I’m back! And I’m back in the saddle, almost 10 weeks after my operation, and it feels great!
I have been building up to this moment. Recently in France, I shared the joys of a days tandem hire and a week of electrically assisted bike hire. Each experience was brilliant and will probably feature in future blogs, but today I cycled under my own steam on my beloved Specialized bike – and I loved it!
Not only did I overtake reluctant dads doing the Saturday morning dog walk, and parents with skipping children on their way up to town to spend their pocket money – I overtook a cyclist too!
Said septuagenarian gave me a morning greeting and a wave as I passed and for a moment I was racing, yellow jersey just around the corner. My Super G was cycling close behind on first response as well as domestique duties, just in case I had a ‘mis-hip’ and fell off. It didn’t happen.
What has happened though, as the oxygen has flowed through my brain, is that the creative constipation which I have experienced for several weeks now, has begun to ease and my thoughts are brighter and more positive. Oh, how I have missed outdoor exercise and independence.
My hip? It felt a little stiff initially and I was anxious about slipping my foot in and out of my cleat peddles. My muscles are weak and my left leg had to take more strain, we rode a fairly flat 16-mile circuit so that I didn’t have to lift myself from the saddle. It was a success and something that I am confident I can carefully build on.
The part of my body that hurt the most was my face; my cheeks ache from smiling! I am amazed that, at the heady speeds I was pedalling, I do not have a collection of flies stuck between my teeth! I’m back in the saddle! Watch out Strava! Yippee!
