Too good to be true

I am not sure I should be feeling this good !

I had a couple of days off and was pretty good about staying off my feet, plus Molly looked after me and spoiled me rotten. I did my excercises, kepy the knee elevated, iced it regularly and the big bandage came off Wednesday night. I got a lift to work on Thursday, but I worked with the leg on a chair, iced it some more and managed a few hundred yards at lunctime. I walked into work on Friday and managed a stroll at lunchtime too.

I was supposed to start 'squats' on Saturday and presumed this meant that the (three) cuts would be healed well enough. Squats involve supporting one's bodyweight and bending the knee to a right angle - surely that is just like pedalling, but a bit harder ? I did a few squats (a few times) and pulled off the plaster and steri-strips and cleaned myself up. So far so good!

So .. Sunday came and I thought I should give Golf a miss, but thought we could squeeze in a few easy miles and see how the knee was. I had been on t'Internet in preparation for this moment and bought some fat flats from DMR so that I could ride un-clipped (just in case). We did a level, easy, twelve miles from Withyham to Java & Jazz and back, for a coffee. The incision above the knee bled a bit, but no real problem. I cleaned it up again and iced the leg before dinner and retired a happy and half-mended man after only six days.

Monday I am up North for the week and undecided whether to take the bike. Shouldn't, but I did in the end. I drove close to Llandegla (daren't stop) and even closer to Cannock Chase where 'The Dog' was howling at me. MUST NOT STOP. Memo to self "no hills, no falls".


My B&B was a farm next to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Flat towpath for forty miles in either direction and I couldn't resist.

I didn't go mad, but managed 25 easy miles, a latte stop and witnessed Spring bursting forth at some pace. Curlew, Oyster Catchers, nesting Swans, nested Ducks (above), Canada Geese, Heron, Buzzard and hundreds of lambs on the low fells. What a fantastic evening out and finished off with, hopefully, a 'calorie neutral' dinner !

No bleeding this time, but I shall take a few days off now to rest completely, but we may do our little road circuit on Friday evening, complete with hills.

Saturday .. I have entered the Spring Cup. Sunday .. may ride again :-)

Stitched up ...

Third time lucky !

After two postponements, the operation went ahead and they found the same problem as last time in the other knee. I had a "substantial" tear in the medial meniscus which will have been trimmed. I will see the pictures at the post-op checkup, scheduled for Thursday 29th.

Relaxing above, having just arrived home from the hospital and complete with labels, patches and the rather high tech 'this knee' message and comedy arrow on the faulty leg ! Nothing left to chance and no expense spared with the NHS.

All that is left to do now is behave myself for a while, do my exercises and hope to be back on my feet soon. I have to say that it feels really good so far. Almost as if developments in technology have resulted in the procedure being even less intrusive than i remember it last time round.

The big bandage will be off later today and I am back to work tomorrow. Sitting down jobs only for the rest of the week though ...

Yeti Demo Day

We had an early start for Peaslake in West Sussex to test ride the new Yeti ASR5. Bromley Bike (http://www.bromleybike.co.uk/ and +44 208 460 4852) had a fleet of Yeti and Santa Cruz test bikes available for a thrash round the local woods and we had signed up to try out Molly's potential replacement.


Howard and Joe were on hand to make sure everything was running smoothly and there was a guest appearance from Yeti Stu who was helping to set the bikes up prior to each test ride. We had sold the Epic to help fund the replacement, but Molly has so far been unconvinced of the advantages of full suspension for the type of riding she likes to do. Despite the fact that the standard alloy ASR5 with a mid range parts build was noticeably heavier than Molly's Stumpy hardtail (and perhaps the old Epic too), it was pretty obvious how good the bike was as soon as I got on board. We were barely off the road for fifty yards when Molly mentioned it too. It is extremely responsive and appears to translate every ounce of effort into speed across the ground. The fact that it also has quite a low BB height for a full-suspension bike just makes it feel more stable. It is a completely sorted ride.

So, five minutes into the alloted hour, we knew it was meant to be - now what colour ?

The following day we managed an afternoon on the Downs and got a few miles in before tomorrow's operation. Another almost perfect day on the trails with spring sunshine, fantastic visibility and a cool breeze. It was also the chance to break out the 575 and remind myself about how much fun this bike is.


We rode from Bo Peep car park, through Alfriston and took the bridleway from Litlington and up the nasty (but reasonably short) climb from Oldkiln Bottom to the South Downs Way and then north towards Wilmington and down Windover Hill for a change. It was at some stage during the ride that it was mentioned how much better the ASR5 would have been ...

The perfect end to Molly's ride involves sitting in Badgers Tea Shop garden, in the sun, with a BLT and a pot of tea while I ride back to get the car and join her for toasted tea cakes and a latte.

Off to the Indian now for a nice Jalfrezi and then I am on stoppage in preparation for tomorrow's operation. Fingers crossed that it all goes ahead this time ...

The Easter Weekend

Easter last year we were in Wales, riding in the Builth Merida 100 in bright sunshine, 24 degrees on dry and hard packed trails. It was pretty perfect.

This time round, the forecast was rain, showers, blustery winds and then the possibility of sunny periods in-between more showers. Not the best weather to enjoy over the four day Bank Holiday but, with family commitments, we wouldn't be going far anyway.

With only a week to go before the twice-postponed knee operation, I had an urgent date with the garage roof and with no prospect of settled weather I just had to get on with it. We decided to try and sort it out on the first day, despite the forecast. An early start saw Molly and I out there and only four hours later, the old roof was off and the new one was pretty much watertight. Teamwork at it's best and, once again, what would I do without my little helper ! One of my more interesting photographs ...



Then the heavens opened and I spent the last hour in the rain finishing off - but we had the weekend's main job ticked off by mid afternoon. Result ...

On Saturday we were off to see Molly's parents but I rode there. Molly dropped me at Selmeston and I rode up Bo Peep Lane onto the South Downs (in the distance below) and then along the ridge, following the South Downs Way, and down into Alfriston. From there it is another climb up Windover Hill (where the picture below is taken from) and then down into Jevington. Through the village on the SDW and then back up another climb to the top again, past the golf course and, finally down into Eastbourne. I then had any easy spin along the seafront and down the coast to Pevensey Bay. All this during a settled period in the weather, no rain, good visibility and pretty dry trails (for the time of year). About 20 miles and just shy of 2000' of climbing.

We also had one of our major golf competitions on this weekend. Two strokeplay rounds to be played over any two days. I had chosen the last two days to play in order to make sure I had the work done at home. Needless to say I was a little hacked off when the course was closed on Sunday after torrential overnight rain and a late pitch inspection - not as hacked off as the guys who had played well on Friday and Saturday and found out that, as a result of the closure, the competition had been cancelled too! So, Sunday morning also became available to start cleaning out and tidying up the newly re-roofed garage and it also gave us the chance of a quick local road circuit on the bikes. It was only a bit over an hour, but had three climbs (one a bit 'stiff') and it will be a good early morning circuit before work as the mornings get lighter.

I played golf on Monday anyway and, with no pressure, nothing at stake and no money to win, I managed to play to a handicap of 8 ! What a waste of a good round and typical that I am playing quite well just before I go into hospital and have to have a few weeks off.

Next weekend - Molly and I have two Yeti ASR 5's booked for a test ride on the North Downs followed by the monthly medal at golf. Can't wait (for both), but what's the chance of another good round and some glory ?