After the Christmas and New Year break it was back to work, although not for very long as I’d only been back for a fortnight when I had to take another week off to go to hospital for patch testing and light testing to see what was causing my skin to flare up!
This meant a whole week of going back and forth to the hospital which unfortunately was about an hour’s drive from me in Southampton!
Day one involved them putting about 100 little chambers over my back all with different substances in to see if I was allergic to anything.
Patch testing on Garry’s back
Once these were on I wasn’t allowed to have a bath or shower for the entire week! (Normal week then!?!) I was also not allowed to exercise (like I do anyway!!) which meant not being able to ride! It was all because they didn’t want the chambers falling off because of sweat or water!
Once they’d covered my back with plasters to hold the little chambers in place I was allowed to go home under the above restrictions.
The next day which was the Tuesday I was back at the hospital this time for light testing, to see if it was the sun I was allergic to!
All marked up like a bingo card after light testing
This was a new machine to the hospital and I was only the second person to use it, because of this it was all a bit of trial and error with the nurse’s that were using it. But it was all ok as I was pre-warned beforehand and I thought that the nurses done really well.
Basically, the machine tested different wavelengths and doses of light, I came away from that session looking like a bingo card!
Luckily there’s enough room on me these days to be able to do all these tests at the same time!
On the third day, I went back to get the results from the light testing, which thankfully came back as ok. It was a bit of a relief to know that it wasn’t the sun causing it as I think that that could have really been a problem and could have potentially ended my cycling! They also took the plasters off my back and marked where they were so they could see what if anything I was allergic to.
Thursday was a welcome day off although I couldn’t do too much as I was still under instruction not to sweat!
I got a bit bored the week of my hospital visits so I made this video! I also put some odd videos on my Facebook page
Friday was result day where I would find out what could possibly be causing my skin to flare up. That all turned out to be a bit of a damp squib as I don’t seem to be allergic to anything!
Not too sure whether all this is good news or not! If I’m not allergic to any substances and it’s not the sun that’s been causing it, what is it then? Maybe its work!! Whatever it was hopefully it’s not going to reoccur!
My van went had to go into the garage for the day so I was going to use my car for work, but unfortunately that broke down the day before and had to also go into the garage, so it left me with no option but to go out on a bike ride! (As if I need an excuse!)
Brighton seafront with the old West pier and the new i360
My bike ride took me to Brighton, a ride of about 60 miles, I didn’t do anything once I got there, I just took a couple of photos then turned around and cycled back home!
A deserted Brighton beach
That’s about the only cycling I’ve done and not really done much else either this month, January’s never a very good month weather wise, but at least it’s now out of the way! Just need to get February out of the way then it’s March and things will definitely be on the up!
To mark reaching 50,000 miles cycled on Passepartout I put a collection of pictures from my past eight years of touring onto my Facebook page.
After arriving home from my tour in India and Nepal at the end of November things soon returned to normal. A little bit too normal for my liking!
Whilst I was away on tour I’d managed to stop taking any medication for my back, which was good news as it was the first time I’d been able to do that in nearly 5 years! But after being off the bike and back at home for a few days the pain soon returned and I was once again having to take painkillers.
This is as far as Garry got
With my back hurting once again I decided to go away on my bike to try and ease it. Unfortunately, I only got as far as Portsmouth 20 miles away before the wind got up and I had to take shelter in a pub. It never really got that windy at all it was just an excuse to stop as I really wasn’t that enthusiastic about going away, particularly as I didn’t know where to head for and as I’ve said before, I’m not any good at just going out on a bike ride just for the sake of it!
All ready and loaded to go away
A couple of days later I was looking at the mileage that I’d cycled whilst I was in India when I realised that I was just 105 miles short of the 50,000-mile mark on Passepartout!
With the 50,000-mile mark, so close I now had a reason to go away cycling as I decided that I wanted to complete 50,000 miles before the end of the year!
Unfortunately work commitments and bad weather were both against me and it wasn’t until after Christmas that I was able to go away.
Crossing Southampton waters on the way to Hythe and the New Forest
Once again, I headed towards Portsmouth and managed to keep going this time and not end up in the pub!
I crossed the water at Portsmouth catching the ferry to Gosport where I then followed the coast to Southampton. Once in Southampton I again caught another ferry this time to Hythe and then on down through the New Forest, which as you know is one of the places I quite regularly cycle to.
The sun going down in the New Forest
It was a lovely sunny day albeit a bit chilly and I was enjoying being back in the saddle.
Cycling through the New Forest was as lovely as it always is. After 75 miles, I reached Christchurch where I decided to stop for the night in a hotel, I did contemplate camping (very briefly) but I didn’t think that there were any campsites open at this time of year, well certainly not the one I normally stay at!
Little harbour at Hill Head
The following morning I was going to come back home via the Isle of Wight another place I like to cycle to, but after a bit of consideration I decided to cycle back the same way that I had cycled down, following national cycle route 2.
A frosty morning in the New Forest
By the time, I’d got home I’d covered 150 miles and surpassed the 50,000-mile mark.
The Queen Elizabeth in port at Southampton
So, at the end of 2016 I’ve covered 50,046 miles in seven and a half years!
Christmas was the normal affair of family meals and plenty of drink!
