"My Cycling For January 2009"

No, it isn't what it looks like! It is in fact Lee & Ian practising in a very strange and never before seen mountain biking ritual that I was very lucky to have witnessed! It lasted about three hours and both creatures cycled away from this warped scene with rather large grins smeared across their wind slapped chops!



Crikey, where has all my creativeness gone?!? I bet you that you thought I was done with my blog? I can tell you that I haven't. I have just been finding it ultra difficult to think of anything to put in it! Where have all my dreams gone? And my poems etc? Even my cycling posts seemed to be a waste of time and have missed January's and February's...until now that is. I still managed to jot down my cycling statistics and take the odd photo during all of my rides and shall post them here today starting with January 2009. So, what can I say about January? It was cold! It was muddy! And that's about it. Oh, and I turned 38 on the 23rd too. I thought that I'd never reach 30, let alone 38! But, here I am, still riding my bike and kayaking weekly...albeit in a heated swimming pool (during the winter anyway). I don't think I'll ever get used to having HIV, even though having it these days is really nothing to worry about what with the brilliant treatment regimes available etc. It was learning that I got it at the age that I was that done most of the damage I suppose? I wish I'd found out about it now, as a man and not a 16yr old boy just getting into college and girls for the very first time. Oh, and the tv adverts and news stories didn't help either back then! But, I had to find out all those years ago and at such a young age to give me the best chance of beating this disease and coming to terms with it. Which I sort of have in the way that even though I don't claim to know much about HIV the virus, I do know an awful lot about how to live with a deadly terminal virus, which it is, whichever way you look at it. Because left untreated will most probably end up killing you! I am an expert on taking pills and taking them on time and without fail. This is why am still alive. Because of me and me alone! Yes, they give me the pills and they pay for them and yes, they tell me what is going on with the state of my blood and yes, it is they who know all about HIV and how it can kill you if you don't take your virus seriously. But it is me who takes the drugs everyday, twice a day for the last 20yrs. It is me who tolerates the sometimes toxic ingredients and it is me who makes sure that I keep fit and eat relatively well and maintain my often warped sense of humour and strong and focused mind. And all for what? To stay alive and to out live all of you:)





Saturday 3rd January 2009 @ 11am, HH, PH, Lee, Ian, Andy, Gary, 14.45 miles, av 7.4, max 25.2 mph, 1hr 56mins, temp minus 3, frozen ponds, I fell off and got a bit of a dead leg!

Tuesday 6th January 2009 @ 19:10pm, HH, PH, Lee, Ian, Andy, av 7.9, max 26.2 mph, 2hrs 25mins, 14.98 miles, temp minus 8, no wind, light covering of snow from a few days ago, very cold!

Wednesday 7th January 2009 @ 15:00pm, HH, Tony, 6.72 miles, av 5.9, max 20.2 mph, 1hr, temp zero.

Sunday 11th January 2009 @ 12:35pm, HH, PH, Lee, Ian, 14.71 miles, av 6.9, max 20.4 mph, 2hrs 7mins, much milder and a bit muddier, windy, right elbow hurt a lot!

Wednesday 14th January 2009 @ 19:30-22:00pm, LH, Lee, Ian, Tyrone, 17 miles, av 7.8, max 30.9 mph, 2hrs 10mins, temp 1, no wind, need new middle and granny ring!

Tuesday 20th January 2009 @ 15:00, RPx2 and a third, 28.35 miles, av 11.5, max 26.1 mph, 2hrs 27mins, dry, cool, new Cateye trip computer (Strada in white).

Saturday 24th January 2009 @ 15:00pm, RPx1 and a third, 21.42 miles, av 10, max 28.4 mph, 1hr 38mins, cold, sunny, dry, temp 1, wind 9.

Tuesday 27th January 2009 @ 16:30pm, RPx2, 21.60 miles, av 11.4, max 24.8 mph, 1hr 54mins, dry, cool, temp 5, wind 7.




Jason








(C) JPT 2009

"Little Boy Dead"

Dead lorry, yellow lorry...


Wow-wee! Just look at his new bike all shiny and sparkling clean. He can't take his big flying saucer eyes off of it's brightly coloured frame. The spokes on the wheels go round and round in the scorching mid-afternoon sun like two Catherine wheels side by side on Bon-fire night. The sun is almost directly behind him and pushes him and his long shadow down the road like a space rocket and it's pilot. The untouched tread on the bikes tyres buzz along the hot tarmac, sounding like giant bumble-bees on a mission, as they give the little boy the grip he needs to look so bloody cool!
All of this reflected in the shops giant spotless glass windows that line the little street where he is just the proudest young boy in the universe. With his smile stretched right the way across his glowing face, his pupils dart here and there over the surface of his new bike and then back across to the shop windows, where he can see himself in the reflection. It's just like watching a video. He's so excited to be free, with the wind in his hair and all the pedestrians dotted along the pavement watching him go so fast. He reminds me of myself when I was a young boy.

I can see the look that is plastered across his face is very special indeed. He is alive. He is free!

He soon runs out of road to travel on. To escape.

He has to turn around and go back the way he came from. Back towards the sun. He brakes. The wire cables invisibly slide in their little black tubes as he pulls the silver brake lever until he comes to a squeaky standstill. The brake pads haven't worn in yet as everything is still so perfectly new. He notices several other little boys by their parents side standing on the pavement, staring in awe at his brand new machine. He looks back at his bike and feels the thing under his bottom and in his hands. The weight and the sparkle are intoxicating to him and he is very happy that it belongs to him and no one else.

He looks back up the road and squints where the sun is staring right at him and makes his eyes become a little watery. A few yards away a giant lorry slowly exits a side road and makes it's huge heavy way onto the same road as this boy and his bike. He hears the lorries massive engine as it slowly rolls towards him and looks back at it and is again blinded by the suns reflection in the lorries windscreen. The boy decides to cycle alongside it and maybe race up the road a little way. The lorry is very slow moving and very noisy. He Loves lorries and engines. The roar and vibrations, and the fumes and giant rotating rubber clad wheels. The hissing of air brakes and the low thunderous rumble of the engine as the driver changes gear reminds him of the sound all the monsters in the world might make if they were to roar all at once. So exciting!

Soon the two machines are side by side and it is just the boy and the lorry now. Nothing else matter besides this wonderful partnership between two very different machines and their operators.
The lorry with it's most powerful engine, numerous wheels and long metal body. The driver of this beast unseen as he shifts from gear to gear in his effort to pull this monster up to the end of the road. And the boy on his brand new bike, sleek, light and almost silent but for the humming of the tyres. He pedals hard to keep up.

The lorry obviously has the better speed and very slowly begins to pass the boy by. Gigantic wheel by gigantic wheel appear at the boys side and then disappear and are then replaced by yet another set of humongous wheels. The back wheels of the lorry are fast approaching and the boy can see that his efforts are useless, and afraid of being outdone by the lorry completely, he pulls his bike up onto it's back wheel in an attempt to end this race in style.

The young ones amongst the bystanders are amazed at the sight of this manoeuver...until it seems to go wrong! Badly wrong!

The boy and the bike have gone back too far and the bike reaches a point where there is nowhere else for it to go except all the way over. The look on the boys face changes instantly to one of absolute fear as soon as he realizes that his wheelie has gone terribly wrong and he is now expecting to feel the hardness of the roads surface as he lands on his back. His eyes close, teeth clench and his hands let go of the bikes grips as he waits for the inevitable impact of body on concrete.

But it is much much worse than that!

He has failed miserably and little does he know that this exact moment in time will be the very end of his very young and beautiful life.

As he hits the road he rolls slightly to the left and towards the undercarriage of the lorry. The huge set of wheels at the very rear of the lorry are quietly rolling along the hot tarmac still. The noise of the engine being an age away down the street now. The invisible driver none the wiser as to what is happening.

The boy still has his eyes closed and teeth clenched as the heavy wheels of the lorry roll over and onto his little head! His bike bounces the other way into a clear part of the road and comes to a standstill resting on it's side. The driver knows something has happened by now and stops instantly, the big black monsters that are the wheels tyres come to a standstill on top of the boys completely crushed head. The lorries brakes hiss and clunk. The light colour of his brain has been forced through his completely smashed skull and has found a new home on the scorching hot tarmac of the road along with a pool of dark red blood, increasing in size by the second. His body is completely lifeless as the onlookers begin to fill the street with screams. He doesn't even twitch. His life has gone away from him in an instant. But to many, including myself, he is still on his brand new bike, riding up and down the wonderfully sun shiny street.

I walk over to him. I am the only one that approaches him. I kneel down by the life-ending wheel. The heat emanating from the lorry is uncomfortable and the sound of tiny clicks and ticks and intermittent hisses coming from the lorry almost deafen me. The boy is unrecognizable to me as the mess of brain, hair, blood, skin and skull fill my vision. I look over to his frozen body, sprawled lifeless under the lorries rear end, and slowly follow it back up to where his smiling face should be and try my very hardest to envisage where his eyes might have been just seconds earlier.
It's all gone! Everything has gone and now he is dead! Just like that.

As I stare into the small mound of young human gore, I suddenly get the urge to feel him...to hold him and really feel him and his little life and his memories in my shaking hands. I lean over closer to him. My knees hurt as the weight of my body press down onto the hardness of the rough road and dig into my skin and bones. I put my hands gently into his wrecked brain and scoop up as much as I can. He is quite hot still and feels so alive. I close my eyes as I bring the boy closer to my face and smell him. He smells fresh and clean, as if he is still alive. But as I open my eyes again, I can see that he is just a bloody broken mess and drips gently through my fingers.

Just a body.




Jason








(C) JPT 2007.........3505.3 miles. (94.7 miles remaining)

"My Cycling For September 2007"

Me during my 100k marathon in Ruthin 16.08.07



Another month and another cycling post...yipee! Looks like I passed the 3000 mile mark for the year and I'm beginning to wonder if I will manage the 3600 by the time this year is up on December 31st? 550 odd miles in two & a half months? You betcha!!! Although I have been cycling and stuff, both my ankles have been playing up whether it be walking or cycling or just sitting in doors doing not a lot of anything! Walking though mainly causes the pain. I'm more or less ok cycling just as long as I don't put my feet down at traffic lights or at gates into RP etc, ie; impossible! But I still do it because...because I can.

So, what else have I been doing? I had meself a fibroscan at my haemophilia centre in Hampstead the other week and got a score of 9.6. They were happy with it, so I am too. I wasn't expecting the scan, nor did I particularly want one, but I had it anyway because...because I can.

Jac & I went up the hill...actually, we went up to North London on Tuesday to see a live band called "William". It was her birthday too. We had a great time although we nearly missed the last train back to Waterloo and then nearly missing the last train back to Twickenham too!
Again, Jac fell in Love with the lead singer Gavin and got me to take a photo of them together. Good band! He sings without his shoes because...because he can.

What else, what else, what else? Oh, yes, I went to Preston to this years Haemophilia Society AGM. I'd never been to one before and I gotta admit that if certain other haemophiliacs weren't there, I'd probably not bothered going. Ros was there as were Matt and another typeIII vWd Helen. She is pretty cool as she is a fellow Blakes 7 fan and she has a vein in her arm that vibrates! Now if that ain't cool, then what is?

Anyway, here are the stats for last months cycling;


Sunday 2nd September 2007 @ 12pm, Phil, RPx1 and a half, 17.43 miles, sunny and warm, dry, av 11.6, max 32mph, 1hr 30mins, temp 20, wind 14. Total 2727.95 miles...(2334.5 miles since Cateye)

Wednesday 5th September 2007 @ 17:00pm, RPx2 with small diversion to Jac's work to say hello and pump her back tyre up, warm and sunny, 25.36miles, av 13.2, max 28mph, 1hr 55mins. Total 2753.31 miles...(2359.9 miles since Cateye)

Friday 7th September 2007 @ 18:00pm, 19.83 miles, RPx1 and diversion to Mums for dinner in garden, sunny the dark, warm, dry, av 13.4, max 27.1 mph, 1hr 29mins, temp 22, wind 5. Total 2773.14 miles...(2379.7 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 9th September 2007 @ 12:30pm, Phil, HH & LH, 21.73 miles, 2hrs 31mins, warm, sunny & dry, Phil crashed a few times including one on BKB...he's fine I might add!, av 8.6, max 34.2 mph, temp 24, wind 7. Total 2794.87 miles...(2401.4 miles since Cateye)

Wednesday 12th September 2007 @ 18:00pm, RP on the road, 17.97 miles, warm, dry & sunny, 1hr 14mins, av 14.6, max 36.8 mph, temp 21, wind 4. Total 2812.84 miles...(2419.4 miles since Cateye)

Friday 14th September 2007 @ 18:00pm, BP, 10.17 miles, av 14.8, max 22.9 mph, 41 mins, dry/dusk, temp 19, wind 5. Total 2823.01 miles...(2429.6 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 16th September 2007 @ 09:30, Ruthin North Wales, Lee, Phil, Merida MTB Mountain Bike Marathon Series Final, Lee & Phil both did 50k and I did 100k, 58.04 miles, av 8.2, max 35.3 mph, 8hrs out and 7hrs pedaling in total, finished @ 17:25, sun, strong winds with clouds and rain later...see blog entry for 21st September to read about the ride. Total 2881.05 miles...(2487.6 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 23rd September 2007 @ 12:40, Home to Central London (Hovis "Freewheel" Bike Event) via A3 & Vauxhaull Bridge (going)/Waterloo Bridge (coming back), 40.58 miles, av 12, max 30.4 mph, mostly sunny and very windy coming back, 3hrs 22mins pedaling...back home at 5pm, temp 21, wind 14. Total 2921.63 miles...(2528.2 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 30th September 2007 @ 17:00, Lee, out for a little ride to see how my ankle was after three days of agony!, BP & RP, 23.54 miles, av 13.8, max 26.7 mph, 1hr 42mins, mild and bright, ankle was fine in the end and feels like it is 'back to normal'...thank goodness!, temp 16, wind 9. Total 2945.17 miles...(2551.7 miles since Cateye)



Jason








(C) JPT 2007.........3042.77 miles

My Cycling for August 2007...

Me on top of Holmbury Hill over looking the South Coast towards Brighton 26.08.07

Another month, another bunch of cycling...

This month (August) saw me do my first ever money raising bike ride ever. It was, as you probably already know in aid of the Haemophilia Society. I raised a total of over £700. Not bad eh for my first time:)
Anyway, sit back & enjoy my cycling statistics for August 2007. It don't get any more interesting than this eh;)


Wednesday 1st August 2007 @ 15:00pm, RPx1 & a half, then on to BPx1, 30.65 miles, 2hrs 9mins pedaling, warm and sunny, light breeze, felt quite tired during most of this ride...don't know why exactly? Must be getting old;), av 14, max 28.3 mph, temp 24, wind 6. Total 2318.47 miles...(1924.2 miles since Cateye)

Friday 3rd August 2007 @ 17:00pm, RPx1 & a half, then on to BPx1 (via Thames tow-path), 30.13 miles, 2hrs 7mins pedaling, warm and sunny with a medium wind, bumped into my wonderful (upstairs) neighbours Debbie & Graham along the river in Kingston, av 14.1, max 26 mph, temp 24, wind 13. Total 2348.60 miles...(1954.4 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 5th August 2007 @ 11am, Pitch Hill & Holmbury Hill, 11.22 miles with Phil from Blood, Sweat & Tyres, very warm and dry and hardly any wind, metcheck say 22 degrees but my car said 29!, 1hr 26 mins pedaling, tonnes of mountain bikers up there today, we did all the main trails...Reservoir Dogs, Barry Knows Best (also known as Golden Birdies & Ronnie Barkers & Knobby Knows Best), T1 and The Yoghurt Pots, brilliant day for a ride:), av 7.8, max 28.7 mph, temp 22, wind 5. Total 2359.82 miles...(1965.6 miles since new Cateye)

Wednesday 8th August 2007 @ 15:00pm, 21.62 miles, RPx1, BPx1, 1hr 33mins, sunny and warm, av 14, max 29.5 mph, temp 21, wind7. Total 2381.44 miles...(1987.2 miles since Cateye)

Saturday 11th August 2007 @ 12:30pm, South Downs Way North of Worthing with Matthew & Phil, 3hrs 17mins, 35.11 miles, very warm and sunny all day long, av 10.6, max 33.2 mph, temp 20, wind 7. Total 2416.55 miles...(2022.3 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 12th August 2007 @ 1pm, Lee, Holmbury Hill & Pitch Hills, 10.43 miles, 1hr 26 mins, pissed down with rain and made a very dry terrain into a very wet and muddy terrain!, good fun though, av 7.2, max 25.2 mph, temp 18, wind 15. Total 2426.98 miles...(2032.8 miles since Cateye)

Tuesday 14th August 2007 @ 21:00pm, 3 miles only as I got a puncture and I got Lee to pick me up as I didn't have any stuff to fix it! Thanks Lee:), rainy, dark and windy but very warm, 10mins pedaling, av 10, max 23.3 mph, wind 15, temp 19. Total 2429.98 miles...(2036.5 miles since Cateye)

Wednesday 15th August 2007 @ 2pm, 40.08 miles, 3hrs pedaling, warm, very windy, dry, sunny and cloudy all afternoon, av 13.4, max 28.4 mph, temp 21, wind 20+. Total 2470.06 miles...(2076.6 miles since Cateye)

Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th August 2007 @ (see blog post for BST ride for details...106.77 miles for the weekend broken up into 45.79 for Sat & 60.98 for Sun, we had sun, wind, rain, mud and cloud. Total 2576.83 miles...(2183.3 miles since Cateye)

Tuesday 21st August 2007 @ 17:00pm, 25.84 miles, RPx1 and a half, BPx1, cloudy and spitting with rain for most of it, windy and mild, 2hrs 3mins, av 12.5, max 27.4 mph, temp 17, wind 9. Total 2602.67 miles...(2209.2 miles since Cateye)

Friday 24th August 2007 @ 18:45pm, Lee, BP, RP, BP again, 30.77 miles, sunny and warm then dark and warm, mist patches in the low areas of RP and across the plains in BP too, av 12, max 26.2 mph, 2hrs 33mins pedaling, temp 16, wind 3. Total 2633.44 miles...(2240 miles since Cateye)

Saturday 25th August 2007 @ 11am, Phil, Box Hill then Holmbury & Pitch Hills, 13.08 miles, very hot & sunny with no wind, av 7.9, max 31.2 mph, quite muddy, 1hr 39mins pedaling. Total 2646.52 miles...(2253 miles since Cateye)

Sunday 26th August 2007 @ 14:00pm, Lee, Holmbury, Leith & Pitch Hills, 21.04 miles, hot & sunny and still muddy, no wind at all, av 8.3, max 28.1 mph, 2hrs 31mins pedaling. Total 2667.56 miles...(2274.1 miles since Cateye)

Tuesday 28th August 2007 @ 20:10pm, RPx1 and a half, 17.56 miles, dark and warm, no wind, 1hr 17 mins pedaling, av 13.5, max 23.6 mph, temp 16, wind 5. Total 2685.12 miles...(2291.6 miles since Cateye)

Friday 31st August 2007 @ 18:50pm, Lee, RPx1 and a half and BPx1, 25.40 miles, dark & mild with cool bits, bit of a breeze, av 12.4, max 27.1 mph, 2hrs 3mins pedaling, temp 18, wind 10. Total 2710.52 miles...(2317 miles since Cateye)



Jason








(C) JPT 2007.........

Blood, Sweat & Tyres...

Matthew admirably leading the way through a field of wheat somewhere in the middle of the North Downs Way.


...and punctures & laughs & rain & sun & more punctures & more laughs & crashes & cramps & mud & diversions & eye watering downhills & Pain & leg and lung busting uphills & more rain & yet more punctures & even more laughs...

So there you have it...Blood, Sweat & Tyres 2007 in a nutshell. We had it all! All and more!

Day One...Dover to Lenham via Canterbury.

Lee & I met the others at Dover Priory Station on the East Kent coast at 10:45am on a sunny Saturday morning...Matthew, Phil, Raj, James, Mike & Ben all turned up already clothed in their mountain bike clobber. I was still in my jeans and an old t-shirt. I had made just the day before a laminated number plate each for the riders. They were numbered from 1 to 6 and I had myself the number 999 because 9 is my favorite number and being the only haemophiliac on board I thought having the emergency services number attached to the front of my bike would be handy in case of an emergency;) I handed them out and off we went. Then barely five minutes into the ride I get the first puncture of 8 for the whole weekend...still in Dover! This would be the first of 8 rubber related deflations. The weather was good for us for most of the day...Sunday would be an altogether different affair! My friends Debbie & Graham met us too to see us off and would also be feeding us for lunch just 20 miles away in Canterbury. It took us 4hrs 50mins actual time to arrive at Debbies, courtesy of four punctures (of which I had three...the first of which happened whilst we were still in Dover!) & several miles of the North Downs Way that was very well hidden and not very well sign posted. In fact most of the NDW is quite well hidden and if it wasn't for Matthew's GPS computer and waterproof map we would most probably be in France by now;) At one stage we were beginning to think that whoever owns the NDW doesn't want anyone to find it. But find it we did!

So after a string of punctures and a bramble whipping or two we finally arrived to the most amazing lunch ever at Debbie & Grahams. I am not exaggerating when I say that you will never meet a Lovelier couple as D&G!! Thank you guys from the bottom of our belly's for such a memorable feeding:)
Lee, my best friend & our support vehicle driver was already there and fixed yet another puncture as we all tucked into our fine lunch. This time it was James who had gotten a thorn still attached to it's stem stuck in his tyre, but amazingly the tyre stayed up and we continued for another several miles before it eventually went down just as we pushed our bikes into D&G's back garden...talk about perfect timing:) After our lunch of hot jacket potatoes, cornish pasties, chicken and cakes and bananas and fruit juice and pickle and avocados and loads more besides, we made tracks back onto the streets of Canterbury until we found the NDW again. Then James had a bit of leg cramps on the side of the road and with the help of our number one (Matthew) stretched it back into shape in what to the passers by in their cars must have looked like some kind of roadside pilates class. On our way again, through several tiny very picturesque villages with names like Chilham, Broughton Lees, Charing & Kennington we ran out of daylight and time and I needed my 20:28 tablets which were in the van with Lee several miles away in Lenham...and it began to rain too. We anticipated arriving in Lenham at 7pm for an 8pm dinner. But because of all the punctures and little diversions trying to find the NDW we ran a little late. Lee came and picked us up at 20:20pm just in time for my tablets and after two small journeys we were all sitting around a dinner table where we all enjoyed a wonderful meal each. Lots of chatting and joking and scoffing later we were all in bed snoring like babies. My legs were alright and my arm & ankles were amazing! It was a very good weekend where my joints were concerned. In the days leading up to the ride I was petrified of having one of my bad spells and not being able to walk let alone ride a bike! Thank goodness my joints behaved as well as they did is all I can say.

Day Two...Lenham to South Godstone via Trosley Country Park.

Then came along Sunday morning, after dreams of pedaling along, came a grey but dry view from our bedroom window and after last nights rain things were looking good. My legs were still feeling great and I was ready for a 60 odd mile bike ride. I filled myself up with some yummy factor VIII at 07:30. Breakfast came and went and off to the van we went to get the bikes ready and fill our Camelbaks up with much needed drink. Then it started to rain! It continued to rain on and off (mostly on) for the rest of the day! It was still raining when I was at home some 12 or 13 hours later! But did it detract from the fun? Hell no! It was a wonderful experience being out in the elements with such a great bunch of guys. The trails were slippery and the hills were long and hard going up and fast and bloody dangerous coming down. A few of us had some crashes courtesy of the wet chalk that the North Downs Way are made up of. Phil took a tumble as did Mike (twice). In fact I even fell off myself whilst riding up (yes, you read that right...Up hill;) through a field of wheat when my speed became so low that I had to put a foot down (chocolate footing) but my foot was stuck in my pedal and over I went in to the wheat. I remember lying there for a few seconds thinking how strange a field of wheat looks from your back looking up into the sky. Everyone who crashed were fine thank goodness! And we were able to carry on covered in mud and scratches and stinging nettle stings on our arms and shins! I even managed to get a scratch on the end of my nose...Jason The Red Nosed Twit;)

So on we cycled through more pretty looking villages called Eyhorne Street, Thurnham, Blue Bell Hill & Detling until we reached a rather miserable looking Rochester. The NDW (Pilgrims Way) winds it's way through the outskirts of the City along back roads and main roads. It was wet and grey but quite interesting to see such a diverse mix of scenery on out ride. We eventually came out the other side of Rochester and crossed the River Medway by the M2 and met Lee (at 12:20pm) to stock up on drinks and bananas. Just outside Rochester we came across a tiny little village called Upper Bush and wondered whether there was a Lower or indeed a Middle Bush. The silly things boys will get up to eh;)
More rain and another puncture for Matthew from a thorn which was about 2 or 3 inches long & we were on our way to a place called Trosley Country Park where we had lunch at 14:20pm. By this stage we were covered in mud and wet through and hungry! Hot food was on order and we filled our bellies up with jacket potatoes, sausage rolls and cheese and bacon panini's (I asked for chicken but there wasn't any to be found!) washed down with hot tea. Some of us changed into dry, clean cycling gear and filled our CamelBaks up once again. Then at 15:20 we made tracks and plodded off in the on/off (more on) rain towards Dorking (another 30 odd miles away to the West). Through villages called Chevening, Westerham, Titsey, Oxted & Tandridge. We hit some rather nice trails winding it's way through, up & down some quite thick woods. At one point Matthew had to bail out from his bike whilst negotiating a rather low tree branch that was hanging over the trail. His dive onto his right shoulder would have looked good in any action movie;).
Light was fading again and the rain was falling...again. Time had run out and we were behind schedule due to the weather and so many punctures slowing us down so much and Matthew had to make the decision to end our ride at South Godstone station in Surrey just 12 or so miles away from Dorking (by car) and more like 15-20 miles by bike. I was the only one that had a set of lights out of the seven of us and we had to call it a day. But we did however manage to pass the 100 mile mark in total distance travelled and by the time we reached a soggy & grey South Godstone train station we had cycled a total of 106.77 miles and 60.98 miles for the day! Yay!! We did it! Even if we didn't make it to Dorking. It would have been far too dangerous to continue in the dark and Matthew's decision to end there was like all the other decisions that he made during the weekend...Absolutely spot on! I really don't know how he did it to be quite honest! Reading a GPS that he was still getting used to and reading a waterproof map whilst cycling along and making sure that the rest of his riders were ok...one of which was a severe haemophiliac! You really have to take your hat off to him for completing such a well organized event! And to Lee too for being so patient with us taking our time finding the stop points and doing all that driving! I know that Lee would have rather been riding alongside us but instead drove the support vehicle...Way to go Lee! And to all the other riders too, who I am pretty sure I will meet again someday:)
And lastly thank you to Debbie for feeding me yet again when I arrived back home in Teddington absolutely covered in mud! That gravy was out of this world:)

From left to right; Right at the end...A very damp Matthew (No1), Phil (No2), James (No3), Mike (No4), Raj (No5), Ben (No6), Me (No999) & Lee (I did make him a number plate but with his name on instead) at South Godstone station in Surrey aftar 106.77 miles of riding across the North Downs Way. Well done lads!!

Stats for Saturday;

45.79 miles in 4hrs 55mins pedaling (9hrs from start to finish) with an average speed of 9.3mph and a max speed of 30.3mph and 7 punctures!

Stats for Sunday;

66.98 miles in 5hrs 46mins pedaling (10hrs 45mins from start to finish) with an average speed of 9.8mph and a max speed of 39.1mph and one puncture.

Total miles ridden;

106.77 miles

Total time pedaling along;

10hrs 51mins

Total time out with bikes;

19hrs 45mins

Total punctures; = 8


(Update 21.08.07)

Well what do ya know? Yet another puncture...Number nine! I was on a 30 miler tonight and at the 24 mile mark in Bushy Park having already done a lap and a half of Richmond Park, I got it! The tiniest of thorns imaginable! So I fix the bastard and what happens? It goes down on my way home, but not enough to prevent me from cycling the last two miles with a very soft tyre. I'll sort it out in the morning...maybe;)




Jason









(C) JPT 2007.........2602.67 miles.

"The (un) Infected"

Heart Shaped Moss that I found on the entrance into Teddington Lock over looking the River Thames the day before I got my SVR results (18.07.07) I was out cycling and had a rest and a think and a contemplate before I went back home just around the corner.



Oh yes! The uninfected will keep going on about it won't they. I must remember to remember that I'm not totally uninfected am I, & my Hep C could come back...couldn't it? I must try and remember that. Did I just say that? Oh Yes, I did;)
You know what I mean though don't you. My Hep C is still up in viral heaven, heavily indulged in some sort of sordid sex act no doubt with someone else's recently gotten rid of Hep C. I can just imagine them both right now, entwined together like a couple of horny slugs, with a sign on the wall saying "HIV virus welcome" (You never know, maybe one day eh). They're not bothered about their previous owners in the very least! They're far too stupid to care about us anymore.
As a result of my good result, I have found (as I new I would) that my cycling OCD has more or less gone away and although I am feeling quite tired these last few weeks during my rides I am still doing the miles. 30 on Monday and another 30 Wednesday afternoon and yet another 30 miles yesterday afternoon. Talking of cycling, maybe someone can help me...Warrior Woman? A few times now whilst riding around RP I have almost collided with a few runners coming from the opposite direction on the Tamsin Trail. What happened was that as I was going along minding me own business, listening to me moosic on't i-pod and also minding to stay on the left hand side of the track (just like you would on the roads here in the UK) these runners were on their right and seemed surprised that I didn't move over for them and instead carried on as I thought I ought to. I wasn't going too fast and could see that they could see me and anyway, they didn't like it and right at the last minute jumped out of my way and shouted something. I didn't say a word as I really don't know what the score is for a shared public footpaths/trails. Is it the same as on public roads, like I had thought? If it is then they should be on their left too right? Maybe they don't drive cars and don't have a clue what side to be on (but then do many car drivers either?). Most cyclists stay on their left and so do some runners...but most people just walk/run/cycle wherever the hell they want! I won't be the one crying when my bar end pierces someones soft belly or tangles up with another cyclist (believe me, it has nearly happened on more than one occasion!) and we both end up on the gravel apologizing to each other with me shouting "Stay away from my blood dude! You really don't want to get involved!";)

Also yesterday I was up at the RFH having an MOT on my joints, in particular my right elbow (also known as my 'Glass Elbow' and my 'Broken Wing') and both my ankles. My physiotherapist (Paul) drew some marks onto a sheet of paper that had an outline of my entire body on (back & front) and began to mark it with a biro where I was having problems. He also moved and pulled and twisted (firmly but very comfortably I might add) all my joints and came to the conclusion that both my ankles and my right elbow are indeed fucked and booked me in for another visit in two weeks time. He also X-Ray'd my left ankle as it has been playing up quite a bit whilst walking. He thinks there might be something rough or sticking out where the two bones rub together. Hopefully the X-Ray will show us what there is and maybe what can be done...if anything. I told him about all the cycling I do and kayaking and not once did he say that I shouldn't (which is good). Actually, even if he had I would have said 'Up-yours' and walked out...No bike...No Jae...Simple!

I had a great (last) weekend away in Kidderminster & Shrewsbury with a whole bunch of people from the Hep C forum which Joan had wonderfully organized. Ros & her Hubby Ade put me up for a couple of nights at their Kidderminster home and fed me & bathed me and watered me too:) Then on the Saturday we drove to Shrewsbury and met up with Joan and her Hubby Steve and loads of others too who are either on tx or have been on tx. And what a great bunch of people they are too. The weather was great and the food was also very tasty...especially Ros's flapjacks:)

Anyway, enough about that. What about my dreams? Have you noticed in the last several months that there has been a distinct lack of dreams in my blog? I thought you did. Ever since I finished my treatment for Hep C my vivid and highly detailed dreams have dried up terribly and left me with just tiny bits and bobs...even straight after waking from my dreams I can't remember them much at all! For instance; I had a few dreams the night before the night before last that I almost certainly would have remembered in much more detail previously. My bike gets stolen from a railway station, I look for it, find it and stick a scalpel into the young man that took it! In another one the same night I dreamed that a very good friend of mine got their Hep C back. But where are the details? And what's happened to my poetry? Where has it all gone? I do have a few dreams saved that I never posted whilst I was on tx. The one about the freeze dried vagina's (which I like) and another about a little boy who gets crushed under the wheels of a very big lorry (which I don't) and another where I come face to face with a green (and very sexy) woman swimming in this flood (which was also green) just outside my front room window (I like that one too).
Oh, one thing I do remember is that when I found my bike the wheels were all loose and wouldn't spin properly and just a little more gross is that when I stuck the scalpel into the Man's body I could feel it digging & picking into his bones!

And another thing. I have to do that study again where I do without Factor VIII for 72hrs to determine what my Factor VIII levels are because my results came back at around the 5% mark (I'm supposed to be less than 1%). What does this mean? Am I a moderate to severe (or even mild?) haemophiliac all of a sudden? I'm sure they think I didn't do my bit and stay away from the Factor during those 72hrs. I assure you my droogs that I did.
So back I go on Tuesday next week to have more blood sucked out from my leech-like vein and a whole weekend without any Factor whatsoever. Must remember to take it easy when I'm out up in the Surrey Hills on Sunday with Phil from 'Blood, Sweat & Tyres';)
And on Tuesday night I am up at The Scala in Kings Cross to see The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster' again:) Jac's on holiday in Portugal for that week so I have to find someone else to go with me who doesn't mind getting kicked in the head by crowd surfers or going deaf even!

Check out the video for their new EP 'In The Garden' in this link;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ELJfSbm58

I Love this band!



P.s. If a bucket is too much, then a milk bottle will do;)




Jason








(C) JPT 2007.........2348.60 miles.