Thinking of you

(image from Jeff Thomas' webpage )

To my family, friends and work colleagues who are going through various tough times, I am thinking of you.
My hope for you all is that things get easier to bear soon.
In the meantime, I send you this hug and a reminder that if there is anything you need, you know where I am.

To everyone else, please stay safe and look after each other.

If you are interested I will have the rest of the blog up to date soon.

Hot Tip

When confined to the ergo/windtrainer/rollers, break the monoteny and take it on a road trip!!
During this recovery period we went for a trip to Melbourne for various reasons and the logical thing to do was to pack my bike and trainer :).

My parents have recently taken over the post office and shop in Longwood, a little village about 140 km from Melbourne, the perfect place for us to spend the night on the way to Melbourne. It was also a great place to get my first training session for the weekend done- a different backyard!!


First session for the weekend. Mum the postmaster

The second session for the weekend was a recovery session. Whilst our room at the Parkview was very nice, there wasn't really room for my bike and trainer. A quick inspection of the facilities revealed there was a small cardio gym and along with 2 spas- one hot and one cold! After 30 minutes on the gym bike, it was into the spas for some contrast recovery. That was good!

Nathan and Karen's wedding
(one of the reasons for the road trip)

After the fun of the weekend, it was back to Longwood for another training session and some lunch with my parents. This time a slightly different spot in their backyard, just to keep it interesting and to enjoy the sunshine!!

Three training sessions, three (technically) different locations. Almost a substitute for being able to actually ride!

In for the second hot tip for this post. If you are travelling along the Hume Hwy, stop in at Longwood Post Office and General Store for a coffee and a bite to eat. (Yes, a shameless family plug!!) About 140 km north of Melbourne, the town is about 5 km off the highway, but well worth it. The coffee is good and from all accounts, so are the roast chicken and gravy rolls, and the hamburgers are very popular! Be sure to tell them I sent you :)

Front of the shop/post office.

So that is what it looked like

Two weeks short of 12 months post-op and the plate that was put in to hold my wrist together has been removed. Initially I was told that it was possible to leave it in indefinitely. However, in recent time the flexibility in my wrist has deteriorated, especially when it comes to climbing hills on my bike! After a brief discussion with Dr Jude, it was decided that the best thing to do was take it out. That operation took place on the 30th April, and thankfully was a lot less frustrating than the original trip to hospital (see post here).

Having only ever seen the plate and screws on the X-ray, and being morbidly obsessed with medical things, I requested for the hardware to be returned to me. Now there is a photo below, so if you are not into these types of things, please DON'T LOOK!! (I will not take responsibility for you being upset!) Needless to say, I thought it was cool!

Now it is back to the ergo for a few weeks while I wait for the wound to close up and the holey bones to recover.