Re.cycling

It’s almost two weeks since last posting and I have been progressing well. OK so I fell off my bike again the other day but as things supposedly “come along in threes” I am hoping that I won’t be hitting the deck again for a while.

Before Christmas Ros and I attended a course titled “coping with prostate cancer ” run by the charity, Maggie’s Wallace, who provide fantastic cancer support at their drop-in centre at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The course itself was interesting but more importantly it was good just to talk about my situation with other people going through the same thing. And despite being the world’s biggest cynic when it comes to these things I also tried mindfulness techniques and even tai chi for the first time to help me with the “panic” attacks that wash over me every few days.

The other course members wanted to keep in touch so we met up again last Saturday and all headed for the Dolphin Hotel in St Ives. I had set myself the target of cycling there and that if I managed it I felt I would be on schedule for Le Grand Départ. A head cold had been hard to shake off all week so I set off unsure of the outcome but just over two hours and 28.8 miles later I rolled across the magnificent bridge over the Great Ouse and to the warmth of the hotel bar. It was great to see everyone and to catch up on their news but I was most pleased that I had done the ride comfortably and could easily have gone further.

This Saturday, after a few false starts, I arranged to meet Caroline, my former boss when I worked in Paris. From day one we had got on brilliantly when she arrived in Paris and has always been a great friend. Caroline loves yoga and we met after her class. We had a lovely Japanese meal and plenty to drink but at the same time caught up on all our news. It did me a lot of good to be able to talk about how much my life has changed in the last couple of years. Another bonus was that Caroline’s fondness for karaoke didn’t resurface! I always remember the time we were in a karaoke bar in Paris and Caroline put in a request for a Carpenters’ song. What happened next was hilarious. As she stood on the stage, microphone in hand, the wrong song was played, something neither she nor I had ever heard of. Instead of giving up immediately she tried to blag it before giving up in fits of giggles. What a girl!