Garry McGivern’s regular monthly update for February-2018. Whatever happened to that invincible man who used to cycle 120 miles a day? Camp then do the same the following day and again the day after that! Now some days I’m struggling to cycle 10 miles!
At the beginning of the month, there was a break in the weather. And I was able to get out on the bike. It was raining, but the wind had dropped right off, so I decided to cycle to Littlehampton. The next town along and get a haircut, which is only about 6 miles from me.
On the ride home after my haircut, I was feeling pretty good. I’d had a cold for the past week or so and was suffering from that a bit. But now I was out on the bike, I was feeling good, and my cold felt a lot better. My hip was hurting, but no more than it has done in the past few weeks.
Because I was feeling so good, I decided that I was going to go away camping for the night! It was too late to cycle far, so I decided to go to Brighton. It’s only 30 miles away, and I’ve got some friends that are running the campsite there.
By the time I got home, I was soaked through. But as I said, I didn’t care, I was going to go away! It was then, when I got off the bike, I found that I could hardly walk, and I was in a lot of pain from my hip!
Undeterred, I was still going to go away and went to get my stuff ready. It was then, as I struggled to walk down the garden, that it dawned on me. If I couldn’t walk to the bottom of the garden without holding onto something. How the hell was I going to put a tent up?
Reluctantly, I gave up on going away and decided it was probably best to stay at home!
Another Ride
On another weekend, I cycled the 25 miles to Portsmouth but felt too uncomfortable to cycle back home, so I instead got the train!
I must admit that I’m struggling with my health issues now. All right, I know I eat and drink too much. But it’s not as if I sit around all the time, or rather, I never used to! My job is physical, and I’m active, yet problems plague me! Why? Could somebody please tell me?
Let’s hope this hip gets replaced sooner rather than later! Which I still don’t have a date for!
Despite sounding a bit negative, I’m pretty upbeat and still hope to go away before my operation, maybe even this weekend, as one of my regular campsites opens! I’ve even got a walking stick (which was given to me by a customer), which at first I wasn’t too sure about, but now I realise it’s a lot easier to move around and has helped immensely!
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How did you ever get your tent up with a bad back. If you didn’t have so much gear, you could use your bike as a zimmer frame. Don’t worry man – you’ve got guts. You’ll come out the other side if they don’t botch your hip. Have you thought of switching to bed and breakfast instead of camping?
Best wishes – Malcolm
I already use the bike as a zimmer frame!
Not keen on B&B’s there’s always too many restrictions!
Hope the snows not too bad where you are and your staying indoors, have you made it up with Gigi yet?