It's the end of 2015 & my cycling didn't go as planned...

Having a bout of Flu at the moment & off work, it's clear I wont be doing any cycling for the last week of the year. So I thought I would look over the stats of my cycling for 2015.

After doing so well during 2014 for to then end not as good as I hoped due to left Knee locking up, I thought I could get back to the level I was in during the Summer of 2014 by improving myself again in 2015.

Unfortunately that definitely did not go as planned as my knee locked up yet again in the Spring of 2015 & off the bike. So I finally got to see specialists too to find out after years of being told my knee issues were muscle weakness, my knee wasn't improving when the muscles were. That's when I finally got to the bottom of the issue of my knee & finally found out I have Osteoarthritis caused by decades of low activity & constant stick use.

This meant I will never be fully stick free & I have to adjust my lifestyle to try not lock my knee up again & that includes my cycling. On top of that, my other leg is starting to 'follow in the footsteps' so to speak of my left leg which is making walking & cycling all the harder.

So, despite all this the stats for the year don't actually look too bad considering all that's gone on with my legs...

Not as consistent in mileage month to month but I have managed to cycle every month & you can see April & August is where the legs were playing up on me, December I was busy working extra hours so my days off were actual rest days as I needed them.

But when I compare this year to previous years, I was more happy with what I saw...

Yes it's a lot less than 2014 but still better than the previous years to 2014, far more cycling done than I thought I had done that's for sure.

Of course the mileage & time I cycled is just part of the picture, due to the revelations of my ongoing leg issues & continuing disabilities it was time to re-adjust my way of cycling. So it was time to do that by searching for a more suitable bike.

Meanwhile whilst searching for that bike, I was approached by the English Federation of Disability Sports to create a short film on disabled cycling following the article I did with them the year before (Active Summer Fun: "Cycling is an activity that’s possible for anyone"). So I helped make the film in the Summer & was a joy to do. 

Whilst waiting for the filming to be compiled I continued on my quest on a better bike for my disability, well I found it. I bought an Electra Townie for its unusual but innovative Flat Foot Technology frame at the end of October. This lightweight bike with unusual pedalling ergonomics has made cycling easier, even on day one when I collected from the bike shop & cycled it back home 22 miles away. :) 

Have to thank Cycles UK for suggesting this bike where other bike shops didn't want to really help in my search.

So its now near the end of the year & December was the release date for the EFDS films under their "Me, being active" campaign which I am proud to be part of as I now have seen the positive results & here is my story: "Me, being active" - Wolf's Story but I do highly recommend reading the others who contributed at EFDS marks International Day for Disabled People with Me, being active films.

So 2015 has been a fairly mixed bag of going ons & even tho it wasn't how I hoped the year would've panned out, I sure aint disappointed in how the year went for cycling considering all the factors & have proved quite productive. So what's the plan for next year, well more of the same I guess. My new bike is still need of adding more mileage & see what I can do in long rides on her being she is my lovely 'Cruiser' now.

But I do have a bigger plan which is to get a bike to be suitable to ride to work on every shift & back & still be able to work too of course. For this it'll have to be an eBike, which of course I have found one & it aint cheap. It's the Electra Townie GO, basically same as my new bike but with a Bosch engine in it & a very long range per charge, definitely suitable for the 45 miles commute to work & back each day.

 

But with other commitments & usual living costs, the 2 grand it costs means I wont be getting it anytime soon. It has been suggested I should try crowdfunding for this bike, not something I'm comfy in doing but will think it over. It would be good to find one to try out tho to be sure it would suit me & if so saved up for in time for this time next year but that would be tight to do.

So here's to the approaching 2016 & see what this new year will bring for my cycling. :)