Month: March 2017

My worry that the sluggishness I have felt recently was caused by my medication have thankfully proved unfounded and must have been the after effect of a heavy cold. Instead I have pushed myself to cycle longer distances. Last week I managed well over a hundred miles including a forty one mile round trip to a village near Newmarket, with a lot of it into a gale force wind. Then yesterday, having cycled to the hospital for an appointment, I carried on to Ely, thirty six miles in total.

It is a superb ride through Wicken Fen along the Lodes Way then following the Cam towards breathtaking Ely Cathedral. Lapwing were soaring and swooping overhead and a solitary grebe was plunging to the river bed.

 

I couldn’t believe how fit I felt as the cathedral loomed larger and the incline from the river to the Market Square did not pose any problem.

 

Fingers crossed, my confidence is returning….

I haven’t posted for a while for two reasons. Firstly, my scan results took a few days longer to be received than normal, and secondly, my cycling confidence has waned a little.

The good news is that the CT scan and the bone scan showed the cancer is still asleep and my PSA level is below 0.02. The doctor seemed pleased with my progress, even my    blood pressure was lower than ever.

I’ve realised that although I started this blog with the intention of describing my quest to complete La Vélo Francette I am conscious that I haven’t written much about cycling recently. The main news is that I have bought myself a new bike! The old one would have needed quite a few things replacing before embarking on a long trip and really a hybrid bike, which is much lighter, is more suitable. I opted for a Giant Escape 3 which will suit me fine.

It’s a lovely bike and it makes such a difference to have gears that actually work. It’s a shame though that ever since I started riding it the wind hasn’t stopped blowing. It is easy to fall into the trap thinking that cycling in flat East Anglia is easy when in fact the wind is always a factor, even the puddles have waves.

I have also been suffering with fatigue and in the last few weeks I have not managed a ride over 25 miles. I just hope it is as a result of a cold that I have had difficulty shaking off. I have also had a new Zoladex implant inserted which always affects me for a few days.

However if it is down to my drugs’ side effects then I honestly can’t see me completing the ride.

What a strange word queuing is with four consecutive vowels. This is the sort of fact one ponders while waiting in a slow err.. queue. You know the sort I mean, the sort you join at the supermarket without first judging how efficient the cashier is and in how much of a hurry the customers are in front of you.

You can be sure that the cashier’s mind will still be on the events of the previous evening. Worse still, the lonely elderly lady at the head of the line is packing her goods with no sense of urgency. When faced with the bill she is sure she had some vouchers in her bag that she could redeem but despite a thorough  rummage is unable to find them. For the coup de grace she has not quite enough cash with her so has to go without the bar of chocolate she had been looking forward to eating during Coronation Street.

At times like this patience is definitely a virtue and the wait should be looked upon as an opportunity to do something useful like clear old receipts from your wallet, study the leaflet about supermarket pet insurance, even though you don’t have a pet, or even try and think of any other words that contain four consecutive vowels.

I am in a bit of a slow queue myself at the moment, the sort you reluctantly join to shuffle off the mortal coil. Tomorrow, when I get my scan results, I might discover just how close to the checkout I am but hopefully my readings will have remained the same and are plateauing.

That’s another word with four consecutive vowels. See, I haven’t been wasting my time.