact, we were a tad early so pulled over for a short break on the way up. Scott had informed me the presentation was to start around 11:00am and finish around 13:30'ish...No worries I thought. Well, that was until we got into the centre of Edinburgh. Dear me it was chaos, so much construction going on. What with roads closed, diversions in place oh and a Sat Nav woman trying to direct up roads and lanes that were closed off. Oh and then there were the taxi's, 6 wheeler buses, trams and irritate pedestrians.

After thinking we were where we needed to be I gave the number Scott had provided me with a call and spoke to Jodi, one of the ladies we were presenting to a call. Bless her she did her utmost to direct us. Apparently, we were only 2 blocks away. Jodi recommended we look for Hanover Street I think it was called, so I popped this in the Sat Nav and off we went doing a complete loop of Edinburgh. We finally got to where the Sat Nav lady told us we needed to be, and bloody hell the road was closed. So around we went again, quite the tour of Edinburgh may have been fun if not for time constraints .

Eventually, we arrived up by the Statue of George somebody or other, sure he is famous I just didn't have time for a history lesson. By this time I was a little stressed and back on the phone to Jodi. Jodi then did a splendid job of directing us around this maze of narrow back streets to get to where we needed to be. I was really impressed. Thank god Ern did come with me as I am terrible at directions and would never have found the place.

Both Scott and Toby firstly gave their presentation and when it was my turn they gave me the nod and I just had to wing my bit. Basically briefly explaining my journey, a little about provision and support, and the various prosthetics I have encountered. I also mentioned my thoughts on elective amputation, versus traumatic and the process of recovery and rehabilitation. I then went on to do a little bit of demonstration using my everyday Rheo XC and my BTK Crossover upon my bike.

Toby Explaining what Pace offers and the process

Toby and a captive audience

Scott doing his thing

Rotating my ankle

Talking about the importance of socket fit

At the end of the presentation it was really nice to chat have the opportunity to chat to a few of the people who attended and get some lovely feedback, which is always good for the soul and kind of gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, you know like you may have left a little impression or at least a good one on  Pace's behalf.

Demoing BTK Crossover usage/ability

Upon our ride home Scott messaged me and said one of the ladies in attendance had actually said to him, and I am sure she won't mind me quoting her, "I have been doing this job for longer than I care to remember and can honestly say that was the best presentation I have seen".

It's the little things that people can say and do that make a big difference.

A huge thank you to everyone in attendance, especially for all your kind words, it was a real pleasure meeting you all, sorry I didn't get to talk to everyone at the end. 

Big thank you to Jodi Gordon for her images and video clips

In search of a reminder from the past

For quite some time now I have been wanting to go back to my youth, and when I say go back I mean about 40 or so years. You see when I was a young lad of around ooh I would have to say 10 or 11 years of age my dad bought me a car. Now I am talking a proper car not a Dinky or Matchbox. No, it was a Classic T1 shaped VW Beetle. The car was a light blue, a bit like a baby blue and although it was nothing out the ordinary, for me it was a very special little car.

Similar to the car I had

A ride around the Bath Tub Loop 10 times

The weather didn't appear too bad this morning, as I just had a nice relaxing mooch about indoors. I then became a little bored, having watched the stuff I had recorded over the course of the week. I love watching The Curse of Oak Island and also enjoy Forged in Fire, so have these programs set on the set-top box.

Coming up the Bath Tub Loop Trail

I had checked the weather forecast the previous day so had an idea it was due to rain, never the less I decided to head out on my Specialized Turbo Levo. There is a trail over on Chapman Wells, a local nature reserve and I quite enjoy riding over that way as there are not a lot of people or cars. 

Heading down past Stream Valley

I had gone out on my Fat Bike sometime earlier in the week and measured the Bath Tub Loop, using Strava, it came in at 1.8 miles, starting at the Stream Valley Equestrian/Farm of course, I had to also ride there and back so that also added a few miles.

As I set off I was pleased I had prepared for the weather, having put on a base layer, my Race Face Jersey and my Endura Hoody. To be fair it was not really cold as I rode to start with, without my gloves. It was, however, a tad damp and overcast.

A spot of rain over by the pond

Puddles starting to accumulate upon each lap

The ride to Chapman Wells is only about 2 or so miles. I had brought my GoPro, however, had an inkling that it would not be of much use today. I have mentioned this before I have the GoPro Hero 5 and it is terrible in poorly lighted situations. It is hard trying to get a photo of yourself using photo mode as the timer is only 30 seconds long. And when you try to use the time-lapse photo, well you do not have as much control over the image settings. Needless to say not too many quality images today.  Never mind the purpose of today's ride was more just to get out of the house and challenge my self to do 10 laps of the Bath Tub Loop.
 

Over by the small pond. Gets some lovely wildlife here

 

I kept my bike in eco mode throughout my time out, and this gives me a canny workout on the off-road trail.
 

  
It has been some time since I have been out and got a good soaking, however, I really enjoyed my time out. It's nice to have a bit of solitude and just relax and reflect on all that is going on. I also use this time to reflect and generally just be grateful for the small things in life, the things that don't cost anything and all of us take for granted.

A ride out with Reptile Number 2

Awaking this morning I was kind of lost as to what to do, and as the morning slowly passed away and I couldn't think of anything I decided to hide under my throw and see if possibly falling asleep would help either motivate me or bring some positive ideas to spring to mind.

Just as I was dropping off, wor Kyle (Reptile #2) poked his head into my room and said: "hey what are you doing in bed, it's a lovely day do you fancy doing something, maybe go out in the bug?" Well obviously now I thought I was having some sort of a weird sleepy dream state event, as Kyle rarely asks me to do I fancy doing anything. Apparently, it had been really slow at KFC and the Colonel had given Kyle the day off.

I agreed to a lookout and suggested Bamburgh, well it was a nice day and it is pretty beautiful up that way, plus Kyle had never seen the Castle before.

On the beach at Bamburgh

Urban Cow Spotting

For years and years, going back as far as ooh 1995 - 96,  when I was unwell and a patient over at the Freeman, to the present, I always thought that the cows in the field over on the Town Moor, were a rather unusual sight.

Urban Cows

I mean usually, you see cows either on a farm or in a wide-open expanse, in the country. Not that the Town Moor is a small area, no it's the whole backdrop of where the cows are really. 

When you come across a film that gives you that "Feel good factor"

One morning a few weeks back, whilst getting sorted for work, grabbing a quick cuppa, and watching a spot of breakfast news, there was a story about a group of fisherman from Port Issac in Cornwall. These group of fishermen had for years been singing old maritime sea shanties, both upon their boats whilst out fishing as well as onshore where they practiced together once per week. The story goes that a record producer spotted them singing whilst on holiday and well from there the rest is history, and I do not want to spoil the story, for those of you who may wish to go and see the film. 

What really perked my interest was the fact that one of the actors present on the sofa, was David Johns. I loved his portrayal of Daniel, in the fantastic film I Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach.

Anyhoo upon watching and listening to the interview of both some of the actual characters who the film was based on and the actors playing the role of the fishermen when I arrived back in from work that day I did a little research and discovered the FishermensFriends were actually going to be playing at the Sage in Gateshead later this year, the 24th September to be exact.

The following day arriving at work I mentioned the story to my friend and colleague Sue. Like myself, she was very interested and we decided to ask around within our team if anyone else fancied going for an outing, come September to go and see the group of Fishermen sing their songs. Sue also suggested, "hey why don't we go and check out the film". 

I had a quick scooby online to see where the film was playing and we decided to go along to Cineworld at the Gate in Newcastle yesterday evening. After experiencing Cineworld at the Gate, although I don't go to the flicks often, I do have to say it is one of my favourite theatres. The seats were ever so comfortable, the screen just big enough and a delightful atmosphere.

The film didn't start until 18:15pm, so following work we had a walk down into the Toon and just had a relaxing cup of Coffee at Starbucks in Old Eldon Square, opposite the St George and the Dragon Statue.

Getting back to the film and what I said earlier about not wanting to spoil it for anyone fancying seeing it. What I can say is it is one of those memorable feel-good films, a little bit like the Full Monty or going back The Commitments. You know the ones, about the working class, hardships and adversity, but also with a few tunes where you find you are tapping your feet along to the rhythm, or in my case foot LoL. There are some sad moments, together with some really funny ones and you really feel yourself being drawn in by the characters. I am not a film critic, and I am sure that certain people in the know will say that the accents or something like that was not correct, however, for me the acting and their portrayal was superb.


It's great to watch a film with some originality and not just another remake of something that has gone before. I am now very excited to head off in September and listen to the Fishermans Friends live. I have never been to the Sage before so it will be a real treat.

Hey if you find yourself at a loose end, why not grab yourself some popcorn and head off to see this, sure you won't be disappointed.

I can't remember that bridge being so narrow ... Abort..Abort!

    Over the last few weeks, I have gradually felt my Mojo returning. Whilst the weather has been poor I have taken to my road bike which is now set up in my bedroom, upon my turbo trainer. I generally ride around 20 minutes or so, covering around 5 miles per night. I set the turbo on a resistance that is quite challenging and whilst riding I generally watch and listen to folk rock videos on Youtube. Following my ride, I have been whipping my leg of then completing sets or press ups, abdominal crunches and some single leg bridging to strengthen my core. 

It hurts a lot when you hit one of these at speed

I actually had some points to spend at Rutland Cycles after buying my Specialized Turbo Levo, around £60 and I used this towards a neat little gadget so that I could track my mileage. I purchased a Wahoo Elemnt Mini and have to say after a week of using this little device I love it. It is great for tracking both indoor and outdoor rides and can upload data directly to Strava. It also has a few other neat little tricks, however, I have not used it outside as yet so not got around to trying anything other than recording my indoor data.

Wahoo Elemnt Mini

Yesterday I had intended to go for a night ride, however following my usual Thursday morning swim, yes that's right I am also back to swimming and completed 2 kilometres in about an hour, the day just got away from me and to be honest I felt a little tired. I ended up watching a movie and just messing around on the interweb, checking on how my e-currency was doing, I'm not a millionaire, seeing if anyone had checked my Plenty of Fish profile and wanted to come and misbehave with me, oh and looking at the various things that I could potentially pop on my dream board, so that I can dream about them and bring them to reality. It has not worked yet, but hey I am still thinking positive and trying. My latest item is an old 1968 VW Beetle. Gutted my two dream houses have been sold, ahh well time to move on to plan B.

This morning I gave wor Kyle a hand wash, clay bar and then polish his little car. Then just after lunch one of Ern and my friends, Corker popped in. We popped on the computer and browsed various houses across the country and also looked at the usual cars and motorcycles, before having a nice cuppa and checking out a few videos on Youtube. When Corker had gone I watched a couple of episodes I had recorded on catch up, Knife Fight and Forged in Fire. Of course my favourite show I had already watched on Thursday after recording it Wednesday night and that is The Curse of Oak Island.

Following this, I was in two minds as to head out on my bike. It was starting to get a bit dark. I had had my lights on charge so thought what the heck. Even though you ride the same trails it always feels different on a night with your lights on. I even had the chance to use my little duck who lights up and is placed on my bars. He looks pretty cool and also works as a warning to people if you squeeze him as he squeaks LoL.

Just as I got to the top of Durham Road I snapped one of my BTK Crossover Tendons. I have been having a wear issue with my tendons the designer Brian Bartlett is aware of this and we are working on trying to find a solution. My other tendon snapped a few miles later at around Tanfield Railway. Never mind I can still ride my bike on the air in the RT3 Shock and this is what I did.

Apart from a minor stop at Tanfield Railway to grab a picture as I crossed the line, man was I flying. My intention to see how quickly I could get to Newcastle. I cut down the back of Sunnyside, crossed Watergate bends at the pedestrain crossing and headed down through Watergate Park. At this point it was pitch black, there are no lights in the park, so I had my main light on full beam. It gives off a very good beam and I could see where I was going. I had been down this particular trail a number of times and thought I knew it quite well. Thing is in the dark, things can appear a canny bit different and catch you out.

Quack Quack

So there I was almost in full "Toot" mode, probably doing 20 to 25 mph, thinking to myself "Whooo Hoo I'm flying here, your da man". When all of a sudden I approached this kind of bend, "Errrr I can't recall this bit" and I most definitely do not recall the bridge which crosses over the water that runs into the small waterfall being sooooo narrow. I tried desperately to grab the anchors, skidding my rear wheel out and did one of those strange leans to the left thinking, my bars were going to miss the fast approaching barrier. The thought "awwww shit I am going to smack this" quickly coming into my head. Then BANG! I twated my bars right off the edge of the barrier and this sent me flying off to the left and spilling onto the wooden planks of the bridge.

A bit like that nursery ryhm, but instead of woods and bears it's...If you go down to the park tonight, you better be aware of that fucking skinny bridge...
No Joke I thought I had both broke and torn my good leg open. I couldn't get up the pain was excruciating and I was expecting to see some sort of a jet of hot thick blood squirting from my thigh like in the movies. As I lay there I saw a small light approaching. No silly, not that sort of light it wasn't like the angels were coming and I was dead or owt. It was a fellow cyclist on his way home from work. The guy in question stopped and was really concerned asking if I needed an ambulance or wanted to call anyone. Obviously, all he would have seen coming from the other direction is a small bright light and possibly a flashing yellow duck take a dive. I had to sit there a few moments, as like I say I thought I had broken my leg. Eventually I was able to get up, however my leg and knee was killing me. I then said thank you to the very kind gentleman and assured him I was ok. As we both went to set off I introduced myself and he told me his name was Ian. I mentioned "hey at least this will make a good story for my blog" and Ian then asked me for my blog address, one way to get more readers I guess. Anyhoo Ian if you do happen to come across my blog, cheers for stopping and making sure I was ok, much appreciated.  

Crossing the A1

Dunston Staithes

Anyhoo I decided to man up and continue to the Toon. Riding a little more cautiously. I didn't get as many pictures as I had hoped, when both approaching and getting into Newcastle this was because my leg was seizing up and proper aching. A quick ride past the Sage and toward the Millenium Bridge. I had intended crossing the Millenium Bridge however it was up. There were a lot of cars down by the Baltic, like performance cars, Porches I think. So I came back and crossed over the Swing Bridge and then rode along the quayside just a little way. As I stopped to take a few snaps a lad and his girlfriend came over and he very politely said "hey man is that a bike shocker in your leg", "Errr yeah it's a Rock Shox Rt3" I said. Too which he replied "That is so cool". By then the Millenium bridge was down so I went back over the Tyne that way.

I pretty much rode the same way home, using a combo of Trail and Turbo mode to get up through Watergate Park and along the Causey. Oh, and of course up Shield row Bank. I figured I needed the assistance as after all I was riding with one prosthetic leg and a beat up good leg.

When I got home I shouted for Ern to come and help me with my bike and began getting some of my gear off. At one point I sat down on the kitchen floor in order to take my shoe off from my good foot, and then I couldn't get back up. So I had to go on my ass, to the bottom of our stairs all the while getting accosted by wor Baxter, who thought it was a game and great fun at that. There's me going "ahhh, ooooh" and a geet daft dog jumping on me. Once at the bottom of our stairs I had to lift myself one at a time to get to my feet and pop my everyday prosthetic limb on.

Getting in the bath was a drama in itself, however, I will spare myself the embarrassment of too much detail. Every time I bent my leg in the bath it was like having a dead leg and weirdly enough it made me kind of laugh and cry at the same time.

I am now sat at my computer desk, recounting my adventure and wow my leg is fecking killing. I know come tomorrow I am going to struggle to walk, so it is going to have to be a day of rest as I have work on Sunday. Just hope my leg doesn't drop off during the night, bad enough with the other one dropping off all the time. Tomorrow I will check the damage to my bike I just can't face it tonight.