THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Wishing you all a Covid free 2021.

With a new year about to begin, I thought it was time to revise my Blog. So I have renamed it and I will be writing about my adventures NOT on the bike.

Over the best part of the last three months I have been handicapped by my injuries from my two tumbles, so I have decided to give up cycling as my main hobby and have started to enjoy (?) walking. I am terribly unfit but have made a start on improving that. I have found that I can record my walks on Strava which means I have some useful data to help with my training. 

Here is a link to my most recent one. Walk on Dec 29th.

My favourite local walk is down Drove Lane to the River Arle.

The Nearby Vineyard.

Please let me know if you are interested in receiving updates as I know not all of you are interested in what I'm up to.

For those who are interested in my data for last year click on the tab Data 2020 at the top, just two to the right of the Home tab.

Still Gridironman with a few defects!

The End of an Era

 After a great week up to midday on Sunday, October 11th my luck ran out when, as I started the descent of the hill into Braishfield, my front tyre blew, with disastrous results. I fell heavily doing severe damage to my right shoulder and ribs which hurt so much I was unable to move. Fortunately, a cyclist from Portsmouth was my "Good Samaritan" He was soon joined by 4 other cyclists who also helped. Between them, they called 999, removed my bike and helped me get into a more comfortable position until the ambulance arrived. My son in law Steve came to retrieve Txiki.

Since then I have spent 5 nights in hospital where it was diagnosed that I have fractures in my scapula, clavicle and five ribs. Fortunately all without displacement.  This means apart from a sling to immobilise my shoulder I don't need much support except for pain relief.

I was brought home on Friday, 16th October and have managed to look after myself with assistance from carers for about half an hour each morning and evening until Thursday 29th October, since then I have been managing on my own with a little help from many of my family, friends and neighbours. They have sprung into action to give me support with shopping, donations of food etc. A big thank you to all of them.

At the moment I am undecided about the future, but sadly, I think my cycling will at least be greatly curtailed.

 Feeling much better when Caroline and Ian came to visit on the 19th.

Prior to my crash, this is what I had written:

After a wet week last week when I did not ride, partly because I had hurt my right foot, it was good to be out and about again. I never get fed up with riding the local roads as there is always something new to see. Sometimes things I'd prefer not to see, (or smell). This week there were new gravel deposits, lots more acorns and on my way back up Longwood Down Lane a horrible, deep deposit of mud, several inches deep all across the road with deep ruts. I was lucky I was able to control Txiki and didn't come off. The farmer had obviously been driving out on to the road from a very muddy field. 

The weather has been much more autumnal and I have been wearing thicker layers. There has been some nice sunshine too.

North.

South.

East.

Whatever the future may hold this will be my last blog as even if I get back to cycling I think it is likely to be rather boring and unexciting. The blog will still be accessible online should anyone wish to access it to look at my routes. 

Winchester CTC have included the following in the latest newsletter.

Bryce Mansfield has decided to “hang up his serious wheels”. He has had a couple of falls from the bike recently that resulted in painful broken bones. Fortunately, he is now back at home and we wish him a speedy recovery.
 
Bryce has been a regular rider with Winchester CTC for the last 13 years. He first came on the scene in 2008 when he turned up at the start of the Watership Down to see what it was all about. He obviously liked what he saw. Since then he has been a regular rider, leader and has also held a range of committee posts. 
We hope that he will keep in touch and may be persuaded to help out on events.
 
Bryce has asked me to pass on his thanks to all of you for your friendship and encouragement over the years. In return, I think I speak for many when I say that he will be missed!

BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL, hoping to see you on the road when I have recovered.

GRIDIRONMAN.

The Way of The Roses.

I am full of admiration for my Pedaller Pals who have just completed The Way of the Roses ride of around 170 miles in very adverse conditions. Well done all eight of you. Pity you had to split into two groups of four because of the Corona Virus Guidance.

My friend Sarah at the end of their ride. 

For my part, I have been very much restricted to Hampshire with only two rides and a walk. 

The first ride on Tuesday was a groupetta substitute for the normal Pedallers one as they were mainly in Lancs/Yorks. Four of us did a non-E-bike ride to West Meon.

Then on Friday Reg led me a right dance to Sutton Scotney and back.

On Saturday I turned down a ride and instead hosted Caroline and Ian for a chat, coffee & cake in my garden.

Then in the evening I went for a walk.

I am confident my tender hand with be well enough for a usual Tuesday ride. (No plans yet).

I hope you are all keeping well, best wishes,

Gridironman.

Tour de France and all That.

 Wow! What a week we have had both watching and cycling ourselves. It has been brilliant. 

Thanks to all those taking part in the TdF for one of the most exciting tours ever. We have seen the rise of a number of new stars. Namely, Pogacar winning the Yellow Jersey and also winning the White and Polka Dot Jerseys too. Hirschi from Switzerland won the prize for the most agressive rider. He had a win, a second and a third-place and had he not crashed might have won another. Sam Bennett of Ireland won the last stage and also the Green Jersey.

My favourite rider Julien Allaphillipe was a little under his best form but he did win a stage and wear the yellow jersey for a while. 

I felt sorry for Roglic, he must have been devastated by losing on that penultimate stage, it was of course "man against man" without team support.

More locally:

On Tuesday I had a solo ride as I still was not feeling confident enough to join the Pedallers while they were playing away.

On Thursday I decided to go for a walk instead of a ride. Did the local riverside walk of about 2.6 miles.

Then on Friday, I went a bit mad and did the battlefield Mini Circuit of nine and a half miles twice on my two Gridironman powered road Bikes.

Today Sunday, back to normal on an E-bike ride with Paddy and Reg.

Hope you are all well and enjoying yourselves. 

Best wishes, Gridironman.

My First Ton since my Crash!

It has been an excellent week for cycling once again. I managed to ride with other riders from the Groupetta three times and topped off the week with a short solo one. 

The Three Megawatts at the Village Shop, Chilbolton on Sunday 13th September.

Extract from Winchester CTC's Strava Leaderboard.

I was so tired last evening I went to bed early leaving this blog for something to do while I recovered from the week's exertions. I am thrilled that I am still improving with my fitness and enjoying the rides immensely. 

Best wishes to all, keep safe.

Gridironman.

Three Days full of Cycling.

 Having started off the week rather quietly, merely pottering about and watching the TdF I finished the week with three very busy days with three morning rides followed by watching the professionals in the afternoon.

Completing the second circuit 

of the Pace Judging on Saturday.

A memory from October 2008.

Me in my non-cycling clothes waiting my turn to ride. 

 My first time taking part in an Alton competition. 

Total Miles for the week 88.8. More importantly three most enjoyable days with friends.

Best Wishes to you all,

Gridironman.

Alresford Groupetta is revived.

Several of my local friends have been getting back on their bikes once more, so I thought it would be a good idea to revive this local group. The object is to ride together on an informal basis. Obviously, at present we are restricted to a group of 6.  

Our policy is to keep the rides at a level that all can enjoy and not feel having to "keep up". If you wish to join the group please let us by email to me at gridironman76@gmail.com.

Here is the link to our FB page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/858262090955878/

My garden is still open to visitors as café à vélos no: 5 so on occasion that might be linked to a Groupetta ride.

On Thursday 27th August I was unable to get anyone to join me for a quick ride before that very heavy rain set in. Here is my report:- 

On Saturday I made a last-minute decision to ride to West Meon to meet the Alton Cycling UK group.

Sunday 30th August the revived Alresford Groupetta of six riders enjoyed our first ride since lockdown.

The weather has been a very variable over the week so I was pleased to be able to manage to have 3 rides totalling 66.9 miles.

Gridironman.

My Recovery Continues.

With showers around on many days and with the garden needing serious attention, my rides were restricted this week. However, one unplanned and welcome event was being able to meet up with the Alton CTC riders in Alresford. They were split into three groups at The Swan, The Station & The Courtyard Cafe. Dave Mackenzie rang me to see if I was at home, I told him I would join them at The Swan and did so a few minutes later. After a chat with that group, I moved on to The Station to see the others. I asked if I could join them, keeping safe distances, on their ride back to Alton. It was so good to see them all especially Janice who chatted to me as we rode along. I didn't see Frank who was in the third group until we were in Alton when he passed me going the other way!

The Station Group at Medstead.

On Saturday we took our chances with the weather and four of us got together to test our little legs over the downs and back. Paddy, Simon and I were able to welcome our new cycling pal Reg. Ashe to join us.

It all went pretty well despite a couple of heavy showers, from which we were able to shelter under the trees. We got so little wet that we dried out as we rode.

`

The Three Megawatts.

After having had a bad night's sleep on Friday night I was a little sleepy and after a tasty home-cooked lunch with a glass of beer and halfway through the rugby match between London Irish and The Saints I started to nod off. Went and laid on the bed, the next thing it was two hours later and time for tea.

A good week achieving my target of at least 50 miles per week. The hands are so much better, but far from fully normal. My left ankle still playing up a bit too. 

Thank you all for your support, especially Paddy who is keeping a watchful eye on me.

Till next week, CHEERS!

Gridironman

Weather

After a very hot day on Tuesday, the weather broke bringing lots of loose gravel and mud onto the roads making it hazardous riding on Thursday. Later in the week, I was distracted from cycling by trying to keep my garden under control and because I was taking delivery of a "new" car.

MaxZe, My new toy.

 I have yet to determine how well my bikes will fit inside it. I have measured the available space before buying it and am hopeful that there will be no problems. The rear seats can be folded in two ways or completely removed. I need some nice weather before starting to fiddle about checking what option is best. Just as I started today it began raining so I gave up.

Before all that excitement I did enjoy a ride on the rather warm day on Tuesday. Here are the data:-

Today Sunday 16th August I had a ride with my friend paddy. Details as follows:-

Best wishes to you all in this difficult time, take care,

Gridironman.

Txiki is Back!

After a good first week back riding again, it was time to arrange for Txiki to come home so I could have a ride on him. Steve brought him over and I soon repaired the scuffed and torn black bar tape with some insulating tape. Can hardly tell it has been damaged. There are scratches on the left brake/gear lever and left pedal but they are not immediately obvious.

I arranged with Paddy to have a ride together. Here is my report of the ride:-

 

No, I don't have a white beard, that's just sunshine!

My second E-Bike ride was one of necessity. I had an appointment to view a car in Droxford and needed to get there in an hour, with Beacon Hill in between I felt it was justifiable to use Txiki. I got there in just 52 minutes without getting too hot and sweaty.

As it was a hot day on Saturday I decided to have a ride in the evening. This worked well as I was invited to go to my daughter's for a Chinese Meal.  As she only lives six miles away I went a long way round via East Stratton. It was good to see the Northbrook Arms was open once more and advertising food. There were a lot of customers on the open space opposite, all well spaced out. 

Here is my ride report.

On Sunday Paddy and I decided to get out early to avoid the heat. The conditions were just about perfect. Temp only about 20 with a nice breeze. 

We noticed that the pub in Bighton is open again now renamed with its previous name "The Three Horseshoes". 

When we got back to de Lucy Avenue we had coffee and cake at the café à vélos no: 5. What a perfect way to end a good ride.

I am very pleased with how well I have been getting on. It seems that riding my bikes and using my hands has helped with my recovery. I have been following advice given by a hand therapist and doing exercises suggested by her.

I hope you are all managing in this warm weather. I have adapted to it quite well. Reminds me of when I lived in the tropics when it was like this for months on end. I think your blood gets thinner with time in that climate.

Gridironman.

Recovery Rides.

Following my first trial ride on Tuesday 28th, I have managed another four rides. They have all been fairly short and I have chosen routes where I felt I could manage to climb the gentle slopes without getting too much out of puff!

I have been very pleased with how well I have managed. In fact I think the activity has actually helped the healing process. I had a telephone consultation with a therapist last Monday and have a follow-up tomorrow. She encouraged me to start riding again provided it didn't cause either of my hands any distress.

It has been great to get mobile once more, enjoying the countryside. The flower of the week award is shared by Great Willowherb, Purple Loosestrife and Meadow Sweet.

Purple Loosestrife.

Great Willowherb.

Meadowsweet.

To complete an excellent week of recovery I enjoyed a visit at "Café à vélos n°5" by Jo Halford. It was good to see her and hear her news.

Best wishes to you all, Gridironman.

Back on my bike!

I am pleased to report that after a prolonged period of recovery I have finally managed to get fit enough to try a bike ride. So today I took a very gentle ride to the nearby village of Cheriton. All went well. I had some problems with getting on and off of the bike and with stopping safely and getting started after a brief stop. Both hands were a little bit tender, funnily enough, the right thumb being more so than the left hand which was the one most severely damaged in my crash. 

Of course, after 2 months with no riding, I am very unfit despite my regular walks, so I got puffed very easily. The plan is now to ride daily for short spells and see how I progress.

Over the last few week I have been able to welcome friends to enjoy tea or coffee with cake on my back lawn at :-

"Le Café à vélos n°5".

I have changed my plans for the future in the light of restrictions caused by both Covid-19 and my injuries and have parted with TeeTee my motor-caravan. I got a reasonable price for it and happily, I have also managed to realise over another £500 from the sale of some of the accessories and with refunds on my road licence, rescue insurance and motor insurance.

Now I need to find some new form of motorised transport. Preferable with the ability to carry a bicycle.

Here are the details of today's ride:-

If all goes well I will resume my weekly reports next Sunday.

For now, hoping for the best,

Good wishes to you all, 

Gridironman.

Final Rides in May.

I have now made good progress in recovering from my catastrophic tumble on May 24th and am able to work on my computer to complete the details of that week and report on my progress since.

Before that fateful Sunday ride I had completed two other rides on the Friday and Saturday so here are the details of those, both on the same map.

Before the accident, I had ridden with Jo from Alresford to the "party"  where we had joined in the celebrations for Bel's 90th Birthday. Here is our route:-

I have no recollection of the cause of my tumble. I remember going into the curve around the mini roundabout the next moment I was laying on the floor hurting very badly. Fortunately, I was with Jo, Paul & Margaret who looked after me, called the emergency services and kept me protected from passing traffic as I was laying in the middle of the road.

On Tuesday 26th I was allowed to leave the hospital after two nights being well looked after by the doctors and nursing staff. My injuries were multiple grazes (road rash), broken bones and two bad lacerations in my left hand and a broken thumb in my right hand. I think I probably had cracked ribs too as they have been very painful and are still troubling me a bit. For three weeks I could only sleep half-sitting up in bed.

I had to have stitches for the two lacerations which were done under full anesthetic. I remember coming round as the nurse whizzed me down the corridor back from theatre and not understanding what she was saying. I thought I was watching a video and tried to rewind then realized it was real life!!!!

 

All of the staff were brilliant, looking after me extremely well and kindly and in a strange way, I enjoyed my stay there. (Being the centre of attention). I was particularly moved by the kindness of two Polish nursing assistants, one male & the other female, and by the visit of the paramedic who had driven me to the hospital to see if I was OK.

I am now at home after three visits to the Royal South Hants Hospital for dressings and plaster cast to be changed and nearly three weeks of being cared for by my daughter Sarah. I was very well looked after by her and the others in the family.

It was a good job I was wearing a helmet as I would have been more seriously hurt or even dead had I not been doing so.

 

What a way to end a week in which I rode over 160 miles!

It will be another 10 days before my plaster cast is removed from my right hand and the last dressing removed from my left elbow. The grazes and other injuries are healing well. I can use my left hand quite a lot now and I am doing regular exercises with it so that it doesn't go stiff and prevent me from making a tight fist.

On the whole, apart from the first two very painful days, part of which I was on morphine, I have not had to resort much to pain killers only taking paracetamol at night to enable me to sleep more easily.

It will be a while before I can even consider driving or riding again, luckily I am not going anywhere much because of lockdown!

Thankful to have survived, 

Gridironman.