Slide Along The Road

I came off my bike on Wednesday morning. I looked out of the window at 6.25am to see how bad the winter conditions were and it looked bad but not as bad as it had looked previously. The cars were frosty but the roads looked ok. I got on my bike to ride to work and went straight off it and hit the road hard. I hit my ribs on the road and it winded me and I laid there for a few seconds and got up again, I walked a little on the pavement and climbed on my bike again and came off again hitting the road. I can't remember the conditions being as bad as this ever, I have been cycling to work for 26 years and I cannot remember it being as bad as this. So I have got bruised ribs and a huge 6'' bruise on my left hip plus numerous other bruises on my body. The bike I'm glad to say is fine and I'll heal to ride another day!

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I Just Don't Know What To Do

I went to look for a new bike today and basically the bikes that I'm looking at are more money than the claim settlement so looks like I'm gonna have to put more money too. The bike I want is the next model up from the one that got stolen and it looks like it is going to cost me about £300 more but they don't have my size frame in and might not be able to get one. They are going to try Cannondale on Monday to see if they have any more. It is brilliant red and looks great. The next bike up from that is a Cannondale Prophet and thats £400 more. The bike I had was a fantastic bike and I don't really want to get anything less, but I'm still on short time at work and there's no money in my account for savings right now so I might have to go for a lower model of bike. I guess it is like owning a fast car then having to desize and end up with a budget car. Oh well I'll get it sorted I hope!

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Some Good News

I have just heard that I'm getting the money for my bike from my insurers which is great news, now all I have to do is wait and they will transfer the money to the bike shop and I can go pick another bike. I'm just pleased now it has been sorted and I look forward to getting back onto two wheels

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What Have I Done To Deserve This?

I wasn't sure if I wanted to put this in my blog or not. I've been thinking if I should want to be reminded or not of the last three weeks. Three weeks ago I had my bike stolen from outside of a shop, I had put 2 locks on it and they had gone through both locks around 10 minutes after I locked it up. I am still devastated as not only was it my maid mode of transport seeing I don't drive, I also went out for rides on it at the weekends. It cost me just short of £1000 and it was a fantastic bike to ride and I guess it has been sold by some scum of the earth crawling out of the gutter to sell it for drugs.

Trouble is now, I am waiting on the insurance company to see if they are going to pay for a new bike or not, they wanted the receipt or the packaging to the main lock I bought and to prove who I am (seeing I don't have a drivers licence or a passport). So I guess a big note to me and whoever should read this, make sure that you keep all receipts to everything you buy, you never know when you will need them. I also now know that I am being forced to get a passport just so I can prove who I am, how crazy is that?

Two weeks ago I fell at work and hit my face, wow did it hurt, but I smashed my glasses into my eyebrow and cut it, plus the pile at work I fell onto, the corners cut my face. Luckily for me it has healed really well and just a slight black eyelid is left but my face is still numb although I'm getting some feeling back slowly so I guess another week and I should be back to normal.

I've been on a three day week now for a while at work as the economy isn't very good and there's no sign of it getting any better. I'm doing 3 days next week, then the following 2 weeks up to my summer holidays we are on 4 days, which is to make sure that all the orders are taken care of for the shutdown of the factory. Money is tight and I'm working hard at clearing all my debts and taking care of the credit card, once this is sorted then hopefully I might be able to break into the black and save a little money. I have had to stop getting tattooed as the money is not there and until I get back into full time it might be next year before I get my back finished. It's all doom and gloom but I'm staying positive that things will change for the better!

I'm now back at the gym and finally it is beginning to show, I'm slowly getting some shape back and I'm feeling good despite of what's happened. I've been on a diet which is basically detoxing the body and eating as much vegetables and fruit as you can to give the body back all it's nutrients. They say that the body is starved of it's vital nutrients then it cannot do it's job of clearing out the body of all the toxins that are in it so it gets sluggish and they stay in. So I may end up with my dream of having a good healthy looking body!

5

All Is Quiet

Nothing much to report, things are quiet here. My back is healing well but now itching, I've not been out on my bike for a ride as the weather has been really lousy. Hopefully tomorrow I can get out for a ride, I am planning to ride to the Humber Bridge depending on the weather. I am getting back into the gym now and getting slowly back to where I was a few months ago. I went tonight and worked my legs and ran a little. It's time I went to bed as I am working tomorrow so will sign off and hopefully have something more to write soon.

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Riding Again

Went along the Marina again tonight, I really must try and get out earlier so that I can go a little further. The weather was fine again tonight, just a little breezy but OK. So hopefully will get out somewhere tomorrow. Going to the gym tomorrow, legs to workout. Then going to get my eyes examined which I hate, tomorrow it's for my contacts and next week for my glasses. I should be free after that till around 4pm ish.

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Tattoos And Holidays

Well, Saturday went well and got ideas sorted for my back tattoo. The dragon is going to come down and wrap around my leg, sounds great but painfull! I am on holiday this week and the weather has been, so far awful. There has been 3 days of rain and tonight I managed to get out on my bike and go for a ride, it was cold though and typical me decide to go for a ride along the docks. It was great as I have never been around there before so it was interesting and new for me and will explore it more another day when it's warmer.

I decided to get a mohawk today. I used to have one a couple of years ago and I have been thinking about growing it back and today I went to a local hairdresser they had it done. I think they look great one they have grown a little longer to put gel in so a couple of months it will be long enough!

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A Close Up

A close up of the bike

The New Bike

I finally decided to buy the bike, I went out yesterday (Saturday) and bought it and got some new cycling shoes too. I had to leave it a couple of hours so they could check it for me and put my new pedals on (SPD's) which wasn't a problem as I had stuff to do in town. I walked it home and it just looks amazing!

I woke early this morning (Sunday Morning) and decided to put my gear on and try my new bike out. I still have my cold and still finding it hard to breath and cough all at the same time, plus riding my bike was pushing it a little. I got out my lycra gear out of the wardrobe and put it on, I've not worn this stuff for several years and it was great to wear it again. I decided to have a ride around then went to Cottingham which is a small village just outside of Hull. Wow the bike is amazing, it's fast and it is just great to have a bike that works again. I took my camera with me to get a couple of shots of the village and asked a passing guy if he would take a couple of photo's of me with my bike which he did. The photo's came out great so i'm really pleased.

5

Mountain Bike Update

I have seen the bike I want!

I first saw it before Christmas 2006 but it is £999 and about £300 more than I wanted to pay, but I keep going back to it. Can I really justify spending a grand on a bike that I am mostly going to be using to go to work on, having said that I use it twice a day, work 6 days a week but it is just parked outside in a bike rack. I really need to think this one but I really like it, it's a Cannondale in army/olive green which is my kind of colour as I really like army/cammo colours. So what should I do?

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New Bike

I'm looking for a new mountain bike. I have had this bike, an Orange c16 for nearly 13 years and paid around £600 for it then. It was an amazing bike, weighs around 23lb I think and can pick it up with one hand. We have been riding around since and I've been using it for work but over the years it has become worn and tired. I would like to go for another Orange but they only make bikes now for competition at £1000 plus, so that's way out of my price range and I can't justify paying that much on something that is going to be parked outside of work. I have been looking around for a new bike but nothing really has caught my eye but I keep looking. I really need one soon as this bike is on it's last legs, it needs so many repairs doing that it would cost a fair amount which now would be better put towards a new bike. I don't drive so my bike is my transport around, so just got to keep looking I guess!

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