Following my good result at Cropton last month I was looking forward to seeing if it was a fluke or if I was actually not as out of shape as I thought. The weather was not as inviting as last time, 7 degrees with high winds and rain but Swaledale is a lovely part of the world and whatever the weather it is always to get out on those hills.

We were based at the fantastic Dales biking centre in Fremington and the last time I called in was on my Coast to Coast attempt in 2010 as it was one of my water filling stops. Stuart even tracked me and stayed up till 2am to welcome me into the dale,such is his passion for all things cycling.
Anyway, back to the task in hand, 4 hours orienteering in gales and with some big hills to climb around the dale.

We were heading north from Reeth and I chose to go over Reeth Low Moor up to Nova Scotia where I knew there were a few trails which criss crossed and this was where my first cockup happened, I came to two tracks crossing and I chose the wrong one and rode off through the wrong field and wasted ten minutes using back up a field to get back to the right track. As I crested the hill and began to descend I noticed one of my bottle cages had worked loose so I had to stop and tighten the bolts as loosing half of my fluid would not be the best idea.

With the wind behind me I started the climb up to Hurst and I knew by this time that my legs were lacking in power and I was going to be down on speed and it was going to be a tough day.

Next I needed to head back West over Hurst Moor but now the wind was giving me a beating from head on and it was a case of just keeping my head down and pushing through it. Progress was slow and I was beginning to feel a bit hungry but the moments later I ‘bonked’ my vision went blurred my legs were so weak I had to stop and all I wanted to do was roll over and sleep until I felt better, I ate both my bars and half my gels in one hit hoping that it would kick in soon and bring me back to life. I set off slowly rolling down to the tarmac road and then climbed up through Stang Side and over the ‘border’ to County Durham.

I was feeling marginally better but I knew my pace was compromised and adjusted my route to suit, but due to my fuzziness I missed a trail and ended up at a dead end in the forest so it was over the fence and through a meadow to get back to where I was supposed to be. I would love to see what the guy behind had to say when he realised the ‘fast guy who looks like he knows what he’s doing’ was in fact lost!
Now it was time to head back towards the event centre and at least I had the descent down the side of Fremington Edge to look forward to.
I got back 1 1/2 minutes late so only had a 2 point penalty giving me a score of 298 from 525. Not the best but as the winning score was 410 it means my percentage of that gives me point to the league so all in all not too bad for a bad day on the trails, but even then is it possible to have a bad day on a bike in Swaledale??
Even tough I was pretty cold on my return I still had a big smile on my face so that kind of answers that one I think.
Now I just need to rest up my legs for a while as they feel like PVF is still knocking about and I need to get them back on form for the next event in a few weeks…lets hope Kildale doesn’t live up to its name!

Well it’s been some time since I last posted on here. Since October and my good result I planned on a winter of events to start building up my national points but I managed just one night event in the peaks before the full effect of post viral fatigue was felt. For those who are lucky enough to not know what its like I can only describe it like suffering with flu for 4 months. I was constantly exhausted and felt like I could faint or collapse any second(not good when your day job has you on your feet all day).
After a further couple of months of blood tests and slowly getting back out and on my bike I am starting to feel better although I can still only ride about 3 times a week before it seems too much and I feel weak again.
I had to drop out of a NEMBOS event last week as following a bug I was knocked back again and deep down knew I wasn’t fit to ride so I was looking forward to my first event of the year at Cropton  forest for the first round of the NYMBO league. I took the week easy so to leave me with a bit of energy and the plan was to go out and bag as many league points as possible just in case I needed them to fall back on later in the year.

The weather was the best it had been for a while with no wind and blue skies, even Sarah and the kids were coming along too which gave me a great mental boost.
I wasn’t sure if I could even manage to ride for the whole 3 hours but “in for a penny……”
I had decided on my route before I was given my map at the start as  you can view the map without controls before the start and this time I was going the opposite way to every other time here.
We were starting from the lovely campsite at Spiers House in the south west of the forest so from there I was off up to the NW of the map. I was suprised by my pace and I seemed to be catching a few of the guys who started ahead of me so although I was holding back a bit I was still happy. After half an hour one of the front runners caught and passed me and I could tell by the speed he dropped me I was down a bit on speed.

The trails were nearly all bone dry and my route seemed a nice flowing one and it was great to be out riding, I adjusted my route a few times as I went round as I seemed to be getting a lot of controls and it was possible that the guys up front would clear up the lot.
After a lap of Cropton it was over to Newtondale and down by the railway near Levisham.
After 2 hours I was shot and was just hanging on to get to the finish and I was hoping to get a top 10 in class and just as many points as possible.
I probably made just 2 slight navigational errors that would have bagged me two more 5 pointers and the only other control (a 30 pointer) was always out of touch due to my lack of speed.
I came back a couple of minutes late with 483 from a possible 525 points placed 1st in class 4th overall so a pretty good day of damage limitation really.
I make that 92 of a possible 100 points in the league which will do me quite nicely thank you. A few more of those this year would be nice…..

After many years supporting riders in all disciplines, Cyclesense now has its own BC affiliated club. The first club ride was this Thursday and we had 16 riders of all abilities take part. We split into two groups, one for the more casual and one for the slightly more competitive types.
Both groups rode for around one and a half hours and everyone enjoyed themselves. We are hoping that we can keep it as a weekly thing with routes for mtb and cyclocross bikes if there is enough interest.

On Saturday 28th April Night / Sunday Morning I was burgled and had all my bikes stolen from my house in Caridff.

If you see any of the bikes that have been stolen anywhere please contact me 07932032071 or Cardiff police have advised me to make a 999 call to report the sighting.

Basic Details + Pictures for now, I will keep updating. Greatful if people can spread the word, this is a massive loss to me and Janet, words cannot describe. The bikes were heavily locked in an alarmed, secured building.

Also stolen was my Kawasaki Ninja, ZX6R – Lime Green / Black – X144 BNE

2010 Giant Anthem X3, Large, Black – Cyclesense.co.uk, Enduranceracing.co.uk, Scottoiler, Demon Designs + Buff decals.

Currently built with Hope Pro 3 hubs – Stans Crest Rims, Schwalbe Racing Ralph / Rocket Ron, KCNC Red Seatpost + Clamp, Ritchy WRC Carbon bar and Ergon grips. Left hand XTR shifter held together with tape. Scottoiler fitted through frame holes. GrandRaid Cristalp sticker on toptube.

2010 Giant Anthem X1, Large, Red – Cyclesense.co.uk, Enduranceracing.co.uk, Scottoiler, Demon Designs + Sue Me Sitckers.
Frame No: GK 979250
Built as a second race bike and not yet ridden, looked brand new. Built to be as identical as possible to the Black Anthem.
White RockShox SID fork, Hope Pro3 Hubs on Stans Crest Rims, Schwalbe Rocket Ron / Racing Ralph.
Black anodized KCNC seatpost, XTR groupset. Red Cable oilers. Stickered as per Black anthem and fitted with same Scotoiler installation.

Note: Picture does not reflect build when stolen but shows frame / fork.

SantaCruz Heckler, Large, Anodized Black,
Frame No: A80600697
Fox F140 Fork, Chris King hubs on Mavic 819 Rims, Schwalbe – HansDampf Tyres, XT Groupset
Rockshox Reverb seatpost (not pictured)

On-One Inbred, 20″ – built with Alfine Hub Gear
White Sliding dropout Inbred frame, quite tatty. Alfine 8speed Hub gear, Retro USE seatpost – silver and 1997 CrudCatchers in bright Red. Fox F100 RLC Fork with considerable stantion wear, Old Hope Mini Brakes with Custom black levers. Scotoiler chain lube system with bespoke installation for single sprocket. Custom made black 15mm spanner made to bolt to seatstay.

Koga Carbolite
Frame No: 0808842.
Rare Carbon fiber hardtail, White Mavic SL wheels with Blue Ashima rotors. XT/XTR Groupset – 2 x 9 TA chainrings on front. XT brakes, Black KCNC seatpost – White Ergon grips, White Selle Italia SLK Saddle

Koga Signature Roadbike,
Carbon fiber custom built road bike, Ultegra 10s groupset, Mavic Aksium wheels, Name ‘Rich Holmes’ painted onto top tube and Cyclesense stickers on chainstays.

Koga Crosswinner
Red anodized brakes, Shimano RS10 wheels, Flite SLR Saddle
Scottoiler sticker on frame despite not having scotoiler system fitted. Shimano 105 / FSA groupset.

Giant Anthem X4, White, Small
Frame No: GB082153
Standard build apart from Hope XC Hubs built on Mavic 317 Rims & WTB Ladies – Deva Saddle

Custom Hardtail, Unbranded Silver 15″ Aluminium Frame,
Fox TALAS Fork, Deore Groupset, Thompson Seat post / Old Hope Mini Brakes. Worn Panneracer Trailbreaker tyres, large ladies saddle (out of sorts with bike) Race Face Stem, ‘I’m a Lady Sticker’ on toptube.

Trek 6300 MTB, Small Frame, Bar bag mount – Bike belonging to a colleague I had to service.
Down tube heavily scuffed at base of tube (due to bike rack clamp)
Chain stay chipped on top due to lots of chain slap
Topeak handlebar bag clamp
Halfords mudcatcher on down tube
Continental Mountain Kings tyres front and rear

More detilas to follow. One distinctive point about all my bike builds is my nose-down saddle position.

My last training focus of 2011 was planned around Dusk ’til Dawn at Thetford but unfortunately, I picked up a cold in the week prior to the race. In previous years I would probably have taken my chances and gone to Thetford and raced anyway, but after the post viral fatigue I suffered at the beginning of this year I wasn’t prepared to take any chances so I pulled out of D2D and entered the Bristol Oktoberfest 8 hour solo the following week. The downside of this new, sensible approach to racing was that I’d have to run the Cardiff Half Marathon the following day. Did I say sensible… anyway, that would be Sundays problem to deal with.

I’ve raced at Bristol many times in the past and I really liked the old course, but like anything, you can have too much of a good thing. I had read good things about the new Ashton Court trails and I had high hopes that they would be a fitting substitute for the Thetford singletrack fix I’d missed the week before. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed, although I would have to wait a few laps before getting the chance to rip around in anger. Despite getting stung by wasps on my leg on the way to the “Le-Mans” start, I actually got a good run in for a change and grabbed my Anthem from @HuwLocoRacing with minimal mass start confusion. Head down, cranking on to the end of the gravel climb and into the arena, I turned round the corner to see pretty much every other racer had cut the gravel road out, shortcutting straight to the arena. So much for a good start, with what looked like hundreds of riders in front of me and the inevitable bottleneck that would develop as the course hit the first singletrack I big ringed it away overtaking as many people as I could. Still, the first lap was little more than a sighting lap as I got to look at the new trail from way back in the precession of riders, picking off the odd overtake where I could.

As the race progressed the riders thinned out and it became apparent how much fun the new improved course was. Smooth, flowy and schmoozy, with bermed corners and pump track sections that flowed well. A few laps in I caught up with Steve Corbyn (Coloumbia Bikefood) after a brief chat he began pushing harder than I wanted on the penultimate climb so I let him gap me. That proved to be a mistake as I got caught behind a large group of slower riders going into the last singletrack / descent. It took me an entire lap of steady but constant effort to catch up with Steve again and re-gain the time I lost. Aware of how important it was to pass slower riders without delay, Steve and I rode the next lap together passing people wherever possible and in some places where it didn’t seem possible. A little later we caught up with Will Hayter (MarahtonMTB.com) and added one more to our solo train. Steve was the first to drop off when his bike decided that it no longer liked having two wheels and his rear wheel made a break for freedom. Will and I rode the next lap together until I pulled away on the longer climb through the woods.

As I came into the arena Huw was on standby with bottles and gels and the info I wanted to hear, I was in the ‘lead’ but not by much. I continued to lap at a consistent pace and opened my advantage up to just over 8 minutes over the next few laps. At around 5 hours race duration though that ‘lead’ started to disappear, each lap I would try and ride a little faster and each lap Huw would tell me my advantage had got smaller. 4 minutes, then 3.5 and then on the next lap he’d ridden out onto the course to give me a split half way round the lap. Never a good sign. I knew by this point that there was time to complete three more laps. At my current pace I was easily going to loose a minute a lap so it was time to really step it up and suffer. The last three laps were a blur as I pushed as hard as I could, desperate not to get caught on the last leg of the race, 29:01, 29:06, 28:07, that last lap being my 3rd quickest of the entire race. Relieved I’d done it and held off the attack, I decided to take a lie down in the Loco team pit whilst the post race mong set in.

Unfortunately, that’s where the story takes a twist. It tuned out that I hadn’t ‘won’ as most people at the event and I thought. Despite the live results showing me leading the race for over 4 hours, Rob Holbeche had actually finished 4:33 in front of me. Timelaps, the official race timing company, had missed one of his early laps so he was showing as being a lap down on the results. Despite them being aware of this mistake for some time, the missing lap wasn’t credited to him until after the race had finished. Its easy to accept that mistakes happen, we are all human. In this case the frustration is with how Timelaps chose to correct their mistake – or not. Effectively, the entire Male Solo 8hr pack were racing from incorrect race information, which is arguably worse than having no information at all. Even if I had known Rob was ahead, I’m not sure I could have pushed much harder, he put some stellar laps in early doors to open up a solid lead that would have been difficult to close down. However, if I had known, I’d have been much happier being the hound than the fox for those last hours! Still P2 in a close and competitive race is a good result that I should be happy with, just the circumstances take the edge of things slightly. Thanks to Simon @ Loco Tuning for letting me pit out of their team tent and to Huw for being a great ‘pitbitch’ I wouldn’t have got P2 if it weren’t for their support.

Full Results

P.S. Did the Half Marathon on Sunday, it hurt for 1:41…

Finally on the third attempt we managed to get out for a night on the hills, the past two attempts had to be abandoned due to torrential rain. The forecast wasn’t the best for the Friday night but we held out for better weather this time and it seemed to pay off.

As we were bivying we travelled light, the main bits of kit were
Alpkit Gourdon dry bag,
Alpkit Hunka Bivvy bag,
Alpkit Pipedream 200 Down bag,
Alpkit Filo Down jacket,
Balloon bed,
Exposure Joystick,
Trangia mini stove,
Light my fire spork,
Buff,
First aid kit,
Dried meal by Wayfarer (Beef and Potato hotpot)
And finally some single malt to aid a good nights sleep.

Padge and myself got out of work on the Friday, loaded up and headed off on our adventure, first up was the Meanwood Valley trail which took us all the way out of Leeds city centre to the quiet of the countryside, it was along here we found out that with big dry bags on getting through the many gates would be interesting.

The weather was holding out and we made good time through Golden Acre Park and along the trails towards Leeds-Bradford airport where we followed the path round the perimeter. It was a little weird as there was a great big fence either side as you were on the airports land and they don’t want people straying off, the going was good until we reached loads of brambles across the trail, with no way round we head to go through with plenty of cuts to show for our persistence.

We stopped overlooking the airport and had a snack to give us the energy for the big climb to come. As we looked over to Ilkley Moor in the distance things looked a little grim, much to Wife Sarah’s ammusement as I spoke to her on the phone and said night to the kids.

Undettered we set off again towards the gloom, dropping down through Yeadon onto an old railway now used as a cycle path, we were soon climbing up towards the moor and the weather had lifted and along with it our spirits, we hit the doubletrack on open moorland running through a blanket of lilac heather, not long to go now to the spot Padge had earmarked on an earlier recce on to the moor.
Just a few wet sections of single track later we rolled up to the ‘Buck Stones’ high on top of Ilkley Moor.
The light was fading now so we chose our spot for the night and went to find a few branches in the nearby plantation to help erect the tarp as rain was forecast later that night.

We set up camp and sat down for a bit of vodka/whiskey to ease us into a baby like sleep, I was half expecting to be woken in the early hours by sheep that were trying to escape the weather but this was not the case in the end. We fired up the stove and made our tea, a rather nice beef and potato hotpot which I jest not weighed about 2kilos when rehydrated!

Then it was just time to kick back and chill, watching the people in their cars over on the other hill tops going about their friday night business. Visibility was rolling in and out as we were up in the mist now.

We were hoping to get a front row seat for the impressive meteor shower that night but due to the low cloud and the effectiveness of my single malt I finally awoke in daylight at 6AM! Not such a bad nights sleep after all.

Once again the stove was fired up, this time for a morning brew and then we packed our dry bags ready for the steady ride back. As we made our way to the trail the sun burnt through the clouds and afforded us great views right round the moor.

A quick descent down the moor saw us link up with the Leeds/Liverpool canal which we were to follow all the way back into Leeds city centre, it was a lovely ride in an area I hadn’t been before, it was nice passing people on the ride who were out for an early start to the weekend knowing ours had started some time before at Friday teatime.
One of the many sights on the return journey was the impressive five rise locks at Bingley, I can honestly say I wouldn’t fancy them in a canal boat, too much like hard work to me!

As we passed through Saltaire we came across a long boat which was no longer moored and had wedged across the canal, following a bit of towing by me and a long confusing phone call to the police by Padge we were back on our merry way. A few miles down the towpath we met up with a guy on a singlespeed, bob yak in tow. It turns out he too is a 24 soloist and is trying out his kit ready for his ride over to Ireland for the world singlespeed champs in a few weeks, small world!

So we had a laugh, learnt a few things for next time, we’re already trying to sort a date for the next adventure but at the moment spare nights are hard to come by. Let’s just hope it is faster coming than the first one.

Cropton was a mixed bag for me, the week leading up to the event I was feeling very tired so I rested as much as possible and drove to work to try get myself feeling a bit more normal. It seemed to work as come Saturday morning I had a bit more of a spring in my step. I like the Cropton event and I always seem to do well there so things were looking up.

The weather way looking good and the map had a good selection of routes, I set off with the idea of an anti clockwise route leaving me with a choice of second legs round to the East.

I lined up ready for the start and realised that my back wheel was dragging really badly, I had checked my bike the night before but it seems there must have been a sticking piston in the rear brake so as soon as I used it it would bind, brilliant!

As I headed West I was constantly changing my route as I seemed to spot better ways to link up the controls, I was feeling good and for the first time this year I actually felt as though I was racing rather than just going through the motions. The tracks were dry and was happy with how thigs were going. As I headed back to the East I managed to miss a 20 point control that I should have got so that annoyed me somewhat. I kept going East and dropped down to the forest drive next to the railway, I could hear the steam train disappearing off down the valley to the North.

It was on the descent I think, that I lost a bit of air from the rear wheel, I noticed it as it began snaking under power on the tarmac climb, it wasn’t too bad so I decided to carry on and nurse it home, big mistake! The next section of single track I hit a root and lost all the remaining air out of the tire, co2 canister deployed and 30 seconds later I was off again but still with a little less air than I needed.

The next section of single track I hit a root and lost all the remaining air out of the tire, co2 canister deployed and 30 seconds later I was off again but still with a little less air than I should have had, I was now going to have to miss another 20 pointer as time was getting tight. As I was trying go power back to the finish the back end was slowly getting more and more out of shape so I stopped to put a bit more air in the rear. Cue frantic pumping action followed by a loud hiss as I managed to completely rip the valve out! Cock.

After a few minutes of colourful language I put in a new tube and pumped it up, dived back on the bike and headed back to finish with 8 seconds to spare.

Due to the technical issues like stopping to loosen the brake after every descent and the fact my good route was actually not really that good after all, I managed to end about 16th overall and more thanks to the others I also managed to take class honours to. Result! What made me happiest though was the fact that for the first time in months I actually felt fast and got into a good groove

I rode the Dragon Ride, a 200k sportive from Pencoed, near Bridgend a little while ago. The route takes in the Blwch twice and the Righos so it’s a hilly 200k on the roads I like to head out for weekend road rides. Even with an early start, leaving Cardiff at 6am, Mark Spratt, Mel Alexander, Chris Blackmore and I had you queue for over an hour to before we were able to start due the massive numbers and the staggered start. There isn’t a huge amount to say really. Mark, Mel and I set of together and were part of the same group making good progress until the first ascent of the Blwch when Mark pulled away. Mel and I were riding together more or less until the last 70k when she pulled away on one of the smaller climbs. From that point onwards I was pretty much riding on my own. I finished in a reasonable time of 6:38 which is a ‘Gold’ standard time apparently and given the year I’ve had to date I suppose I should be happy with that. I suffered with a dehydration like feeling from the outset but seemed to be taking on masses of fluid. At one point I had to steal some of Mel’s drink as I was out and both her bottles were nearly full. Very odd!

The ride seemed very well organised overall despite the queues to start and the route is pretty good to. Unfortunately Raceahead, the timing company employed for the event, had technical issues which mean most of the riders times aren’t available. I accept mistakes will happen, but when you pay to ride the roads you can ride for free any day of the year, an accurate ride time and the ability to compare your splits to others is one of the few things your getting for your money. The excuse they seem to have provided the Dragon organisation is that the timing transponders on the number boards must have been damaged by ‘incorrect installation’ I asked the question why my intermediate splits recorded, just not the start and finish time but got no answer. Points more to the system than the chip me thinks! I’m pretty good at trail side fixes, but fixing a transponder mid ride is probably beyond me. So, pretty happy with the ride overall, it seems to be a good event but not sure if I’d pay to ride again – certainly a good training route though.

Well, its all gone a bit quiet on here and unfortunately, not because I’ve been too busy training and racing. Towards the end of February I started to feel tired and run down, I’d back off the training hours and feel fine. The shorter, fast races seemed to be going OK by my standards and I just put it down to fatigue, busy life, full time job etc. The National at Sherwood destroyed me, the post race mong was as bad as I’ve had from any 24hour race in the past and it just wouldn’t shift. April was a total write-off, I was struggling to stay awake during the day, coming home and rather than training, fettling, DIYing etc I’d sit down and nap. I had to pull out of the two XC races I was looking forward to the most, the Welsh XC at Coed-Y-Brenin and the BMBS at Dalby. Both sounded like ace courses and amazing events, never mind, next year!

There’s often a fine line when it comes to listening to what your body is telling you, the internal debate of ‘am I doing the sensible thing’ by resting or ‘am I just mincing’ Whilst I’d no idea what was wrong with me, it became apparent I wasn’t just mincing on a night ride with the CCW guys and girls when I literally couldn’t stay awake on the bike. I was crawling up one of the North Cardiff climbs looking at a hedge and thinking how much sense it would make to have a lie down,,, 45mins into the ride!

Bloods were taken which ruled out anaemia, diabetes and some other nasties but didn’t give any diagnosis. The doctors were genuinely less than useless and alarmingly tried to diagnose me with depression + treat me with anti-depressants. ‘You’re not listening to me! Feeling pissed off is a symptom not a cause!’ In the end, the best I could come up with was self diagnosis of post viral-fatigue. I’d not had an alarming virus at any point but that seemed to be one of the few plausible explanations. Anyhow, my main focus for the year had been the 24 Hours of Exposure, the UK + European 24 solo championships in Scotland. With 2 months of prime training lost to ‘tiredness’ and still not feeling 100% the week prior to the event, racing was only going to set me back further.

Anyhow, 12 weeks after I first started to feel ‘not right’ and things are starting to feel ‘right’ again. Fingers crossed. Dragon ride this weekend so lets see how that goes and take things from there!

In the meantime, my group of riding buddies have certainly been making up for my poor show! Mark Spratt finished a solid 3rd in the Solo 24, walking (staggering) away with the UK Solo 24 Vets jersey, the European Solo 24 Vets jersey & the best placed rookies jersey! He then went on to take the Welsh XC Champs jersey the following weekend. Matt Page overcame multiple early mechanicals to defend his UK title in the Open Cat and add the European title to his CV. His performance was solid and showed everyone what a class rider his has become. Huw Thomas was stoked with his second place + Rookie jersey in the 12 hour event, again showing the benefits of the hard training leading up to the race.

Arguably the most notable achievement over the past few months has to go to Dave Buchanan, who completed the Hobbits Tale and will have hopefully set a new Guinness World Record for the greatest distance travelled in 48 hours on a bike in the process. The Hobbits Tale saw Dave ride from Cardiff, off road, to Caernarfon, round the castle and back again. This is simply beyond my comprehension, 59 hours off road riding. I rode the ‘last’ 10hours with him and he was more coherent than normal, despite having over 600k in his legs already! Have a look at Dave’s page to get a better idea of his accomplishment and if you can, why not consider donating a few £’s via his donations page to recognise this achievement that re-defines ‘endurance’

Just as things were starting to look good for this year and my attempt top take class wins in North Yorks, North East and National leagues it all went pear shaped again. Training was going well and this week i was going to start putting in a few longer rides in preparation for next months 5hr event in Swaledale, until that is, I woke on Monday this week with a rather sore and stiff left knee, I managed to ride to work with no pain but my knee seemed to be getting bigger and more sore by the minute. Cue a 5 hour wait at LGI A&E waiting to be seen and have an x-ray taken.

At first it was looking like some damage to the patella but as I had been off the bike for four days I knew there had been no trauma to my knee. It turns out I have Housemaids knee of all things, a swelling of the fluid pouch in the knee, that’s when I heard the words I had been dredding – A week of rest and definitely no riding for a week! Bollocks!

It seems my weekend at home playing with the Kids and changing nappies was worse for me than the two events last weekend, all the kneeling and crawling round like a loony has agrivated my knee that was damaged when the twat in a white van tried kill me on my way to work in Janurary.
Who’d have thought it eh!