"I'd rather be seen on my bicycle than on a park run" - Quote from the dark side

Wednesday 15 April 2015

Touching the Dark Side

Hi everyone! I'm still alive!

Leg update:
My leg felt better at some point and then suddenly just worse again. So I got all the necessary scans and x-rays and what have you done.

The verdict - I have multiple stress/hairline fractures in the upper part of my left femur. Zero impact training allowed for up to three months!

Which brings me to the title of this post... Touching the Dark Side...

I am now the proud owner of the bike below.

Giant ATX 27.5

I am allowed to cycle if I don't feel any pain. If it gets sore that is out as well. I cycled the last time about 20 years ago. So getting into this is quite a mission for me. I am not the world's keenest cyclist. But I will rather cycle than do nothing. Doing nothing is not an option for me.

I needed some motivation to do this as my first few rides on the old racer showed. I decided a new bike is the answer. I was right! This has me excited about cycling again and the fact that I have the off-road option excites me even more. This is my first mountain bike.

I'm enjoying the rides on this bike so far...a lot... I am not crossing to the dark side, but I am touching it and enjoying it. I have a few races in the back of my head...

Happy training everyone!

15 comments:

Liz said...

Glad you are still alive, but sorry to hear about your injury. Enjoy your biking - perhaps it will take over from running...!

Karien P. said...

Just as long as you don't get all nose-in-the-air and never greet any runners that you pass...! (What is it with cyclists and not greeting people??)

Sorry to hear about your injury, Johann - hope it heals up soon.

Robin said...

Wow that's crazy about the injury! Is that from the gardening or was that just the straw so to speak? Glad to see you out on the bike though! That's terrific. I just got Amelia a Giant as well. Hang in there you'll be running again in no time.

Kate Geisen said...

Running kept me sane when I dislocated my thumb and couldn't ride for 6 weeks. I'm glad biking can do the same for you while you can't run. Well, you know seeing people on bikes makes me glad no matter what. :) Hope this leg issue gets resolved soon for you!

misszippy said...

I'm so sorry you are hurting like that! But so happy that you have found something you enjoy--that is often the toughest part of injury.

Thought of you last week: my husband has a young S. African guy working in his office for a few months. I took him out running a couple of weeks ago--enjoyed chatting and comparing cultures!

Char said...

Who are you and what have you done with Johann?

Michael said...

Welcome to the bike club!! Hoping you have a quick recovery! I know you are missing running! I would be!

coach dion said...

I hope you can find a couple of nice non traffic fulled places to ride...

I wouldn't mind doing a little riding myself, but I just can't find the time, I think i need to retire!

Amy said...

So sorry to hear about the hairline fractures - that sounds scary, especially combined with the word "multiple" - I hope it improves soon. And great idea to do some biking in order to keep active while you're out of commission!

One Crazy Penguin said...

Oh no! That's terrible about the stress fractures! That's great that you enjoy bike riding though. Otherwise it would be 3 very long months!

Lauren said...

This is awesome! (Sorry to hear about the fractures though!)

Giorgio said...

Sorry to hear about the fractures: You will be running again in three months. In the meanwhile, enjoy your bike, Johann!



Sorry to hear that the injury

Giorgio said...

Sorry to hear about the fractures: You will be running again in three months. In the meanwhile, enjoy your bike, Johann!



Sorry to hear that the injury

Black Knight said...

Sorry for the bad news. Enjoy your bike and get well soon.
What about swimming?

ajh said...

As you know I don't consider it the dark side! Enjoy and maybe you'll fall in love with biking too.