Lost the battle but not the war...

As many who follow me know, I've been using cycling to help get me stick free & over 18 months ago I managed it. But last year my knee decided to play up for no apparent reason despite finally stick free for some months, done 2 Charity rides, cycled to Chelmsford & back to see Tour de France & those rides were all over 50 miles each.

 

Then after thinking I had knee sorted out, started a new job which involved a lot of walking & standing, leg had improved greatly. In February, the knee went again & worse than ever & back I went to see specialist. Who had done tests before & with physiotherapist notes to back up results, he diagnosed I had Osteoarthritis. This meant changes are needed to improve the condition but it will never go away, mostly lifestyle changes which reduces strain on the knee like sit with knee straight as much as possible.

But the timing of the knee flaring up was at the worst possible time, it was 2 months before Pedal 4 the J's & 3 months before Nightrider London. And having spent over 6 weeks unable to cycle on the road, both my knee & my level of fitness has been severely reduced. I had done 30 days of biking in April, but it was more of a 5 min run daily on a gentle setting of the turbo trainer & a few short rides at the end of the month.

And now that I'm beginning to cycle again I'm finding it difficult to do, partly coz I dont want to aggravate the knee again & I just don't have the leg strength anymore. The bike is feeling heavy & hard work so looks like I will be looking for an alternative 'lighter' replacement in the near future.

I had to drop out of Pedal for the J's last w/e as I just wasn't ready to cycle that course, but I needed to get things moving so I could do Nightrider London. So this week I decided I needed to start cycling further, so with a friend we went for a long ride around town to clock up the miles & it didn't go as well as I hoped. I really struggled to do 10 - 20 miles easily. This didn't bode well for me to be able to do Nightrider London let alone complete it, so after a few days of deep thought on the mater & a heavy heart I have decided I am unable to do it this year. The risk of doing more harm than good to the knee just wasn't worth it.

So I had emailed the organisers of Nightrider London to see if I can have the booking postponed to next years event so to give me time to get back to the level of fitness required & unfortunately they will not allow that. So on that premise I had to make further decisions as I now lost a good chunk of hard earned cash on an event I pre-booked to ensure I get a spot. It's not something easy to decide or I really want to do but I'm afraid I am no longer going to be doing the Nightrider London ride in the foreseeable future & I will not be pre-booking any similar charity event too as I can't guarantee I am able to do them on the day.

As for now I have to focus on my knee improving & able to manage it to avoid any further stick use if possible. The specialist has made it blatantly clear that I will never be stick free, but with the right management I can minimise the need of sticks. And until I know I can get the knee to be OK for more than 6 months, preferably over a year I think I will need to just work on my cycling distances on my own goals of getting the distances than try raise cash for charity on sponsored rides. Events like Pedal 4 the J's is still open for me to do as I can just turn up on the day & pay before I do it. Those sort of rides I will look out for to do in the foreseeable future.

So for now I may have lost the battle of going stick free, but the war to achieve it as much as possible as I have done for a decade isnt over. I'm just going to need new tactics & equipment as well as support to keep pushing forwards even if it is doing it slightly out of breath...

 

Tale of 2 charity rides...

Ok, it's been a hectic few months & I've not been keeping my blogs going as I should. So as I'm having a quiet few weeks atm I see its time I should update on the charity rides I've been doing.

So to start with Pedal for the J's in Chelmsford, it was near the end of the 30 days of biking & it was touch & go if I was going to get there due to rail engineering works. I had an early start to get to Chelmsford to start the ride by 9am as I was doing the 50 miles route this year & wasnt sure how long it would take. So started with a short bit of cycling to nearest station & managed to get a train without any issues.

Then another quick run through the park to the starting point & even had time to have a coffee before I started with my cycling buddys Pete & Dave who decided to come do the ride with me.

So off we went & the ride went pretty smoothly with a few stops around the route for a cuppa & refuelling.

 

And eventually we completed it & in under 4hrs tho we had lost Dave as he wanted to go ahead & faster than the nice gentle run I was doing with Pete, hey ho each to their own ways...

After that the 3 of us went to have a nice ride along the park to get a coffee at my fav Cycle coffee Shop Athlon Sport. Refuelled with some more food before heading back home & the ride from the station to home was the hardest part. lol

 

These 2 pictures are thanks to Pete & Dave who took them

The next day, I was saw but I did continue the 30 days of biking & after recovering from that ride I had just over a month to get ready for my next one & this one was going to push me even harder than Pedal for the J's, the Nightrider London.

The Nightrider London is slightly different than the Pedal for the J's I have done twice now. For starters as the name kinda gives it away, its at night & starts at 10pm & my starting slot was 12.30am. The other bit is that it is 100km (63miles) around London. All this is definitely putting me out of my comfort zone & to top it all I was riding my latest bike the Roadrunner which I have just had built with help for this sort of ride & is her maiden voyage out. I have ridden Roadrunner around town to get used to the handling, but this was totally different.

So off I went cycling as the sun was setting to catch the train to London with another cycling buddy Leon & what a nice start that was to see the Sun set as I rode along Hilly Fields.

So after a few hours of train time, we got to Alexandra Palace starting point just before midnight.

 

So off we went at 12.30am & took a nice gentle steady pace & right from the start we had hills & I hate hills. But Roadrunner was light & took them in its stride even if it was a bit slow. lol

We stopped when we felt like it to have a break, refuel or just snap some pics along the way as there were some nice views on the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just around 9am we finally made it back to Alexandra Palace to receive a medal & as well earned breakfast.

I might not look it in the pic, but I was happy & overwhelmed that I had managed it & that Roadrunner had proved herself on the road. After we had eaten & rested for a bit, we then headed down the hill towards the station & stopped at a nearby cafe for more refuelling.

And after another few hours of travelling by train, another stop at a cafe in Colchester & then a very slow cycle ride home, I was & still am chuffed I was able to do this one despite my worries.

So after doing these 2 charity rides, how did I do? Well the stats shown below show how well I did.

I am pretty happy in the times I did in both rides & after a couple days I had recovered from the rides with no issues. So I am hoping to continue with these sort of rides in the near future. But due to reoccurring disability rearing its head up again atm, cycling is on hold so might not be until next year & if that is so, I'll be trying to do both again & with my trusty steed Roadrunner with hopefully with a new paint job & additions by then. :)

Oh if anyone want to come along on these rides with me, I be more than happy to cycle with a group as it's much more fun than alone. :)

Nightrider London, do I or don't I?

In 2 weeks time it is the sponsored 100km ride around London sights, starting around midnight for me. Am I excited to go? I was until this week just gone...

Things have changed in the past week & I am in 2 minds to go. I don't know if others feel like this at times but I try explain it. 2 weeks ago I lost my job & I have been trying to sort out the benefits for it for the past 2 weeks, that in itself have left a big dent in my finances & made me wonder if I really should be forking out the £40 for the trains. But my parents have offered to help on that & I am grateful, but 2 days ago I got a letter saying I wont get any JSA. No explanation or what I will get, so I spent most of Thursday on the phone between DWP & HMRC as it seems that is the route cause of the problems. They don't bloody talk to each other, so after hours on the phone (mostly in queues) it seems it is sorted but nothing in writing tho. But this has stressed me & still am until I get something in writing.

So other than the financial stress, there's the emotional stress to go with it as I do have others to worry about especially my 2 diabetic cats. Also I'm having to spend hours on the PC looking for work every day, its a requirement & as a result my knee is now giving me jip. I knew it would if I spent too long at a PC desk, it's why I do NOT want a desk job. Then of course the bikes need maintaining, problem is after Pedal for the J's the Trek needs a service & Roadrunner still is not right & of course out of money.

So as a net result of all this I am stressed, more than I have been in a long time & in the mood I am in I really don't want to ride on these road for I know if an idiot cuts me up I will very much likely thump them. So that isn't a good frame of mind for cycling around London. I do wonder if those in the cycling sports suffer this? How do they get their mind into the game so to speak? Right now I just want to say Sod it to everything & veg in front of the TV.

And then of course that isn't the only issues, we have the mess of the trains. It's going to be hit & miss as if the trains will be running or be replacement buses which will be no good. Then there's the weather, if it is like it is atm I sure aint going to cycle around London in the rain. And to top it off I have no sponsors, so if I do this ride it will be just to push me. But the way I am feeling, I can say I am in 2 minds as to whether I do it or not.

When I did Pedal for the J's, I didn't feel like this. Bike was ready, I was in the correct mindset to do it & I had sponsors but Nightrider London its the complete opposite. I don't want to let down those who are going & supporting me but I cant see myself going if I feel like this, I know it wont work if I did & I really don't know how to get around it to change my mindset.

So for now I will have to wait & see what happens in the next 2 weeks as to if I go or not & try find a way to change my mindset on this...

30 Days of Biking, year 3 (lucky for some?)

Ok, those who been following me on various social media for a while now will know for past 2yrs I've done the 30 days of Biking & for those who are new to my blogs or social network accounts these, links to the other blogs will help explain. Old Wolfies blog: 30 days of biking, 'Autumn' 30 days of biking & these I did last yr on this blog site: The 2 Wheeled Wolf Tagged links for 30 days of biking.

And if you like to join in, the make the pledge at 30 days of biking homepage as its free to do & it will benefit you too. If in Colchester, we could meet up for group rides too...

Now last yr I broke the previous record of doing the 30 days in mileage & distance, so no doubt I will try to beat last yrs this April. But its gonna be a whole new ball game for me, a lot has happened over the past 11 months. I've moved & now have a new area to use which is hilly & not as great a cycle network in my opinion to Chelmsford. Also|I have a different bike, a lighter Trek one that I can go further. But don't worry The Beast hasn't been retired, it's still here with me (I can't bear to part with it) & is used when the territory gets a bit tough (snow mostly) as its a great bike for that. Oh and I am finally stick free! (On 2 legs) :D

So this year is going to be an interesting challenge for me to beat last yrs hard work. Again I am doing Pedal for the J's at the end of the month, but this yr I am pushing the limit. This year I am going for the 50 mile route instead of the 35 & again pushing me to cycle further than I have before.

 

The other challenge I have for the 30 days is work as I'm now working part time, so gonna have to push myself to go for short rides on those 2 days after work when I come home tired. Also means doing daily blogs & videos might not be possible this yr, was tight going to do last yr as it was. But a simple daily blog will be possible with a few pics.

Now for the Pedal for the J's I might have a lil surprise to reveal nearer to the day, but I will keep quiet for now on that (might not happen). But one thing I will reveal now is that this years 30 days of biking is also training for me for you see I have won a place in the Nightrider London 100km sponsored ride. That is is in June & again gonna push me even more, so the 30 days of biking is going to be good training & Pedal for the J's a good marker to how my performance will be like. So I will leave it there for now & will start the 30 days of blogs for the 30 days of biking in just a few days time. Oh yeah, donation page will be set up for both over the w/e too. ;-)

So for now, watch this space on social networks for further updates...

30 Days of Biking - The Summary

If you are new to me or not seen it in my Facebook & Twitter posts, I have been blogging daily throughout April about #30daysofbiking, but this isn't my 1st one as I did it in April & September last year too. See 30-days-of-biking & 'Autumn' 30-days-of-biking for my previous blogs under Wolfies Blog.

Now if you haven't heard of it then here’s the site which tells more about this global event '30 days of biking story', quite simply it’s a pledge: Ride somewhere every day for 30 days then share your adventures online.

So why did I do this 30 days of biking? Well I've done it a few times now & they were a struggle at the time, so thought I do it again to see if I can better myself from the previous 30 Days of Biking as I know in the past 6 months I have improved both me & my bike (now known as The Beast). So I decided this time I had to go further distances & not just around Chelmsford, I have to get myself to travel further out of the City. But as I now have a helmet cam, I thought I try do a blog with video every day too...

So how did I do? Well, obviously the shorter trips I found easier now but with improved times cycling to town & back. But the main things I excelled in was I finally managed to cycle more than 10 - 15 miles, hell I beat that twice by miles as maps below will show...

This was partly coz of changes I had done to The Beast to improve performance & comfort, but also I am still improving the strength & stamina in my legs. I also managed to do a blog every day with video, even if it was a day later due to slow uploading to YouTube. All blogs can be found on the right hand column under April in Archives.

Now for the stats, they really show a difference:

As you can clearly see I not only beaten my previous 30 Days of Biking in September, I did more than double the mileage & in less than double the time. So it shows I am getting faster & more stamina in the past year, but I feel I have hit the limit with my Beast. As nice as the bike is, its a heavy bike from an age gone by.

So until I can get another more suitable & lighter road bike, I doubt I will beat these sort of stats. But I won't replace The Beast, its got me here & it is a nice bike to ride now as I have moulded it to suit me. So when I do get another, The Beast will be the Alpha.

But as for the 30 Days of Biking, the highlight of the whole month was on day 28. I rode in a charity ride Pedal for the J's where I cycled the furthest I ever have done in my life of 35 miles excluding the cycling to & from the Admirals Park & raised money for The J's hospice of over £150 now. A bonus really as I did it more as a challenge to me in doing the miles & no doubt will do more charity rides in years to come as it was fun to do.