New Dawn Fades

Banksy stencil, South Bank, London 2004

I am normally pretty calm as a rule. I do get moody sometimes though. And today i was moody.
Not at first i wasn't. It was a Lovely morning. Nice and sunny, calm. Got all my stuff together and left for Leith Hill. Got a parking space too. Great. Things are going fine. I cycle to the top, amid several other mtb'ers, where the tower is, to see what time it shuts so i can get back in time for a sandwich. They shut at 5pm. I was there at 12:30pm. I then started my bike ride proper with the intention of going via a series of single track trails and coming back to the tower for some lunch. So off i headed towards the top of a single track called 'Waggle Dance'. But after 10 minutes i got a double puncture (in one tyre). My first puncture in nearly two years! Not bad going eh! I had trouble getting my tyre off and i could already feel my right elbow beginning to hurt. I had already taken something for my Haemophilia before i left so i was quite happy that it wouldn't get much worse. I got the flat fixed and carried on through Waggle Dance to the top of another single track named 'Summer Lightning' which i like loads. If only it was longer. Eventually i ended up back at the tower an hour & a half later and went to get a sandwich, only to find they had all sold out except for a grated cheese & sliced egg! I got it anyway, although i new i wasn't going to eat it. They are usually very good. I did have some cake my mum made. MMmmmm. I was carrying 2 and a half litres of water in my CamelBak too. My next destination was to ride to the view point on top of Holmbury Hill via Holmbury St Mary Youth Hostel. I did that and had a Lovely view of Leith Hill and also my next destination, Pitch Hill. My arm was hurting more now, but i thought sod it, and carried on regardless. I didn't make it to Pitch Hill because the route i took wasn't bike friendly. I wish they had some signs up at the beginning of the track, rather than making me cycle all that way only to have to turn back! By this stage i was hurting more and cycling one handed when i could. I still had a good several miles of off road riding to do before i reached the car. My arm hurt quite a lot, but it wasn't a bleed yet. So i just rested my arm on the easy bits and went for it on the long uphill in the opposite direction back up Summer Lightning and then Waggle Dance to Coldharbour and finally back to the car. Yay! I made it and my arm was ok. I was tired and in pain but i had an ok time. But then i leant my bike on my car and it slipped, dented & scratched the body work. Drove the 20 miles home, one handed. Got home remembering not to put my car away in the garage until i had unloaded my bike!! Got in and had an injection for my elbow. That all went wrong and had to start over having wasted 3000 units of Factor VIII. Made dinner which was rubbish! I was tired and in pain. I ate it anyway. Had a bath listening to 'TV on the Radio' which seemed to calm me down a bit. Then got some very painful cramps in my inner thighs. Sorted that out. And now my day is over, and yes... I probably over did it today! Was it worth it? I don't know. Will i do it again? Undoubtedly!
I was thinking while i was cycling. I was wondering how long i will be able to do this kind of thing for. When will my arm & ankles be so bad that i won't be able to go out on my bike? If i can't go out on my bike, what else is there! It's all i do.
Oh well. There is always knitting;)

Jason