spooky

I went for a night ride along the sixmilewater river last night. Not far, just five miles or so. I was on my hybrid bike, so I didn't venture too far off the path. The only lights were from my bike and the only sounds were the water and the wildlife. I even heard a fish jumping in the mill race. I reckon the best things to do to relax are simple, but require your full attention, like juggling, or flying a kite. Night riding off road definitely fits into the same category. Because it was so dark, I found myself using sounds and smells for navigation almost as much as my sight.
I'll definitely be doing some more of that - next time I'll take the marin.

it's all worked out beautifully

On Friday I'd another appointment to get my splint adjusted, So I took the bike on the train again and rode there. Bit better prepared this time, I had canterburys on and a couple of geobars in my pocket, but I left my bottle of water on my desk in work.
When I was about a quarter of a mile from the OT's I felt the dreaded rumble.
Flat tyre.
No repair kit.
15 miles from home.

Pushing the bike, I was trying to think where the nearest bike shop was, when I almost walked past this:
"Can you fix a puncture?"
silly question to ask in a puncture repair shop.
"you'll have to leave it" they said.
"I'll be back in an hour" I said;
and crossed the road to see Ali for my appointment. After my appointment I picked up the bike, gave them a fiver and rode the rest of the way home. Couldn't have planned it better.

knew I wouldn't keep it up

So it would appear that my regular entries to the old blog are slipping. I'll bring you up to date. Friday two weeks ago I took the bike on the train to work, then cycled home. I wasn't properly prepared - I was wearing jeans and boots, and I didn't have any water or food with me. I know it's only 25 miles, but there's no point making life harder than it has to be.

Coming out of the city it's uphill for the first few miles. I was tootling along, pleased with myself that I wasn't off and pushing (OK so it's not that steep) when a man in his seventies whooshed past me on a racing bike. Boy did I feel inadequate. I caught up with him at the lights and he slowed down so we could chat. He was 'winter training' but on his good bike because apparently there's a race next week. He told me I should do some charity cycle at the end of march, because it's for all abilities. Of course I promptly forgot where it is. Then he recommended a quiet road that'd take me home and hared off into the distance.

Maybe when I'm in my seventies I'll suddenly become that fit.

fits like a glove

Yet another appointment for my wrist, this time with an occupational therapist to make a 'gauntlet'.

Ali Hunter is the OT extraordinaire. She asked all the usual questions, then she actually measured my range of movement and grip strength. She's the first person to have done it properly with all the tools, and even I was surprised at how bad my right wrist is. I was certain, even though it's sore, that my right hand was significantly stronger than my left; turns out it's quite a bit weaker.

The aim of the gauntlet is to take the weight off my ulna (and therefore my TFCC) when I'm riding.

Ali then took a sheet of thermoplastic, cut it to size, melted it (at 65○C apparently) in an electric frying pan like my mum used for cooking in the caravan.
She'd been thinking quite a bit about how best to make a splint specifically to wear while riding the bike, so she cut a tiny hole in one end and draped it all over my arm, with my thumb through the hole. She held it in place, with my wrist at the angle I usually hold it while riding, and the end of the splint along the palm where the handlebar will sit.
The plastic cooled in shape and Ali took it and did some cutting, cleaning up and added some padding in a very fetching pink colour. I just don't understand why medical companies think bright pink makes things invisible. I even looked it up online thinking it was just that Ali only had one colour. Nope, it's called Hapla Fleecy web, and it only comes in 'flesh' colour. Let me tell you, medical experts, if your flesh is that colour you need to go and see a doctor quick smart. It's never going to be invisible, so they could at least make it a less embarrassing colour.
With a couple more minor adjustments, she added Velcro straps and away I went.

It's very comfortable and it does hold my wrist firm while I'm riding. Haven't tried it on singletrack yet, but bunny hopping up and down kerbs last night at 25mph I was able to pretty much forget I was wearing it.

Winter training

Kung fu has been getting easier week by week. Not only have my muscles been getting more used to the upper body exercise, but also the classes have been better balanced. Another couple of weeks of pad work and circuits before ritchie plans to step up to the next level of cardio fitness. Can't wait(!)
On the downside, all the padwork is not good for somebody with perforated wrist ligaments and osteoarthritis (did I mention the MRI shows i've got arthritis?) I strap-em up tight and try to punch fast rather than hard, so I'm still hanging together.

hot stuff.

I got gas and tried out my Coleman Outlander stove this week. I plan to take the kids camping in May or June for a night or two at a time, so it'll get a proper try-out then. It lights easy enough with the firesteel (sparks drop down from a firesteel so it's safer than a lighter and won't blow out like matches) and burns fiercely. The adjuster knob doesn't reduce the flame until the last quarter turn, but with a wee bit of practice I should be able to get anything from roaring furnace to simmering warmth.

I fancy a primus eta power pot, but i'll have to measure the stove's pot supports to make sure it'll fit.

All that gear - will I be fit to use it?

I've been recovering slowly from last week's kung fu; a proper warm up and warm down would have helped. If it wasn't for the long term goal I'm sure I wouldn't go back, but if I don't go back then I've basically lost a week of training because I've been in too much pain to go for a long ride - just the usual short commute. Normally I'd ride to prayer triplet on Mondays, but this week i'd another meeting before it and it was raining and I had to put the wains to bed. (excuses, excuses, excuses, I know)
Hopefully I'll be in better shape after the training tomorrow and can fit in some proper rides next week.

but it was a bargain...!

I bought a silk sleeping bag liner off ebay from the Scottish Silkworm.
It's a pretty basic bag, sort of tapered a bit to help it fit in a mummy bag, double-stitched down the sides with a bit left unstitched at one side to make it easier to get in and out and a flap for a pillow. It looks well enough made. That's a description, not a review. There's no point me reviewing it until I've used it.

those cats were fast as lightning

Training this far ahead of the the event, the aim is to improve general fitness. I'm not getting enough time in the saddle to make a huge difference, so I decided to do some cross training. Ritchie Walker, one of the guys from work is running a 10-week kung fu fitness course, so I signed up. I thought it'd be full on kung fu fighting, but it's just using the punches and kicks from kung fu to improve fitness. Perfect.

Yesterday was the first day, and we started off with chain punches. I counted up, and we did more than 2000 punches in the first ten minutes as a 'warm up'. For me, whose strength and endurance are all in my legs, this was a real eye opener. I have NO upper body strength. After the chain punches I went to take a drink of water and couldn't lift the bottle to my mouth. I'm not exaggerating. I couldn't lift the bottle to my mouth.

Then we went on to learn a variety of punching and kicking combinations. First day, so I spent more time learning the techniques rather than actually working out during this part, but I know Ritchie, so I'm under no illusions; from next week those chain punches really will be just a warm up.

Ten weeks of this will either kill me, or it'll turn me into a killer fighting machine, and riding from St. Bees to Robin Hood Bay will seem like a bit of a rest.

any fool can be uncomfortable

When people say "Any fool can be uncomfortable" they're implying that the intelligent among us put in a wee bit of effort and find a way to be comfortable wherever they are.
Usually when people utter that phrase (in their knowledgeable tone of voice) they're talking about sleeping or sitting down; but I'm thinking I'll be spending two thirds of the day in the saddle and only one third in my bed, so it's more important to be comfortable while pedalling than while sleeping.
That means our camp has to be as light as possible. I already said I hefted our McKinley Katmai 3 tent when I was first thinking about gear, and decided 3kg is too much. So I've been thinking about how to go lighter.

Everybody who has one gives rave reviews for the Argos Pro Action Hike Lite one man tent. They're currently listed on the Argos website as £15.99 which is a steal, considering they used to be £50, and their nearest competition still costs nearer £100. I would buy one at £15 even if we weren't planning this trip, but they're not available for home delivery and there's not a single store in Northern Ireland, eastern Scotland, North East England or the Peak District (all the places where I've got friends who'd be willing to pick one up and send it on to me) that still has one in stock. It also weighs a couple of kilos, so it's probably heavier than we'd want to be carrying anyway.

I have one of those orange survival bags. Alex once spent the night in one in February, in the snow, in Ballypatrick forest, and she insists I don't need anything else. I'm not convinced. They're windproof and waterproof, I know, but they are completely not breatheable, and they're really slippery, and they might be OK for surviving an emergency uplanned one night out (that's what they're designed for), but we are planning to be out for nearly a week and I don't want to wake up every morning drenched in my own sweat.

My original reaction was to get an Alpkit Hunka. I do like Alpkit - I like any tiny company that takes on the big guys and wins, especially when their stuff's good quality and cheap. but I realised that I've not looked into what makes a good bivy bag, and what else is available. Time for more in-depth internet browsing.


There appear to be two main types of Bivi. One is like a mini tent with hoops to hold the fabric off your face. Those are generally more expensive and heavier than the other type - which is really just a waterproof sleeping bag cover.

Of the sleeping bag cover types, prices range from £2.99 for the emergency bag, to several hundred pounds for goretex or eVENT fabrics. The variables seem to be (in no particular order)
1. waterproofness - to keep the rain out
2. breatheability - to let sweat and breath condensation out
3. weight - as light as possible
4. price - My total budget is definitely less than £50 - hopefully much less.
5. abrasion resistance - it has to withstand me lying on it.
and some bags have extra features like built in stuff sacks, hoods etc.

Without going into all the details of every bag I looked at, the strongest contenders are the Hunka, from Alpkit, the MSR Fast and Light, and the Rab Survival Zone. Quechua also do a Bivi bag for £20 that looks quite acceptable, but there are no Decathlons in Northern Ireland. They all weigh around 400g, and all seem to get good reviews. I'm never keen to spend too much money, and they're all close to the top of my price range (though Alex would say they're all about £35 over my budget)

I do have one more option though. A while ago I was browsing and I came across a shop called Point North who sell 'performance fabrics'.
I was thinking coated ripstop Pertex on the top with 2oz PU coated Nylon on the bottom, all seams sealed, and maybe a hood with a drawstring cord as well. this would give me the same features as a pretty expensive bivi bag, it'd weigh aroung 250g, and the whole lot would come to less than £25 including postage. There might even be enough nylon left over to make a micro tarp to keep rain off my face. This is a tempting option, but I'm always thinking about stuff like this and I rarely ever get around to doing anything about it.

Result!

Mr Swain, the orthopaedic hand surgeon, phoned me at home last night with the results of my MRI scan.
The bad news is that I've got a perforated TFCC, a ganglion and a perforation in my scaphoid cartilage.
Since I've got no pain on the radius (thumb) side of my wrist, we can ignore the scaphoid 'problem'.
The ganglion and the TFCC issues would be solved (probably - there's no certainties with wrist surgery) with ulnar shortening. That's the operation where they break my arm and bolt it together again. It's supposed to be really really painful, but then after you recover from the surgery the odds are very good that everything will be near normal.

The good news is that he agreed to let me just get on with the training until I can't stand it any more, and do the operation then. That might be never, but somehow I think I'll throw in the towel within a year if it stays as bad as it's been lately.

Second gear

We need to carry our gear in something.

I've got three backpacks designed for the bike - I know I can only wear one at a time, but let me finish.

1. I've a Hydrapak Big Sur that came with a 2.5l water reservoir. I'll use the reservoir, but the bag itself is a bit small for a 5-day trek.

2. my old Jack Wolfskin Stinkfoot. Excellent bag with a pocket at the front; a big secure flap for a helmet, but I've used that for everything from shoes to shopping; and a big main compartment for everything else. I used it every day for nearly ten years and it's taken shocking abuse, but it's still in pretty good condition. If Martin needs a bag I can lend him that.

3. Deuter Bike 1. I got it on the cycle to work scheme last year and use it every day instead of stinkfoot. The back breathes better, and it's got a couple of mesh side pockets, a pocket for the water reservoir and a waterproof cover. It's very well designed and it seems to be standing up well to the way I treat it.


I don't intend to carry everything myself. Not when I've a bike beneath me. I have a rack that should fit the bike, I chose one that would fit with disc brakes although I haven't tested that claim yet.
Originally I thought panniers, but surely they'd get in the way on rougher terrain.
I checked out what other people do.

In Alaska they have multi-day mountain bike races on the Iditarod trail, and most of the riders seem to use Frame bags from Epic Designs. Genius idea. I actually have an old frame bag, but it's a tiny thing, just big enough for a spare tube and a mobile phone. Then I was reading a story on Alpkit's website and saw this picture! Of course it's a prototype, but I wrote to them anyway, asking if I could at least test it. They'll probably say no. I wonder if my sister could throw one together - postage is a bit much from Alaska.

I'll also bungee a drybag to the rack.

How much carrying space I need depends on how much we take, and I'm hoping to pare that down to the bare minimum.

map reading skills

The blue line is the route I planned to take from Castlerock train station, a wee stop in Articlave and then bomb down the main road to catch the next train home. It's got great views, steep hills, a couple of offroad sections and a reservoir that I could stop to look at. I stopped to buy a pastie in Castlerock before I started, stuck it in my bag and ate it when I got to Bishop's gate. Riding through Downhill wood I noticed that it's well used by mountain bikers, I could see tracks everywhere, but although I knew roughly what direction I needed to head, I was never quite sure where I'd pop out the other side. There were also a couple of pretty steep drops that tested my nerve (OK I failed on one occasion and walked the bike down) Again, that's the whole psycology thing. I wasn't expecting them and would probably tackle them much more confidently if I knew in advance they were coming up.



And this is the route I actually took. It's approximately the same as the plan, but my route following skills still need work. It was getting dark sooner than I expected, so I missed a lane that's marked on the map. I was also covering ground quicker than I expected. I'm a bit more used to using a map while hillwalking, so on the bike turnoffs were coming up before I expected. That's a good thing of course, so long as I don't keep riding past them. The snow didn't help either; I thought it had all gone, but once I got away from the coast and the main roads there was snow, slush and ice everywhere. The big climb wasn't too steep, but it was a long slog. Didn't cause any consternation though. I did get to the reservoir and take a picture, but it was too dark to make a trip into the forest worthwhile. Pity.



After the reservoir most of the journey was down hill, especially from Articlave to Castlerock - that's downhill all the way. I'm sorry now that I turned off the GPS, because I'm sure I was speeding coming into Castlerock.

yes

I did ride up Lawrence Hill, and if anything it confirms my theories on psycology and hills. I knew how steep it was, I prepared myself for it and got up it no bother.

Red light district.

Remember I said last week I had to hunt to find lights to fit my mountain bike? well obviously I didn't hunt hard enough. Last night as I was riding to the train in the dark along unfamiliar roads among rush hour traffic something bounced against my foot.
I looked round and my rear light was lying in the middle of the road. I stopped and waited for a break in the traffic so I could go and retrieve it. I watched helplessly as cars and vans passed over the top of it. I knew it was only a matter of time until something would flatten it. Sure enough, it got crunched. I stuck to the pavements as much as possible after that - I suppose you could say I was practising riding offroad.