Camelbak Rain Cover

What with the current weather we have been having of late I'm finding my Camelbak back pack is getting covered in mud and it's a real pain keep cleaning it. So I have decided to treat myself to a Rain Cover for my pack. It's a simple case of just popping it over your bag and it keeps your bag both dry and clean, it's also handy as it's quite bright so helps you get seen on those murky days. There are a few different brands of covers on the market, some even come with built in lights, one of  the Respo covers I think.

Camelbak Rain Cover

Had a look down the Dene

I had to go see about getting a new leg made today at the Disability Services Centre in Newcastle. The DSC is situated  just on the left hand side of the entry way into the Freeman Hospital.

Across from the Freeman Hospital is Jesmond Dene Park. This is a beautiful park and makes for a lovely stroll,  there are some quite steep ups and downs, but the scenery makes up for the effort of venturing into the dene.

 I had my camera with me so decided to take a few snaps......

The waterfall at the bottom of the Dene

Had a ride to the coast met a grumpy old man....

There was a bit of a break in the weather today,so I decided to ask Kyle (my son) if he would like to go out for a ride. We decided to head off down to the coast. We are quite lucky in where we live as the C2C route isn't to far from us, so it's just a case of picking it up and then a pretty straight route down to Roker in Sunderland.

We were having a rather nice day out until we got to around Birtley, there is a bit there known as "the worm". It's like a man made embankment that's about 10 feet or so high and winds it way down to the side of the C2C route for a few hundred yards. Anyhoo I decided we would cut to the side of the cycle route on this beaten trail in between the worm and the C2C track. We had just got on it when this grumpy old guy walked across our path with his two dogs, which were off the lead and running all over the place. The man went to put one of his dogs on the lead and allowed me passed to which I said "thank you". Just after I got passed he said "are you allowed to ride on here" to which I said "yes we are". I mean there are no signs as it's just a beat up rough track, that has been worn away by walkers and bikers alike. This guy then said in a very grumpy fashion "you should be riding up there". I just continued on. It wasn't until I reached the end of the beat up track that I noticed Kyle wasn't following me. Kyle had had to turn around and come down the C2C part of the route as this old guy had actually blocked him and wouldn't allow him past. Kyle says the old dude was really miffed off and had gotten his camera out and took a photo off him, don't know what purpose that serves as we hadn't actually done anything wrong, maybe he just liked the look of his bike lol. It's so annoying when you get people like this I mean they have their dogs off the leash running all over and the majority of them just allow their dogs to do their business where ever without picking it up. I always try to be polite when I'm out I know the rules of the tracks I ride,things such as giving way to horses and pedestrians. It's really hard being polite to a numpty like that though. I guess there just has to be some miserable sods who don't like bikers and think they own the place.

 It didn't spoil the day, Kyle and myself actually had a bit of a laugh about it, hopefully the next time I'm down that way I'll see mister grumpy I'm going to ask if he has any doggie bags then make a point of telling him "hey do you know you can get fined for not picking up after your dog" Maybe I can get a photo or two of him lol.

 Didn't get too many photo's today......

Souter Lighthouse

Groyne Lighthouse South Shields

Riding under Groyne Lighthouse

My Sandman Hoggar Ti

Techy Trail on my Sandman

Here's a small video I shot riding my Sandman through a rather technical part of some woods at Beamish. The ground was pretty muddy,because of the weather we have had lately with some very slippy roots and rocks. The foilage is getting very dense in areas so at times it's quite difficult to see just where your going on the trails. When I fell off at the end of the clip it was because I wasn't expecting the dip in the trail, it was covered by dense undergrowth lol.

Don't let the rain get in the way

Decided I wasn't going to let the weather get in the way of me having a blast out and some fun riding my Sandman. So got kitted up, popped on my GoPro and headed off to do a spot of puddle jumping lol. It was really tough riding the trails down at Beamish so much thick deep mud and in parts the trail had been washed away completely. I think I managed to fall off around 5 times today, nothing high speed, it was more a case of getting bogged down and not being able to get my leg down on my amputated side. Also had a nightmare trying to pump my tyre up with my very small pump,after I had deflated it to get through a particularly muddy area. I was knackered lol. Then had a steep climb from the forges at Beamish back up to the Shepard and Shepherdess pub and made my way home via No Place. All in all a fun filled few hours, a couple of bruises,a sore elbow (hit it on a rock) a nettled leg and a few scuffs on my Sandman, ahh well can't keep it new for ever.

Checkout the weird angle of the GoPro. I had it attached to my prosthetics pylon. It came out totally different to what I expected lol

Edmondsley Woods

I like to go out for a nice walk,along with my dad and Mr Hinks and on occasion with friends. It's always nice to see a bit of our beautiful countryside, especially at this time of year what with all the different flowers,trees and other plants and there array of wonderful colours, sure beats sitting around in the house.

A beautiful old moss covered tree

Playing on my Sandman on some local trails

Decided to have a look out and play with my bike and GoPro see if I could get a little bit of riding footage. This making movies is a lot harder than it looks, but it is fun riding, taking in the beautiful countryside and nature we have around where I live, then getting home and looking to see what I've managed to capture before deciding what to pop in a short video.Hopefully my movie making skills will improve and I'll try and capture some different angles and places to hook my camera onto try and make more interesting video's to watch. Anyhoo hope you enjoy my early attempts.

In the Woods

Wor Kyle, he's handy for helping me up when I fall off

Shot with my GoPro

A Spot of Fish Eye with the GoPro