Trials Blog - Back on it
The pot is off and I’m back on the bike! Oh, the joy. It seems like an absolute age since I had a ride. On the downside, Nige has had to sell his bike as his knee just isn’t strong enough. That’s my buddy totally out of the frame and I’m gutted.
Trials Blog - Frustration
I’ve never broken a bone before so have never realised or understood how debilitating it can be.
I‘m a left hander when it comes to writing, so having my left hand in plaster puts paid to that. I can’t hold a fork properly, I’m unable to shower when I like and when I do I have to put a plastic bag over my pot to stop it getting wet. Driving is a nightmare and not entirely legal, I would imagine and things which, for the sake of decency, I will put under the bracket of ‘bathroom - other’ are nigh on impossible! I am going to be in pot for 6 weeks – 5 if I am lucky.
Of course, I’m off the bike too and will have to spend a total of 13 weeks out of the saddle (even though the bike doesn’t have one!) Unable to ride, all I can do is watch the other lads. I’m racked with jealousy as I go to Swainey Woods to chat to the lads and time drags horribly slowly as I wait until I can ride again.
Trials Blog - A bad luck sandwich
The voice mail message went something like “Mike, it’s Nige. I’ve just got back from the Doctor’s. I was struggling to walk on Monday and by Tuesday couldn’t stand on my right leg. The Doctor thinks I have torn my anterior cruciate ligament. It’s pretty bad”. My poor buddy was in lots of pain and I could tell in his voice that he was mighty hacked off by the whole affair. He was to be off the bike for a minimum of 8 - 10 weeks. Then, only if his knee felt up to it, could he get back on his bike.
Trials Blog - Practice Makes Injury
Whilst looking into trials riding on Google I had stumbled across a venue in Tong just outside Bradford. Parkwood 4x4 centre – a specialist off-road training centre for 4x4 vehicles - occasionally opened its doors to trials riders and its 100 acres of woodland is nothing shy of a haven for trials riders.
Trials Blog - OK...er, let's go!
Being consciously incompetent is a horrible feeling. It’s when you actually know how bad you are at something without having to be told. Not only that but you’re fully aware that everyone else around you seems to be immeasurably better than you are. Well, that’s where I’m at right now with my trials riding. When fishing we used to refer to such people as ‘Noddies’ – effectively, those with all the gear and no idea.
Trials Blog - How can it be so different?
I stand in the shop, looking at what I know to be trials bikes – I just don’t recognise them as the trials bikes I rode as a kid. They don’t have a seat, or visible rear shock absorbers for that matter!
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