Wet wet wet

Photo from Andyrob's photostream
Photo from Andyrob’s photostream

No not the band, the weather in London at the moment. Don’t get me wrong we need a lot of rain right now, the garden is parched after a particularly dry April, and my wife is pleased as punch that she’s not having to water all of her plants… but why does it seem to rain it’s hardest between 9am and 10am, and 6pm and 7pm… right when I’m heading up the A1 home.

The worst thing of course is that my gear isn’t up to scratch, my jacket is fine, it’s over a year old and been warn every day since then in all weather, delightfully warm and dry (not counting the small patch of water that leaks onto my belly) but my trousers give up after about 30 minutes of constant wetness… ahh well.. time to head over to Great Portland Street again and spend some money with James.

Home again…

Patrick, Matt and StaceWell I’m not one for cliches but it’s certainly been an eventfull week not only for JTR but especially me. If you haven’t heard already (tongue firmly in cheek seeing how Matt has gone into Fleet Street overdrive…) I’ve broken a bone in my leg and ruptured some ligaments in my ankle. A nice balance. I was kept in hospital for a few days as I had an upset stomach mainly and I thank Kingston Hospital for not letting me go home sooner as it wasn’t a nice experience.

Actually talking about the NHS I have to say what a top job it did to fix me up. It gets knocked but the people working in the NHS make it work. From the moment the paramedics turned up everything was done with the mimimum of fuss – a very British thing and I found this a real comfort to me being on the receiving end.

I’m no stanger to NHS trauma care having broken my left ankle coming off a previous bike a few years ago – once again everyone who I saw worked hard to patch me up. I did my bit by wearing the right kit but nonetheless a top job thank you!

Glad to be home though…

I’m non weight bearing on my right leg at the moment. My left leg is not used to doing the work but it’s coping. I’m taking it easy but having learned from experience I must not get to much of the ‘I am helpless’ mindset and I’m trying most things for myself. Lots of stretching and body weight exercises (whilst keeping weight off the right leg) are the order of the day. So wish me luck and any advice would be great.

However I look at it. I have a bit of a “stretch goal” to achieve to make the trip. I’ll be out of plaster for sure however it’s more a question of how strong my leg is. My big fear would be to become injured in a silly accident as a result of a leg not up to the extra strains the trip will bring. Of course there is no predicting what will happen so at the moment it really is a case of sitting tight and seeing how my body heals.

I do however have a secret weapon. Both myself and my partner are very interested in nutritional therapy and I’m looking at getting the best food and supplements inside me in order to be ready to meet the challange of being fit for the fith!

If you think of Steve Austin (a.k.a The Six Million Dollar Man) and you know what I’m thinking .I have the red tracksuit on order already….

Fit for the Fith – My war cry as I hobble into a period of weightless uncertainty…

Home safe and sound

PatrickWell that’s it. Patrick is home safe and sound – he’s got his leg up in the air and a dog that is really happy to see him!

We’re all very relieved that the man himself is home, and we’re crossing everything for a speedy recovery so he can get straight back on the bike.

Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have some shots of the damage to the bike and we can assess what needs to happen to get the man himself back on the road – he’s even applied for some print outs of his x-rays, which will certainly brighten our flickr stream up!

Thanks very much to all the people who’ve emailed me to help find some gloves for Patrick – sorted now thanks to the wonderful Ness!

Patrick out tomorrow

Patrick in bedPatrick is still feeling a little groggy after all his meds, which isn’t very nice at all. He’s up and about on crutches, which is very positive news, but still feeling under the weather. I think it’s all catching up with him now and he’s starting to feel a little poorly, which is to be expected.

If all goes well and his test come back clear he’s hoping to get out of the hospital tomorrow and start the long road back to fitness.

He’s asked me to find him a pair of weight training gloves, or cycling gloves – just something to stop his hands getting blistered with the crutches – so if you’ve got an idea where I could get those drop me an email.

1 plate, 7 screws!

Hamming it upPatrick has a dirty great big slab of metal in his leg – 1 metal plate with 7 screws holding it in. We’ve been down to see him this afternoon and he’s in fine spirits! Took him some reading material, and some fresh strawberrys.

Also been glad to hear that you can get over this quite quickly – asked the guys over at Horizons Unlimited what they thought and they’ve come back saying he’ll be back riding fit in no time. One chap in particular broke his leg and was back up and about in 8 weeks – so here’s crossing our fingers that Patrick will be up and about ready to battle his way to Russia.

He’s trying to get hold of a copy of his x-rays so with any luck we’ll have those up soon!

2 pins and a plate

patrick in hospital 014The news is in – Patrick’s operation has gone well.

There was some ligament damage and it sounds as if more pins were needed than initially thought. But the important thing is that the operation went well and with any luck our fellow traveller will be out tomorrow – crutches and plaster complete.

The only problem now of course – is how on earth do you keep a very active fellow ‘active’ when he’s got one leg strung up?

Operation this morning

Patrick is heading down for an operation this morning to pin the bone, and see if there’s any damage to his ligament.

We’re all crossing everything here that it’s nothing more simple than a pin, if it’s a plate then Russia may be off for him. It’s something none of us want, but if anyone is going to get over a broken leg, get fit and ride to Moscow, it’s Patrick.

Breaking News

PatrickPatrick has broken his leg. Yes you’ve read right. He was involved in a small accident this morning, which left him sitting in A&E with an x-ray of a cleanly broken right fibula.

More news as soon as we have it – at this point he’s still in hospital and we think he’ll be in a cast for as much as eight weeks. All fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

The velvet highways of the Land of My Fathers.

CBF600 fully loadedFully loaded the CBF600 is starting to feel like she’s wallowing, and frankly unless I get more training, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing all the way to Moscow. The problem I think is a simple one of too much weight combined with too little experience sledging around pristine Welsh tarmac right into the heart of the Beacons; something I solved this weekend.

We headed out from St Albans bright and early just before noon, why we never manage to leave on time is beyond me, we plan well, we all have good intentions, but we always head out on the first day stupidly late. Fortunately this time round the nights are longer and the prospect of pitching tents and cooking in the dark wasn’t a realistic one. Heading out through Hertfordshire, into Oxfordshire and beyond I started to get really excited about going home, there’s nothing as beautiful as the Welsh hills in the evening light.

Fields of goldAs we crossed the border (somewhere in Shropshire) I punched the air with Joy – I was home. The joy was short lived however, five miles later we passed back into England and seemingly away from God’s own land. Fear not, we slowly snaked our way round the A-Roads and crossed once again into Wales. Now we were really training, passing fields of gold, rising so fast into the mountains that our ears popped every mile or so. The air cleared, the pollen receded and was replaced by the sweet sound of new born lambs chasing each other across fields of short grass. I started to relax, and rather forgot the veritable trailer of stuff on the back of my bike, it’s amazing how badly a bike can corner when you’re heading into a 90 degree hairpin at 60 miles an hour.

The nights entertainment was helped along by a field of horses who took great interest in our attempts to get our new Trangia MSR burners working. But we were the ones laughing once we’d got them fired up, rice, tuna and asparagus soup kept us warm and full as we played black jack, smoked our cigars and kept the chill away with a small tot of whisky. All of this took place under the latest addition to our kit list – a 20 foot awning that will keep all but the most determined rain off us come the worst.

CBF600 in it's element - the twisty single roads of WalesRiding back down the A470, A469, and other well known Welsh roads it occurred to me how well they were being looked after. None of the usual dips, holes or ripples; just smooth comfortable and grippy tarmac. If the roads on our trip are half as good we wont have a problem, but I have a feeling Poland may have a different opinion on how roads should be looked after. Getting home was a welcome relief, as was the warm bath and glass of wine – I wonder how I’ll fair when there’s no sign of a hot bath or decent wine for three weeks?

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The velvet highways of the Land of My Fathers.

CBF600 fully loadedFully loaded the CBF600 is starting to feel like she’s wallowing, and frankly unless I get more training, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing all the way to Moscow. The problem I think is a simple one of too much weight combined with too little experience sledging around pristine Welsh tarmac right into the heart of the Beacons; something I solved this weekend.

We headed out from St Albans bright and early just before noon, why we never manage to leave on time is beyond me, we plan well, we all have good intentions, but we always head out on the first day stupidly late. Fortunately this time round the nights are longer and the prospect of pitching tents and cooking in the dark wasn’t a realistic one. Heading out through Hertfordshire, into Oxfordshire and beyond I started to get really excited about going home, there’s nothing as beautiful as the Welsh hills in the evening light.

Fields of goldAs we crossed the border (somewhere in Shropshire) I punched the air with Joy – I was home. The joy was short lived however, five miles later we passed back into England and seemingly away from God’s own land. Fear not, we slowly snaked our way round the A-Roads and crossed once again into Wales. Now we were really training, passing fields of gold, rising so fast into the mountains that our ears popped every mile or so. The air cleared, the pollen receded and was replaced by the sweet sound of new born lambs chasing each other across fields of short grass. I started to relax, and rather forgot the veritable trailer of stuff on the back of my bike, it’s amazing how badly a bike can corner when you’re heading into a 90 degree hairpin at 60 miles an hour.

The nights entertainment was helped along by a field of horses who took great interest in our attempts to get our new Trangia MSR burners working. But we were the ones laughing once we’d got them fired up, rice, tuna and asparagus soup kept us warm and full as we played black jack, smoked our cigars and kept the chill away with a small tot of whisky. All of this took place under the latest addition to our kit list – a 20 foot awning that will keep all but the most determined rain off us come the worst.

CBF600 in it's element - the twisty single roads of WalesRiding back down the A470, A469, and other well known Welsh roads it occurred to me how well they were being looked after. None of the usual dips, holes or ripples; just smooth comfortable and grippy tarmac. If the roads on our trip are half as good we wont have a problem, but I have a feeling Poland may have a different opinion on how roads should be looked after. Getting home was a welcome relief, as was the warm bath and glass of wine – I wonder how I’ll fair when there’s no sign of a hot bath or decent wine for three weeks?

Support everyman

trustedplaces.com journeytorussia.co.uk