Saturday 13th May 2023
Today I had planned to be on day three of a five countries cycle tour, but black ice put paid to that ambition. Clearly we don’t have black ice in May, but in January we certainly did and it was then that I slid off my bike on a shady descent and broke my wrist. I also needed stitches on a cut above my eye and I suppose it was that which distracted the doctor from noticing that my wrist was also fractured. (To be fair, I didn’t realise either for another week). By the time my arm was x-rayed and put in a cast (followed swiftly by a splint), a week had passed and I remained trussed up for a further six weeks. By then, although I’m sure the bone had healed, my hand around the base of my thumb was still very painful and I was unable to ride safely.
Consequently, I decided to cancel the planned tour through Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and back to England.
Eventually, after several frustrating weeks, I am now able to ride more or less normally. Rear braking can be painful unless I change position on the bars, and there’s a dull ache when cycling over rough tarmac (which is most of the time at present).
None of that stopped Jim, Dave and I going on a spin round the Cheshire countryside yesterday. We started in Northwich, roughly mid-distant between our houses, and cycled through Knutsford, Winsford and Kelsall, also calling at my favourite café in Goostrey. Here I recommended the rhubarb and ginger flapjack which we all enjoyed. The three slabs had to be delivered on a sack-truck they were so heavy, but they were crammed full of calories which was just what I needed. The route was through an area that I knew very well back in the 70s and 80s since many time trial courses started near here, but that was three decades before Strava, so my route maps all showed it as a black hole which is now largely remedied. Despite being mainly flat, I did find one climb which featured in the 100-climbs North West edition so I was glad to tick that one off my list.
At sixty miles, this was the furthest I’d ridden since November, but all was well and my hand was fine. I now have an empty couple of weeks with no diary entries, so I’ve begun to rectify this by booking two nights in an Airbnb in Mansfield next week. Why Mansfield? Well, I’ve never been before and it’s right in the centre of an area which remains unexplored by me on a bike (or any other form of transport). I’m not touring (not sure how my hand will cope with long back-to-back rides yet) so I’ve planned three day rides out in a cloverleaf formation. I’m now hoping for sunny weather.
(We didn’t stop for photos, so the attached have just been grabbed from my on-bar video camera, hence the dubious quality)