Andy's back on the ride...

 "Possibly, if I'm fit enough," I said in reply to a text from Andy. Initially he was asking me if I made it out last Sunday, the day after my return from Pittsburgh (see previous posts). Because of the flight the answer was no. "Hobbling, hoping will improve," wrote I, adding, "Couldn't ride a bike today." It was Monday, I had decided to work from home rather than walk to and from the railway station unnecessarily. I was still popping pills trying to reduce the swelling in my right foot. By Wednesday things had improved somewhat and they got better on Thursday and Friday. 

Matt and Andy, but not recently!

Andy was hoping he'd get the okay from the hospital to ride the bike, adding that a short ride to Tatsfield would fit the bill nicely. I was a little concerned as to whether I'd be able to ride the bike, hence my comment about being fit enough. I told Andy I was well and truly on the mend, however, but needed to see if I could ride a bike comfortably. I could. Andy was discharged from the care of the hospital and I told him I planned a short ride so we agreed to meet in Tatsfield village at 1000hrs.

It was good to see him again and I was pleased he was still 100% determined to ride to Cornwall next month, although instead of doing it in one day he had decided to ride 150 miles on day one and then around 100 miles on day two. The plan was to spend some time with his sister near Bodmin and then take two days on the return journey home, stopping at  B&Bs on both the outward and return journey.

I was glad that Andy was determined to continue with his Cornwall project. He said the hip bone had completely healed and that he wasn't in any pain. Basically he was as good as new and was looking forward to the ride. A part of me wondered whether it might be a case of 'too much, too soon' but in all honesty, his determination to do it said otherwise and I was pleased that he was in a position to do it.

Andy had started training in his garage a while back, as soon as the hospital said he was on the mend and could put some weight on injured leg At first he couldn't reach the handlebars without a twinge or two so he cycled in an upright position until things improved a little more and then, last Thursday, he received the go-ahead to ride on the road. 

My bike awaits me on The Ridge!

We sat outside Sheree's. Andy got there before me and I guess he ordered a coffee. I ordered a cup of tea and biscuits and we chilled in the late May sunshine discussing Andy's ordeal. I told him how, when I saw him outside the hospital and drove him back home I felt very sorry seeing him in such a state, but he told me that it was the week before when he was in a real bad way. When I met him, the mending process had begun, he told me, explaining how, for the first few weeks he had to sleep downstairs in a chair, but within a very short space of time he was walking without the aid of a zimmer frame and was soon using a stick and was fairly mobile.

Riding wise, I didn't notice any difference between the way he was riding prior to the accident and he agreed: he felt that he hadn't lost a great deal of fitness. We rode back along Approach Road to Clarks Lane and then Andy rode home via The Ridge and I stuck with the 269. The plan was to meet again tomorrow in Westerham, which was great as this meant Andy was back on the road full time, so to speak. I felt proud of him for coming through the whole thing with such dignity and to be so focused on the Cornwall ride. A lot of people (including myself) would have put it on hold and possibly even cancelled the whole thing until next summer, but not Andy.

On Sunday we met at Costa Coffee in Westerham and again Andy was there before me and chatting to one of the customers sitting outside. I ordered a large English breakfast tea and joined him and we continued our chat, discussing stuff like the Lands End to John O'Groats ride, not that either of us were planning to do it, although I suspect, at some stage, that Andy will do it. He was saying how he'd take two weeks to do it (at roughly 15 miles/hour) and would aim to ride around 100 miles per day. I said I'd take three weeks, make it a little easier on myself, be, perhaps, a Mike Carter as opposed to a Mark Beaumont. Back to the Cornwall project and Andy plans to leave Caterham at 0400hrs on 21 June and arrive at his first stop in the early evening, possibly around 1830 to 1900hrs. He plans to consume fitness/energy foods during the ride but will stop for a brief lunch break before pushing on; while it is all about fitness on one level, he said, it's also about the mind and I know what he means. It's about having the determination to ride 100 miles daily from start to finish. Andy said he knew he was going to ride to Cornwall even immediately after his accident, although he was prepared to await the decision of the doctors. While there were a couple of touch and go moments early on, he did get the all-clear.

I needed a comfort break in the woods near Woldingham

Next week Andy rides again with his cycling club and things are slowly getting back to normal, which is good. While my own story is not so dramatic as Andy's, I too had endured a few minor health problems, well, one to be precise: my swollen foot. I too, however, was back on the bike yesterday and today (it's still Sunday as I write this). From my point of view I was having things really good prior to flying to the USA. I was cycling into Oxted on Saturday and Sunday morning, stopping for a much-needed tea or coffee (I'm reverting back to tea now) and then riding back up Titsey Hill (which is no walk in the park). I had gotten into a routine and was feeling kind of good about the riding and then came the trip to the US, the foot problem, which came out of nowhere, and suddenly everything was in disarray. Up until yesterday I hadn't riden the bike for a fortnight and I was feeling not only unfit, but tired and weary. So as things improved during the week and the pain ceased I knew I had to see if I could ride the bike and the great news was that I could and did. This past week has been bad for me, in fact, it's been a bad fortnight dogged by bad flights while in the USA, the jet lag, the foot problem and then the slowish recovery. The pills made me feel a little weary too but now I only have one more to take and I've finished the course, the foot feels better, the swelling has gone down and, as I say, I'm riding the bike again. I'm thinking about using a gym for week-day riding and then riding the bike at the weekends, mix things up a bit, but the aim is to try and lose one stone in weight, which I know is possible, it's just having the willpower to do it. Smaller portions, perhaps, no more cake or biscuits, I should be in the frame for it.

We sat outside of Costa for a fairly long time chatting about Andy's injury and Cornwall and my foot and this and that; it was good to catch up having not really seen a great deal of each other for some time. We're back again next week, which is good, and hopefully the summer will continue apace, I'll manage to lose that one stone in weight and all will be well with the world.