Junkyard – lazarus

Applauds STW and Ninfan in particular

Ditto that 😀

As I said in my OP, I’ve not been on the Forum for ages (as my Posting history might reveal it’s been a tough couple of years!!)

Yes, Malcolm will no doubt be back and will no doubt pick this thread apart to see what he can use for his next Bath Mercury “article” against us but I think this thread demonstrates admirably what STW and mountain biking in the UK is all about. You are stars. Thanks 😀

Oh, and Malcolms claim that “if elected” he would campaign to have a trail built somewhere nearby – oh how I laughed at that one. Do I believe it? I’d like to but I’ve seen too many years of his Tory Chums spending nothing on cycling when they were in power and, like I said, pouring scorn on any plans by the LibDem run Council to do so.. Yes, sadly this is very much party political whether we like it or not. The LibDem run Council has delivered some fantastic cycling projects (The Two Tunnels being one). As if to demonstrate the point admirably, here’s the latest article from Malcolm’s Mouthpiece (aka the Bath Mercury) calling upon the Council to defer the building of the (much need) link off the Bristol-Bath Railway Path to Bath Spa University. (Malcolm will no doubt claim “We support it” “just not now”)..

http://www.bathmercury.com/traffic-fears-a4-roadworks/

aracer – Member

> mcupis » I do not hate bicycles, I love bicycles.

I found this article where Malcolm explains how much he loves bicycles
http://www.bathmercury.com/anger-grows-undemocratic-seven-dials-scheme/

Yes, thanks, and SpecUSUK, there’s loads of brilliant Malcolm Quotes

He posts on Twitter as @blokeinbath @bathmercury and @kingsmeadbath (plus others?)

Malcolm! Have you been trawling the internet looking for quotes you can use for your next Bath Mercury article / party-political mouthpiece? 😆

Look, I know that Analogue Andy desperately wants to depict me as some hate-filled, bicycle bashing harbinger of evil, but the truth is completely different.

I don’t need to depict you as one Malcolm, you do a very good job of that yourself, even if you do come here pretending that you’re an “ex” mountain biker. (That did make me chuckle!)

Yes, STW, I’m afraid Malcolm has lots of ‘form’ it’s not just the aforementioned Brown’s Folly article. He and his Tory Chums poor scorn on any form of cycling and any money that’s spent to encourage or support it.

For some misguided reason he sees that as a vote winner..

Thank you to everyone who’s responded to the detailed comments he’s made regards the status of these woods and the claimed ‘damage’ ‘danger’ and ‘illegality’ of us riding there (Damage = this is a once industrial landscape, it has been commercially logged, via an access road, fencing has been erected across the site and yes, shock of all horrors people actually use them – even hiking boots cause “damage” as we all know. “Danger” – as has been said, I’ve been riding there for more than 30 years, in groups and solo, and walking and caving there for far longer (the hill is riddled with stone mines). I’ve NEVER seen anyone endanger anyone (except themselves occasionally!). Regards the “illegality” – yes there is no legal right of way for bikes through the woods – odd that given the stone was once dragged out by pit ponies. That’s the nature of access rights in this country – hit and miss, designed a century ago when MTBs didn’t exist..

I’ll come back to some of Mr Cupis’ comments later – in the meantime Daisy and Mary (both keen MTBers) want their tea!

Seems like a good time to mention the two Weds night group rides if someone from either is around?

Not been on here for ages and first thing I spot on the Forum. Thanks for helping restore some faith today.

There’s several groups that now ride, one from NorthEnd on Mondays at 7. The Raven crew on Tuesday’s (from the pub) time I’d need to check. Then Wednesdays, us from Widcombe at 6.30pm, The Others from somewhere different (llama will stick you on the email list I’m sure if you ask) and the Folly Flyers (who organise rides on their Closed FB group).

Indeed lots of lovely trails around Bath, some nice sections of ST if you are prepared to seek them out. Does mean riding some hills and the odd bit of lanes to link them 🙂

Funny enough I’ve logged on today for the first time in ages to start a similar thread..

I’ve got Avid Shorty’s on at the moment but same problems mentioned above. I did try Mini’Vs but had the clogging problem..

Should I go back to Frogs legs and just put up with the fact they are made for ‘slowing down’ not stopping…

Or do I go for a set of the TRPs..

Look fantastic and according to mates who have them fitted they work fantastic.. but £100 as set.. £200 is half-way toward a new frame with disc mounts (which I was considering anyway..)

UrbanHiker – Member

There are at least 2 groups of Bath riders that head out on a Wednesday night. I’m sure there are some people on here who know the details, meet up places times etc.

I can’t remember them off the top of my head, never been brave enough to join in!

That would have been ‘The Others’ you saw meeting up in Bathford, at the bottom of the climb up to Browns, they ‘roam’ and meet somewhere different each week, tasso or llama on here are your best bet.

There’s another group that meet central Bath (Widcombe) every Weds at 6.30pm. On the ‘island’ between the crossings, over the bridge behind the Railway Station.

There’s also a group that meet in Trowbridge every week and generally ride B-o-A way, pint at Avoncliff at the end usually, Fin on here.

And there’s also a Mon night group, I think 7pm in Batheaston.

The descent off Bannerdown (the old airfield) is worth seeking out too.

Understand the reluctance to ride Browns – it is sensitive and we steer clear at weekends. We could get into a long debate, there are no ‘legal’ trails in the area but we’ve been riding there for 25 years and there was far more ‘damage’ done when Avon Wildlife Trust bought the land and created several logging roads and took out all the commercial timber.

weeksy – Member
Did you get your sunglasses back ?

Sadly not, but.. those fantastic folks at Oakley UK took pity on me and gave me 40% off a new pair – yeah, I know that’s still 400% more expensive than a pair of CE ones from Screwfix etc etc but still..;-)

A bump for the one year anniversary. For lots of reasons it’s interesting to come back to this one occasionally 😉

I’m not sure if I mentioned it above but a nurse at the scene saved my life. My wife was told by the police that she ran through the traffic. She sorted out my airway and held my head to keep my kneck stable until the paramedics arrived and collared me, also saving me from potential spinal damage that could have left me paralysed.

Despite trying I never managed to track her down. I was told that she was from the same nearby hospital that I was sent to but that drew a blank.

A few weeks back I thought it would be a good idea to get the local rag (The Bristol Evening Post) to run a story saying “thanks” to everyone who’s been in involved somehow in getting me back to where I am now, starting with the driver behind me for not running over me and the nurse who came to my aid:

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/grateful-angel-came-aid/story-18541165-detail/story.html#axzz2QWnNQNui

The phone rang on Tuesday and..

..it was the poor driver of the car that was directly behind me. We had a chat which helped fill in a few gaps for me. She didn’t know whether I’d survived and was really pleased to read the story. Clearly shaken by the whole experience I think it helped to be able to talk to me.

Then the following day I got a call from the prison in the same village. They told me that they thought the nurse worked there, she’d mentioned to a colleague about the accident a year ago but was away that day.

I spoke to her on Thursday. Lorraine. She was as lovely as I imagined she might be. The only thing was she has a distinctive accent (soft southern Irish) and my wife recognised her voice immediately which brought back tearful memories of the last time they’d spoken.

She said that she was “just doing her job” and I made it clear to her that she’d done much much more than that. I said that I was told she’d run through the traffic to get to me and she said that she “could see it was bad”. She stayed with me until the paramedics arrived. She event sent the (off duty) police inspector who arrived to get a bag to put my kit in. And although the police wanted to phone my wife, she said she wanted to do it as she thought it would be better to hear a woman’s voice (which my wife said it was, if there was ever a way to break such news she did it in the kindest way possible).

I told her about my injuries, how I’d got on in hospital and since, and she was really pleased to learn that I was back on the bike. (She rides with her family too).

In so many ways a nice way to mark the anniversary. One circle in time closes..

Wot ^ they ^ all said.

My tenth go. The first time I’ve ridden my MTB for a year. A flippin hard ride and that was ‘only’ the 50k (in 3.55)

Nuff respect to anyone who rode the 100. Looking forward to joining you again next year.

This time last year I was wondering if I’d ever ride a bike again.

In so many ways the HoNC represents a fantastic way of closing one circle in time and starting another.

Thanks to the organisers, marshals and the rest of you who rode it. You are ALL stars 🙂

Just bumping for the weekend 😉 I ought to alert Mr Agreeable to this as well.

FINALLY! YES I’M SHOUTING!

..526 🙂 Only hope I’m up to it by then 😀

Boo! I cut short this mornings ride to get back for 12 and have spent the last 40 minutes getting more and more frustrated – at one point the checkout said I had three entries! Now it appears I have none!

meehaja – Member
just a thought… I’ve got a set of fauxleys… As a paramedic I’m more than happy to post them to you!

Haha, cheers meehaja but I was told that the real Oakleys saved me from almost certain eye injury – unlike Fauxleys they stayed intact and although I broke cheekbones and eye-socket my eyeballs survived. 😆

Thanks too for all the ‘be strong’ comments and best wishes, they really help 😀 And thanks too for not saying “time to get over it and move on” – I am moving on, slowly, but still have stuff to deal with along the way..

..today my eldest daughter, the beautiful teenager that is Daisy told me about how she found the bravery to hold my hand when she first came to see me in hospital (she never normally does any contact) I was about to well-up again when she kindly added “your face was so bad you looked like Stavros” (the Dr Who character)!

(On day five and after surgery when I apparently looked “much better”!)

hora – Member
(I found) Head injuries have a ripple effect through time. I have an erratic short term memory but also still some anger issues.

Keep going on the healing OP

James Cracknell’s wife tells the story in the book of the time he lost it and started to strangle her. She was on the verge of passing out when something thankfully ‘clicked’.

My best so far was losing it in the main branch of Boots one busy Saturday when the poor phamarcist refused to sell me more than the permitted 2 packs of paracetamol!

Erratic short term memory – know exactly what you mean! Interesting what I manage to forget (where I parked the car, what I went into the shop for etc etc). My wife says I’ve just become like most other men!

How long ago was yours Hora? They tell me that the brain can continue to recover for ‘years’ so hopefully your ‘ripples’ are still subsiding?

bren2709 – Member
Did the Paramedic ever get a thank you for the treatment received?

Indeed 🙂 I had lots of people to thank, I made a series of visits and sent a load of cards and emails.

I went back to the A&E ward, was weird speaking to people who obviously remembered me but who I had no memory of.

I think I mentioned above that an off-duty nurse saved my life at the scene(it turns out that I’d stopped breathing). I managed to get a card to her via the newsagents that I crashed outside of but they said she wanted to stay ‘anonymous’ and was ‘just doing her job’. A true ‘angel’..

The daughter of the owner of the newsagent was working at the time, heard the crash, came out in the street and dialled 999. She burst into tears when I went in and explained who I was. “I thought you were going to die” she said. In many ways it’s that that has been toughest – not dealing with my injuries but trying to get to terms with how the accident affected everyone else – especially my family. Still brings tears to my eyes thinking about poor wife getting that dreaded phone call.. ..physical injuries are now well on the mend, the mental ones are still ‘undergoing treatment’!

:-)Thought I’d come back to this one. For a few reasons.. It’s been 9 months now. I mentioned above about some of the mental (psychological) issues I’ve had. (Starting this thread being one of them!) It’s only been relatively recently that amongst my other injuries I’ve come to realise the significance of the bang on my head.

For lots of reasons (including the other injuries being more pressing at the time) no-one picked up on the neurological issues and what I now know was the brain injury I suffered.

As a result of breaking my jaw (another thread! http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/broken-jaw-recovery) I was sent to see a Speech Therapist and it was her that realised that my speech was being affected as much by neuro issues as much as my jaw being broken. Cut a long story short that led to me finally being referred for neuro assessments and eventually treatment.

One of the therapists mentioned James Cracknell and his wife Bevs book in which they document his recovery following him being hit by a truck (on Route 66) whilst crossing the US in 2010.

It’s been tough reading it but at the same time a useful part of the (necessary) healing process. So many “me too” moments; all helping me understand that the effects of the injury are ‘normal’: no memory still of the accident, the days before and weeks afterwards, some memories of things that have been ‘implanted’ (as others have told me since), others that I’m convinced are real but are not, some vivid ‘snippets’ (hearing my wife’s voice for the first time, crying in front of the kids).

Also comforting, but at the same time worrying, reading that my experience is all too common: personality changes, uncharacteristic outbursts, driving recklessly, anxiety, stress and depression. I’m still hoping I won’t be one of the 40,000 of people who have suffered a brain injury end up in prison, or the 75%+ who end up divorced!

..On that note. The good news is that with the support of his wife, family and friends, James Cracknell has made amazing progress. Like many brain injury sufferers he may never ‘recover’ fully but together they’ve done a fantastic job of re-building their lives.

The main reason for coming back to this then is to thank my wonderful wife, family and friends for all their support. I’ve largely been avoiding computers and screens for much of that nine months (again common I now learn) and I’ve not been on the Forum much but, as is the case with so many other things I’ve not been able to enjoy this year (the odd beer and riding with my mates being amongst them) I’m looking forward to being able to getting back as my recovery progresses.

Happy Christmas everyone, here’s looking forward to 2013 🙂

AlexSimon – Member
Can someone save this thread for posterity – there seems to be a general consensus!

😀

Ok, for a bit of balance.. well not really..

I looked at the Islabikes (she had a smaller range at the time) and ended up getting Daisy a second hand Scott:

One of the few that doesn’t weigh a ton and nice size, geometry and kit..

but.. in the end, for lots of reasons, wish I’d gone for the Islabike!

I ended up changing the brakes, shifters and rear mech. Even on such an expensive bike the forks were pretty much useless and despite my efforts to swap internals etc proved un-improvable.

The wheels weighed a ton. I spent ages trying to swap them for something better and in the end got a pair from…. .. Islabikes.

True to her ethos I found her wheels the only properly sourced set of 24 inch wheels. Nice rims, spokes and build. All for a great price too.

I sold the Scott on for a good price, in large part because of the Isla bike wheels (which I made sure to include in the ebay description).. I got the impression there are loads of people who look for ‘Isla bike’ in search terms.. for good reason 🙂

Doh, hadn’t spotted this one when I replied to the other one:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sean-yates-off-sky-team?

Digger90
It was only a matter of time really… sad, very sad.

But… it’s for the good of the sport, and the ‘direction of travel’ that Sky is taking is the right one.

..But…

Klunk – Member
are there any experienced team management types not involved to some extent in past drug usage ?

Agree.. with both..

Interesting that Yates is making no admission and says it’s for ‘personal reasons’ I’d rather he’d at least ‘come clean’ like Julich has. No doubt everyone else will take that as admission that was using whilst he was a Lance teammate.

If he did, I’m sure he stopped many years ago, whatever his past he’s one of the “good” guys. (He says. Hopefully. Let’s hope there’s not ‘Lance’ style “Sean Yates was behind it all” revelations waiting to come out).

Sky’s stance was right. Is is still right in the light of the ‘Lance Revelations’ or even more right??

Like Vaughters has said, ‘direction of travel’ should be forward, not looking backwards. Should it not matter what someone does and thinks now, not what they did in the past?

Yates is clearly not involved in anything now, if he was he’s clearly left it behind and moved on. For the right reasons.

I can understand Brailsford / Sky’s reasons but was this the time to say “forget the past. We’re interested in now and the future?”

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/have-we-done-team-sky-no-doping-declaration-yet/page/2

[Eidt: Double post]

Digger90
It was only a matter of time really… sad, very sad.

But… it’s for the good of the sport, and the ‘direction of travel’ that Sky is taking is the right one.

..But…

Klunk – Member
are there any experienced team management types not involved to some extent in past drug usage ?

Agree.. with both..

Interesting that Yates is making no admission and says it’s for ‘personal reasons’ 🙁 I’d rather he’d at least ‘come clean’ like Julich has. No doubt everyone else will take that as admission that was using whilst he was a Lance teammate.

If he did, I’m sure he stopped many years ago, whatever his past he’s one of the “good” guys. (He says. Hopefully. Let’s hope there’s not ‘Lance’ style “Sean Yates was behind it all” revelations waiting to come out).

Sky’s stance was right. Is is still right in the light of the ‘Lance Revelations’ or even more right??

Like Vaughters has said, ‘direction of travel’ should be forward, not looking backwards. Should it not matter what someone does and thinks now, not what they did in the past?

Yates is clearly not involved in anything now, if he was he’s clearly left it behind and moved on. For the right reasons.

I can understand Brailsford / Sky’s reasons but was this the time to say “forget the past. We’re interested in now and the future?”

Been some interesting studies looking at conspicuity and yes, whilst it’s true that mototrists should be ‘looking out’ for us it’s sadly also combination of trying making yourself seen and identifiable as a cyclist and travelling at what speed.

Was a lot of debate following France’s decision to make hi-vis compulsory from Jan 2013:

The Motorcycle Action Group’s Ian Mutch said: “We contend that a motorist who is incapable of identifying a normally dressed rider and motorcycle in conditions of good visibility is not fit to hold a driving licence.

“Making extreme demands of motorcyclists in respect of their clothing is to effectively persecute the victims of problem to accommodate the failings of those who often cause them.”

Studies continue to show however that the traditional ‘hi viz’ (ie. yellow and orange) have been shown to work best in daylight and low-light, hence why they have been picked up by the emergency services, road, railway and construction workers etc.

I swapped to one for the commute a few years ago.

There is a danger that drivers are becoming ‘blind’ to them as so many of us do now wear them on the commute but the fact is (as the studies prove) they are more ‘conspicuous’ than other ‘normal’ colours including white.

I’ve got one of the blue Ribble’s, great bike for the price (I paid £129 for F&F) but the ride is a bit ‘dead’.

What’s your budget? Any chance of moving up to a titanium? [Edit – doh! Just re-read yours. Ti not in the budget then.. ]

Or, spotted at the ‘show’ -Ribble are about to do a carbon one with full length gurads:

Ribble Sportive 365

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/frames-frames-road-ribble-sportive-365-carbon-road-frame/ribbfrar914

Sorry to have to do this (again!) but ref above links for Ace Cameras of Bath, be aware the business is still owned by one David Uwins who was jailed for particularly nasty child porn offences in 2008. Will leave it up to you but suffice to say locals now find other places to shop and as a result he is concentrating more on internet sales:

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/photo-news/537019/camera-shop-owner-jailed

Congrats to everyone who did it and survived 🙂

Was I not “still” off the bike I had planned to try to get an entry this year (with it being the 50th and John’s last and all that). Looks proper ‘epic’ this year. Hope no-one ended up using their ‘survival bag’!

A few of mine.

The Pain. Feel for you Liam, healing vibes being sent. Stay strong 🙂

The Glory. We latched on to a group of his supporters that it turned out included his mum and girlfriend. Great guy and deserved Olympic Champion

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8428/7784315906_5bc8679f58_z.jpg

George, not been on here for a while and was so sorry to hear your news.

LEJOG at your own pace visiting some nice spots is what I would go for but whatever you do I’m sure it would be appropriate 🙂

You’re recall I was in Frenchay at the end of March too..

As it turns out, I’ve just learnt that 2 year old Wren was there at the same time having suffered another nasty accident. In large part due to the skill and dedication of the head and brain injury team she survived. Her uncle and dad have organised a ride to raise funds for Headway:

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Toddler-millimetre-tragedy-fall-leaves-pencil/story-16479983-detail/story.html

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/Ride4Recovery

Class 🙂 My ribs hurt 😆

hey teadrinker, no need to be unduly worried but you’re right to ask. A very good chance it could be harmless but 5-10% of them carry Lymes disease. Lot’s of good advice on other threads on here.

You don’t mention how you removed it. A bit late now but just in case anyone else finds this, PLEASE make sure you remove them properly, DO NOT squeeze them or burn them off

More details here:

Home

bishbashbosh
If it is a slight malocclusion then you will get some spontaneous movements that may improve things with time.

The options are
1) live with it
2) orthodontics plus/minus orthognathic surgery. Most max-fac units are associated with a consultant orthodontist.

You may feel that neither are good options!

Thanks bbb, that’s helpful (believe it or not!)

Yes, mine is described as ‘slight’ (about 2mm?). Not even left and right, early contact left side at the back and ‘anterior open bite extending from premolars on left side to premolars on right side’ but I appreciate others live with much worse.

Tbh my initial thought was ‘live with it’ but as mentioned above dentist feels that might be likely to cause longer term problems.

As mentioned plan to talk to GP and get another referral but am not planning to rush straight off for more surgery.

I didn’t mention above that when I went back to see the Specialist Registrar she was more pre-occupied with congratulating herself on what a nice job they had done with my cheek bones! (I smashed them too, “Nice and symmetrical”)

*Plus this is on top of ongoing neurological problems associated with the spinal fractures I suffered at the same time, they’re more of a problem as their stopping me getting back on the bike still! (Another thread??)

bombjack On the plus side I lost 4 inches off my waist whilst I was on soup…

LOL Yep, know exactly what you mean 🙂 Plus depressed appetite due to pain killers – I’ve lost 12kg!

Thanks all for the replies. Have talked again to dentist, plan to talk to GP and get a referral to another OMFS consultant,

Bump, just in case 🙂

🙁 Sorry to hear that George, hope better news soon.

Came off myself at the end of March and spent 5 days in Frenchay. Best place in the south-west for head injuries.

TooTall – Member
Get you back to work, Andy.

Daytime tele is enough to drive anyone back to work!

brakes – Member
check your caliper bolts kids…

At the risk of getting “he was on a road bike?!? he deserved it” posts 😉 I should point out I was on a road bike and I’m talking roadie stile brake caliper – the bolt being the one that goes through the top of the fork. It was old and there was a tiny bit of ‘play’ in it but up until the crash but it was all functioning fine (even pull, not done up too loosely / tightly etc).

Thanks all 🙂

Yes, as Project suggests, plan over next week or two is to get out and thanks those who need to be thanked personally. Cheers Drac, I’ll remember that one for the paramedics!

Nice work Fin and co. 🙂 Indeed looking forward to giving it a go 🙂

Re routes which encompass Pipehouse – I’ve got a few, I dig some out and post up some links.

And ‘Shanks’ (Which is what we call the descent off Charmydown).

Cheers C_G too for the enquiry. Head in a much better place now. Improving slowly. Have posted a bit of an update in the ‘they cut my kit off’ thread 🙂

Wow 🙂 At the risk of re-igniting this thread I thought I ought to come back to it now I’m in a better place.

Clearly no-one in their right mind would have been more concerned about their kit than those nasty injuries and at the risk of trying to defend myself I guess one of the reasons I started this thread was that I wasn’t “in my right mind”.

It’s been over 4 weeks now and I’m making good progress.

The District Nurse who came to take my stitches out a week after said they normally keep people with my injuries in hospital for “much longer”.

The Facial Team were pleased with how well my facial fractures were healing after 3 weeks and discharged me. My dentist has been fantastic. Jaw (plated in two places) not brilliant still and may lose some teeth after-all but could be worse.

Wrist fracture healing well and elected to have cast taken off at 4 weeks. Lost strength and flexibility but nothing physio can’t address.

Spinal fractures still stable and healing well. Consultant says it’s “interesting” that I’m still (relatively) mobile (able to walk 100m with aid of a crutch and one flight of stairs).

Pain, discomfort and lack of sleep still a major feature. To be expected at this stage.

GP has been very helpful trying to tweak the cocktail of drugs I’m on to maximise pain relief and minimise side-effects (anyone else been on tramadol? A separate thread perhaps?) (Now on codine / paracetamol / ibruprofen / laxatives mix which is less “effective” but less “nasty” – my wife* says it’s nice to get me back!)

Still no recollection of the accident. Or the hours before. Or much of the time I spent in hospital (5 days in the end). More of a concern my mind still keeps ‘leaving bits out’ of memory. (e.g. Riding buddy Kevin came to visit the day after I was discharged with cake and flowers. One week later I’d completely forgotten this and was surprised he’d not been in touch).

GP said last week that this is completely normal given my head injuries and should return to normal after 8 weeks or so. As you might gather from a couple of my commments above, my poor wife* was not at all happy I was moaning about my kit. Apparently I had a few other ‘completely out of character’ bizarre moments in hospital including one involving a neurologist who wanted to test my reflexes and another even more bizarre one featuring ‘faggots and peas’!!!

I’ve got my bike back (the local newsagent looked after it for me). I’ve also had an email from an off-duty police inspector who happened to be one of the first on the scene. He’d described one witness saying that I “just launched myself over the bars” and that fits with what we’ve found on the bike – the front brake caliper has unexplainable broken loose and caught in the front wheel(broken nut possibly?). It doesn’t matter but it helps to know it was a freak mechanical failure that caused it and not me or someone else.

My wife received a call from an off-duty nurse to say I’d been taken to hospital. The policeman also confirmed that it’s her I might well have to thank for saving my life – apparently she secured my airway whilst I was led unconscious. (Hoping to track her down and say thanks personally at some point).

If any of you ambulance techs / paramedics / policemen / firemen / nurses out there took this thread as a dig at you I’m especially sorry. You do a fantastic job. Keep it up 🙂

Yes, those who said “it could have been worse” you were right, it most certainly could. I might not have realised that 3 weeks ago but I do now..

Anyway, back to the point of the OP and my kit. No, perhaps unsurprisingly it hasn’t magically been returned to me. Suffice to say though that the guys in my LBS have been brilliant, the guys at Oakley and Giro have been brilliant (my poor suffering wife* emailed them!). A few mentioned above that I should claim on house contents insurance – should have said, not possible. Should also have stressed that despite what I was or wasn’t thinking money was never a consideration.

There’s always an upside. I’ve been indundated with messages, cards and all manner of cake and cycling related DVD and reading material. It’s been great to to hear from so many people, including some I’ve not heard from for a while. And TooTall and llama who a must get a special mention for sticking up for me above (I’m not sure I would have!!)

Anyway, enough about injuries and ‘what-if’s’. Focussing now on recovery. Each day a little bit. Shed a few tears watching Chris Akrigg’s video but mind in right place now. Progress may be slow but aim is to be back on the bike in 12 weeks.

*Final mention must go to Karina. Above all, sorry to have put her through the anguish of it all. Couldn’t do it without her 🙂

TandemJeremy – Member
Spinal fractures? I think your clothes will be shreds

Yes they should keep it or check with you as to its disposal. No chance of it being around now I would have thought. A&E charge nurse might be your best bet – ask nicely if they can look for your glasses and the rest of your kit for example.

Did ask several in A&E as nicely as I could and was told “it will all have been diposed off”

Nice email from police who “remember my belongings went with me in the ambulance”

Not suggesting anyone has taken kit but more that they could have taken more care to ensure it wasn’t “thrown out”.

Re ‘a good excuse to replace kit’ – we’ve already had a debate at home about the value of my kit vs the value of me not being paralised. Yes I’m pleased that I should mend and will only be off the bike for 12 weeks but I’d have liked even more to be able to wear the kit (eg Oakleys) if I still had them, esp as I don’t have the funds to replace all the kit I’ve lost (c £500?)

Thanks for the healing vibes those who’ve sent them but hey , if you’re answer is ‘stop whinging’ then kit loss is only one of my issues – I sincerely hope you never end up a patient at one of our so-called “leading trauma hospitals”

Local press picked up today:

http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Mountain-bikers-accused-damage-Iron-Age/story-15645460-detail/story.html

Hint that the Black Canon Collective may be forced to move. Hope not after all the effort they’ve put in.

And googling reveals this which looks like a good place to start:

http://www.till.com/articles/moog/