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.

A good start to the week but a terrible end!

Moon Daisies.

As most of you will know by now what had been a great week ended in disaster on Sunday 24th when I had a tumble from my bike resulting in my ending up in hospital. Don't ask me about the bike it is in safe custody with my friends Paul & Margaret along with my Garmin with the record of my last two rides.

So for the moment apart from any updates on my condition, there will be no postings. 

I am at present being looked after by my daughter, 

This is what I'd written before the unfortunate incident:

When  I reviewed my blog for last week I was a bit disappointed that I'd only had two rides with a total mileage of 59 miles, the lowest total since the end of March. So, this morning, I decided to make amends. It was such a beautiful morning and I was up early so I got Txiki out and headed off to make up for it. I had a general idea of what I wanted to do and I headed to one of our normal meeting places for the Pedallers, Crawley Pond. The plan was to continue down the Test valley from there and to loop back to the South of Winchester to clock up, if possible, 50 miles. The plan worked well and the terrain at first was largely benign so I was able to minimise the use of E-power. Apart from my usual plan of looking out for flowers to add to my list, I noted the pubs I rode past. I listed 19 pubs in all, two that closed some time ago, and two that were within a stone's throw of the road on which I was riding. See how many you can guess from examining my map. 

I weaved around a fair bit and in the end, was able to clock up the magic 100km. Do I get a Ton Up Badge for that?

I only used 48% of my E-power by only using it when necessary. The first 25% lasted for 48 miles the next 23% only 14.5 as it was very hilly.

Other flowers and trees.

A field of linseed  (common flax)

Wood Cranes Bill I believe. (Geranium Family)

I believe these are a variety of Ash.

Avenue of Limes in Braishfield.
 (Txiki is hiding behind the seat where I ate my snack).

There is an unusual story connected to this church. Charles Smith was executed for poaching and injuring a gamekeeper. He has two gravestones. Read more details by following this link.

 charles-smith-poacher

St.John the Baptist, Church, North Baddesley

The lovely fine weather continued so on Wednesday 20th May I set off again, this time to the north exploring the hills to Overton and Hannington. Here are some of my pictures, map etc.

A very old Yew tree that gave me a shady spot to pause awhile on Spiers Lane.

My Lockdown Week 9

I am sure all of us have seen the Guys around the area showing support for the NHS. I have been tempted to share some pictures of them but there are so many it has been hard to choose the best. This one seen in Kilmeston was one that appealed to me. A week ago the lady on the horse was sunbathing on a sunbed!

Here is my map and data for my ride on Thursday 13th May.

On my way home I noticed that a plaque had been added to the new avenue of trees on the approach to Bishop'sSutton and smaller signs had been added at the foot of each tree with service men's names on them. Here is the explanation.

The Avenue.

As it was earlier in the year.

On Saturday 16th May on my way to Odiham, I spotted Florence on the hill leading up to Medstead. 

After I had taken the picture I went to set off again and was horrified to hear a loud pop and a hiss from my front tyre. Yes, you have guessed it, a puncture. A lady on a horse I'd just passed told me to pop back down the road to her stable where I could get help from her husband. I then noticed that the hissing had stopped and I found the sealant had done its job. The tyre was still well inflated so I decided to carry on. It was still quite hard when I got home some 35 miles later. 

Apart from my two rides this week I have been getting plenty of exercise and fresh air in the garden either weeding or sitting ready my book and listening to the birds.

Hope you are all keeping well. Take Care!

Gridironman.

More Miles Escaping From Lockdown.

I am really missing riding with my friends and meeting the Fellowship Members at our weekly pub meets. It looks like being a while yet before that will change. However, I have kept in touch with a lot of them through FB, E-mail and Blogging and yesterday two of my besties had refreshments on my front lawn while I sat inside my front door to chat.

I have continued to spot more flowers, one or two haven't really been added to the list as they are obvious escapees. e.g. Aquilegia.

I hope you have all been able to get some meaningful exercise too.

V.E. Day in Soberton.

Here are my usual maps with data and short comments.

My attempts at Brightstone Hill over the years. Note that efforts 1 and 2 don't really count as they were on Txiki, so I am quite pleased with today's effort. When riding this hill in the past with some of my mates I have told them to have a sweepstake at the top to guess how long will elapse before I join them.

I was interested to see that of all my friends who record on Strava Owen Patterson is the best at just under 5 mins. Why not check where you come?

Best wishes to you all, Stay Safe, Take Care & Keep turning those pedals!

Gridironman

Into May with a Multitude of Flowers.

Sorry to be late with publication this week. I managed to get a delivery slot with Sainsbury's and had to get my order in before 9 p.m. last evening so that took priority!

I had an excellent week working in the garden and cycling in between the garden days. Also working on tidying up my archives. I found more flowers to add to my spring collection. See Below. I haven't named them as I thought you might like to guess. Please let me know if you want to know what they are. Don't forget you can see them full size as a slide show. 

Three rides totalling just over 70 miles. I am enjoying continuing to ride Paris. Surprisingly managed a couple of PBs too. 

Apologies for the poor focus on some of the pictures. It can be tricky getting it just right.

Gridironman. 

Springtime is well and truly here.

Tuesday 21st April 2020.

What a lovely day for a ride, if a bit breezy. I set out to do a short ride around our local circuit but then got lured into a longer one by the lovely smells, first the oilseed rape then the bluebells and ramsons the latter tending to overpower the former. With a whiff or two of flowering shrubs and the rapidly greening of the woods and hedges I felt really alive.


As I climbed Gander Down a hare shot across the road just ahead of me and a lady driving the other way in a 4x4 enjoyed the moment too and we exchanged grins of pleasure. I tried to get a photo of the hare as it sped away across the field but never managed to get it in focus. The half-mile along the A272 was not quite so daunting as normal with little traffic.

Here is my map of the day along with a couple of pictures.

Duckpond Curdridge.

Ladies Smock.

My Picnic spot on a grassy sward.

Should I be worried I might be reported?

Jack by the Hedge
Yellow Flag
Buttercup.

Flowers Seen.

Bramdean Manor.

Bramdean Church.

View from near Bramdean Church looking North West.

Saw the first migrant birds, Swallows and House Martins.

Butterflies too, quite a few orange tip and some cabbage white as well as brimstone.

Do you know which church this is? It is very near to one of our HCMF regulars.

Another good week for cycling, we have been incredibly lucky with the weather, though it looks like it might change over the next week.

Take Care, Keep Safe and best wishes to you all,

Gridironman.