A lucky break .. and I am not referring to the snooker world championships!

Well, I have been a little quiet the last week or so.  Falling off a bike onto hard concrete over Easter damaged my arm more than I initially thought.  It was probably not helped by my Kiwi cycling companion insisting I get back on the bike and continue to ride - yes, and this picture is how I felt ( dialogue went something like this - Kiwi fruit "get back on that bike now", poor Pomme A "but it hurts ....").  Oh, to have the support of your fellow cyclists ....

So, after a visit to A&E (some 4 days later, as I am very tough!) and the necessary x-rays, I was informed I had fractured the radius bone right by the elbow (now I know why I could not straighten my arm and why it hurt so much) and resting the arm in a sling was the only thing to do.

Yesterday I went to the fracture clinic at the Charing X hospital for a follow-up appointment – more x-rays – and was informed that I was very lucky with where the break was ('lucky' would not be the first word I would use ..)!  It had not displaced (despite me playing in a couple of gigs over the weekend!) and I no longer needed the sling.  Physio appointment was needed and moving the arm was now the thing to do. 

When I asked if I could do the ride ..the doctor say ‘No’ …so I insisted on a 2^nd opinion!  Finally his consultant (and boss) said I could ride, but I would have to keep popping the pain killers en route, try not to fall off again (as if that was on the top of my ‘to do’ list ..umm? No!) and stop if it got worse – as I could do more damage ..eeek!

So, the ride is back on for the Pomme Anglais .. yippee (I think!).  Just in major ‘catch-up’ mode as the fracture has scuppered my training plan and, unlike the Kiwi fruits, I have not cycled 90 miles so the ride on the 9^th May may well be my first ‘ test’ of a loooooong distance.

Lots more indoor riding and moaning – at least for the rest of this week – is on the agenda for me .. and – (a request for you, dear readers) .. please keep your fingers crossed for me to keep on mending so I make it to Paris sometime in May.. Thank you!

90 miles is a long way you know

... and if you are from the New World, in real money, it's actually 145 kms ... With Pomme Anglais still all broken and arm in a sling and thus restricted to indoor pedalling, accompanied by indoor moaning of course, it was left to Tulip and I to attempt the "on road" version of a 90 mile ride. Tulip suggested that I stay "at hers" (very Anglais lingo there)on Friday night so we could set out early on Saturday morning. 

I headed off with Lara to the station at around 6pm.When I got to the station I was then told by a man in an ill fitting national rail uniform that I couldn't take "that bike" on any train until after 7pm.  Naturally, I duly ignored him and got on a train.  I got one stop up the line where I had to change and another man in an equally ill fitting national rail uniform told me the same thing and then proceeded to take me hostage by standing next to me for 40 minutes to ensure that I didn't board any train before the magical hour.

The last 2 weeks of such typical spring weather (read monsoon downpour from a clear blue sky) accompanied by an at least 7 degrees celsius drop in temperature, has meant the Pomme Anglais on her indoor machine has ridden much more often and further than Tulip or I have managed .. so it was nervous times.  I will not subject you to a blow by blow of our ride to Cambridge (almost) and back, suffice to say it was a journey of reassurance and we will make it through the first day and we will make the ferry.

We were very lucky with the weather really only getting rained on twice. The biggest hazards were the baby bunnies running in our path on the most gorgeous of country lanes (ohhh noooice..) larks singing, other little birds dipping into our path and flying with us, grouse running alongside us, and field after field of serious hay fever sneezing and eye watering bright yellow canola plants in flower  ... and then there were the bugs!!  I have a honeycomb helmet to stop my gigantic brain from over heating and now I have realised that this means that going into the country means my helmet will become at least a 3 bugs per mile catcher (thank goodness I grew up on a farm!!!).

Oh yeah then there was the 3 mile stretch on a dual carriage way - for New Zealander's read major highway with like 7 lanes, and just as many drivers who couldn't wait a nano second for a cyclist to pass before pulling out!!.

Anyway ... T has a hill scale ... it's called the "B*@$ .." hill scale and it goes from 1 to 5.  Newgate Hill is the first one out and the last one back and it's a triple B ... and we made it!!!  So there .....

... and Mt Everest is a 15 B apparently!!!

It's week 13 ... and supposedly that's lucky for some...

It's a public holiday ... so naturally it's bleeding raining innit!!!  We didn't care, we had to carry on and give back to back rides our best shot to try and sort of emulate the ride - well getting on a bike every day and riding, if not the actual distances (and we sincerely hope not the weather conditions). 

It's Easter and the Easter bunnies are all around all over the world apparently. These two look like they could really do with knowing my secret of chocolate and how to eat it and stay slim eh!!

We got off to a good start.  Did the mental thing of committing to stay in our cleats and do the "push pull" to increase pedalling effectiveness, and not unclip in advance of any perceived danger, cos after all we are getting good at this now .. right!!.  The push pull (aka smooth out the peanut cycling rotation footprint), for you peasants (like me) who didn't know, is the act of pulling your foot smoothly through the stroke, thus invoking participation from your hamstrings into the equation - the second most powerful muscle group in your body after your quads (do I sound like I know what I am talking about?).  My friend David succinctly describes it "wiping the dog shit off your foot" - got the gist now??.

All was going well and then we hit a cycle path next to a pedestrian path.  Pomme Anglais (PA) was in the front and there were four pedestrians hogging the cycle path.  She did what she always does and politely, and very audibly, asked them to move off the path, which they preceded to do.  All four moved to the right and then one of them for some reason decided to very quickly go to the left, smack bang into the middle of the line that PA was biking.  All I can say is that you needed to be there to appreciate what happened next. If you had been I am sure you would agree that it would be a top contender for the best You Tube video that was never captured.  The tourist (who turned out to be Spanish with no anglais other than "sorry") quickly became shall we say "a human bike stand" and when he toppled he took Pearl E and PA with him.  After all threats of a diplomatic incident had passed (ie a battered and bruised PA was back on her feet and had checked that their was no damage to Pearl E) we set off again.

Despite many complaints of pain etc and continual flashing of (rather impressive in various shades of blue to almost psychedelic yellow green colours) hand and elbow bruises we kept kept to the training regime.  I encouraged PA and kept her spirits up with little diatribes like "huh call yourself British", "where's the keep calm and carry on then eh" and "wimp, moaning Pom", "the only reason you guys ever conquered anything was because you had ships and we couldn't swim", "the French will be happy to know you are afraid to bike through France" etc ... it worked and she kept on keeping on with the programme. As did Tulip who trained and trained in the weekend, putting in 120 miles!!!

So.. what's the epilogue to this tale of dedication and endurance... naturally, its that PA's elbow didn't seem to get any better so she went to A&E and had X-Rays and yeah, ok ... it's ah BROKEN!!  Well fractured actually (yes alright technically that is the same thing but it's a matter of degrees don't yah know).  A "radial head" fracture in fact!! 

So what to do ...well in a fit on "keep calm and carry on, I am British after all" PA has decided to give it her best shot to make the ride. Aided and abetted by a sling, visits to the fracture clinic, spin classes, Pearl E on the indoor wind machine, and homoeopathic provisions from Tulip ... and a little wine from me.  Go PA !!

Naturally we are all looking forward to week 14 of the programme!!