Laid up, foot up, fed up... Shut up?

It's hard not to feel sorry for yourself when you had work, activity, family and friends mapped out for a few months and then TWANG! The ordinarily elastic and highly complex series of muscles, tendons and ligaments in your ankle are asked to do some involuntary acrobatics as you temporarily forget how to put one foot in front of another.

Unfortunately I'm not the type to "make the best" of a situation like this as I'm constantly imagining an alternative universe in which I've been active for the last 11 days and not just thinking about how long it's going to take to start getting around again. It's also one of those injuries that seems to get more annoying as it heals.

At this point (11 days later) the only bit that is swollen is around the "ball" of my ankle, where the foot articulates. Whilst this doesn't look very serious, you kinda need this area to work if you have any chance of walking properly. It also bears weight when you extend onto your toes, so even after 11 days, walking up the stairs is pretty damn painful! Not to mention standing on bicycle pedals.

Nope...

The constant ingestion of both anti-inflammatory and pain killing drugs is also just unbearable on the digestive system of someone who doesn't ordinarily partake. There really is nothing good about the situation at all.

The reason I'm even writing this today is that my mate was sitting in a McDonalds 20 miles away for a pre-production meeting this morning (Wednesday) only problem is I'm still on Tuesday over here and a full day behind. So sorry Andy, I'll see you tomorrow. The combination of all the above and having no reference points for the last 11 days has just tossed everything up in the air for me.

So what to do? I did get on my feet for a few hours to go over to Sprockets and catch some footage to test the new camera gear and my chops with Premier Pro, the results of which you can see below. It's a bit rough around the edges but if you've ever tried using a steadicam, you'll appreciate that the results are actually pretty good for a first time user.



Another thing that really grates is just the sheer amount of reliance on other people. It's brutal to watch your loved ones running around after you, insisting that its all OK for them and knowing that you're the cause of them having to out in that extra effort and screwing up their schedules and arrangement. At the risk of sounding a bit self indulgent, I feel pretty bad for my wife and my in-laws, they really are the best people I've ever known.

On an even MORE depressing note, whatever happened to daytime TV? I'm sure it's like many things in that nostalgia and the loss of "youth" to the ravages of time kind of skews your opinion of what was good and what was not, but crikey! Rip off Britain, Cowboy builders, Wanted down under, Loose Women, Judge Rinder. I mean come on! It's easy to see why people who may choose to "apply themselves less" could sit and watch this sugar coated nonsense with no real motivation to leave the house, but it's not for me, it's terrible.

What else then? I don't really play video games these days, with the exception of GTAV if I'm just in the mood to cause some carnage on the streets of Los Santos. But in a weird course of action my wife & son bought me Battlefield 1 for Christmas.

I was a little confused at the time, but having played it a few times it really is quite a masterclass in every sense of the word and pays a very real homage to the horror, romance, cost and importance of the Great War. The story modes in particular are very poignant. Its actually hard not to relate to some of the characters as well as finding it double hard to watch increasingly realistic digital humanoids die over and over again in the most horrible ways ever invented. (sorry depressing I know)

The game play is amazing, the graphics and textures are stunning and of course getting killed is easy as there are folk all over the world that just spend all day playing games like this, with the express intention of kicking your ass.

Chaaaaaaaarrrrge!!!!

Even worse is the fact that I got to ride my new bike for the first time at the start of the year, only to watch it become a literal clothes horse over the last fortnight. In fact it was in the act of putting my bike in the van for a trip that I sprained my ankle in the first place.

Quite a bitter pill to swallow as I was ready to go to Innerleithen for a proper big ride to start the year and of course my journey towards the Cairngorm Loop this year. I guess this is the main reason I'm so down on this last 11 days.

I promise that the following photo is not set up. It's now like a chameleon, blending into its sad familiar background...

Literally the worlds most depressing picture.

Anyway, I think I'll quit this one just now as I initially did it to cheer myself up.

Buh.....

The creative drought and near write-off of 2016.

So where to even start?

There's a quote from "Of mice and men" that I could use about "great plans" but all I'll say is that I started this wee blog with the best of intentions right when life in general was about to throw me a finely tuned curve ball. A curve ball that would stop me in my tracks long enough to set aside my specific goals for 2017 and potentially move them over a year.

In March I was made redundant. Along with 7 members of staff that were also my friends, the Tiso group that was also in charge of Alpine Bikes decided that our branch in Glasgow's St Georges Cross Glasgow had to go. After years of questionable upper management decisions, poor foresight and an unwillingness to respond to staff and store management concerns, yet another branch of one of Scotland's first independent bike shop chain bit the dust. I could have stayed but I had no faith left in the company at large, so I found myself without a job.

Luckily I have some friends that thought highly enough of me to send me some work and eventually give me the confidence to start my own little business in my hometown. After a wee bit of summer trading, I think it may just work too. So we'll see how it goes? I'll probably keep a "real job" too until i get a full year under my belt just to be safe?

Just after that I was dealt a health blow which put me on my arse for 2 months during the summer. Anyone who knows me will remember my right hip giving up last summer (2015) which prevented me from doing pretty much anything. Well this year, the left one gave me the same trouble. This time it wasn't as debilitating as the last, but I couldn't ride my bike, was in great pain so had to rest, meaning a put half a stone on over a few months and just got rather lethargic along the way.

I did a fair bit of wild camping too. In October the Aonach Eagach Ridge Glen Coe.

This time though, the physio referral came through while I was actually laid up, making it easier to get to the bottom of it, so through good movement, common sense and rest, I was back up and at it as Autumn came round. I got weaving and lost the weight I put simply by watching my calories. Turns out that I had a spasm in a back muscle that was giving me chronic sciatic pain. Luckily no mechanical problems then, but pretty damn painful none the less.

But there were some positives. This year I passed my Bikeability training, did my level 3 Mountain Bike Leader training and got out on my bike more than ever in September and October.

I slept in more Bothys in that 2-3 months than I ever had all year. Rode more big day rides and overnight rides than I've ever done and at any opportunity just went biking. I also got to work at Ridelines Mountain bike tuition, leading kids and young adults round the trails at Glentress. This simple gesture of trust by the Tweed Valley coaching team was probably the highlight of my working year.

I also managed to sneak into their new promo video that was filmed over a few days at Glentress. It was honestly such a privilege to be included in their work this year. Also we had a pretty great Christmas dinner at Number One Peebles Road too.



So At this point I'm behind the goals I'd set when I wrote the description of this Blog, but I'm still on mission. Cairngorm Loop this year and the HT 550 next year. So just a year behind schedule :)

As I write this however, I'm sitting with a badly sprained ankle. I had a "program" all set out with my training in place for January, but when loading my van yesterday morning to head to Innerleithen, I lost my footing and went over on my ankle. It's pretty much the worst pain I ever felt in my life and I really thought I'd broken it for sure. In and out of Hairmyers A&E inside 2 hours told me that I'd sprained my ankle and most likely torn a few fibres of my ligament, so I'm actually counting myself lucky in the context of what could have happened.

Crutches again... I don't look impressed do I?

I also ditched my Santa Cruz Bronson in favour of a Santa Cruz 5010. It has less travel and a longer top tube which makes it a more efficient machine for long days in the saddle and riding more akin to fast trail and aggressive XC riding. I've only ridden it once but it feels good so far. I plan many a trip on it's back. I've already decided the the Cairngorm Loop is probably best done on this bike too.

Thanks to the guys at Sprockets Cycles for the help with the build. I didn't scrimp on the spec and their help in building it made it a very easy project. I'll get into the bike as I get more experience on it, so if this is your kind of thing then check back to the blog for an update on how it rides for me. Danny Macaskill seemed to think it was OK or his "Wee Day Out"anyway?

I've been at Sprockets a lot this year helping them to launch their new store in Kilmarnock. It's almost certainly the biggest bespoke independent in Scotland at the moment and has seen stupendous growth and support from Scotland's cyclists since it opened in September. I'll no doubt continue to be part of that endeavour at some level, so expect some references to them along the way.

Ready for a "Wee Day Out"

Ahead is a busy few months personally and some great opportunities professionally. I'm also looking forward to completing a media project with a friend that may lead to other similar work and some other stuff I can't really get into right now. So despite starting 2017 with a crook ankle I'm determined to make the best of it. I'm also determined to share my experience with more people. Be it on line by writing about it or actually getting out to ride with people that I usually wouldn't ride with, or just old pals I haven't seen in a while.

I'm also determined to make more of a balance of all this stuff Vs family time. Those of you who have kids will know that they just grow up at such a rapid rate that you could easily miss the best days of your family life. This may be the biggest challenge of all!

I'm not really much for lists apart from the couple of goals this Blog was based on, but here's what I learnt in 2016

• I actually do like Gin. But I need to drink more whisky.
• I'm always fitter than I think I am.
• Scotland is without question the most beautiful country on earth. (I knew this before 2016)
• Electorates in any country are almost universally uninformed.
• I can sleep almost anywhere outside.
• Vans are best, cars suck.
• I injure easier and it takes longer to heal.
• Rogue One was perhaps the best Star Wars Movie so far.
• I don't see how other people have bother fitting tubeless tyres.
• Gary's WHW attempt on a CX bike was nothing short of awesome.
• My friend Velda Weir thought I was "35 or something".
• My clothing is going down in size.
• I need to eat (or drink) more vegetables.
• Not sure I like Ae forest as much as I used too. I'll go more in 2017.
• It's hard to watch other people lose people.
• I miss being in a band.
• I posted less rides to Strava than ever before.
• My son is the funniest person on earth.

People to thank in 2016 in no small measure or particular order. Andy Weir, Craig Paton, The Ravens, The Goldie Oldies, Gary T, Chris, Lewis, Niall, Adam and the rest of the Alpine Bikes redundancy support group. Dave MacDonald, Andy Dodds, Richard Kidd and probably loads more (sorry)

Most of all however, my awesome wife Donna, who herself has reached and surpassed some personal goals of her own. All whilst attending to our family's needs while I go about at least trying to make us a better life. 

It's been a tough one! What will I learn this year I wonder?