05/12/18
Injured my knee on 21/12/18 playing basketball and re-injured it on 30/12/18 trying a manual. I am currently waiting to get an appointment at the doctors as the knee is really un-stable and doesn’t feel right. I am currently unable to even ride an exercise bike without discomfort!
10/12/18
Went to the doctors today and he says that I have done some of the ligaments in my knee but he doesn’t think that i have done the Acl’s so it isn’t all bad. I now have to go for a scan and then go for physio and he thinks that the knee will be OK.
He also said that I am fine to walk and use the exercise bike as long as there is no pain and to not put too much weight on the exercise bike.
12/12/18
Went for my hospital appointment about my knee and the specialist was happy with the way the knee is healing and passed me to physiotherapy to get some exercises and get me back on the bike asap.
I basically strained my medial ligaments so the specialist is happy that with a month or so of physio my knee will be back to normal.
Luckily half of the exercises given by the physio make up part of the gym workout that I have been given by my coach so it looks like by following my training I will also help my knee get stronger.
I have bought a balance cushion to use with the rest of my exercises in order to work on balance. I am going to do the exercises on both legs to do some preventative exercises on the good leg too.
Just bought a bike to take to the USA off of my friend. It is a 2013 Redline Flight Pro 24″ The bike has not been used very much and is in really good condition so should be really good once I have swapped some of the bits off. I basically bought the bike for the frame and forks as the frame is really good and I have had one before and the forks are S&M so are also really good. I am going to swap out basically all of the rest of the bike for parts I have spare and then put the old parts onto the Haro Frame and forks that I bought last month.
Here are some pictures of how the bike is now:
I think once I build up the Haro with the old bits and sell it I should get the frame and forks for around £50 which is a bargain as they are really good quality.
I am going to build up the frame with my Crupi I-Beam Stem, S&M race bars from my Curtis, DXR cranks and brake set, Box Seat off of my Curtis and my Onyx, Box wheelset I think the bike will be amazing and probably half the weigh it is now 🙂
I will pick the bike up tomorrow so will; then try and get it built up tomorrow too so that I can have a play on it Sunday morning.
I am thinking that I may upgrade the forks to Answer Dagger forks once the Haro is sold then the bike should be perfect. Or I may upgrade the bearings in the wheels as they are really crusty at the moment.
17/12/18
Got the Redline built up with my parts today so I now has DXR cranks and Brake, S&M 29 er bars, Crupi I Beam stem, Onyx hubs wheels with Box Rims and Box seat clamp. I can’t find my box chain tensioners at the moment but when I do find them I will fit them too. I just need to buy a brake cable tomorrow morning on the way to the track and the bike is ready to go and also take the box seat and post seat off of my Curtis and the bike is ready to ride.
I also got the Haro frame built up with the parts that I swapped out from the Redline and I have put it up for sale on all the groups on facebook. If I haven’t had any enquires by Wednesday then I will put the Haro on ebay to try and sell it off of there.
I also sold my Dialled StayStrong frame last night so I dropped that off at the depot this morning too.
Got the Redline finished off today with a brake cable and also I found the Box chain tensioners and seat clamp so I fitted them too. Also fitted my new HT plastic Flat peddles as I am not allowed to use clips for a while due to my knee issue. Bike is all dialled and I am going to take it to Shepton Mallet pump track tomorrow morning for a test ride before taking it to a proper track Friday and over the weekend. I am going to pop into Crucial at the weekend so that I can buy a new box seat and post to put on the Curtis so that I can put the old one on the Redline. I will leave the current seat on it for now.
21/12/18
Didn’t ride again today as I had loads to do so I unlaced my profile hubs from the 20″ Sun Envy rims ready to drop off at Crucial to get made up into 24″ wheels to take to Seattle with me.
22/12/18
Took the Redline to Bristol track to have a bit of a go but hurt my knee getting the bike out of the car so decided to leave it until after xmas to try it out. I was also really hung over from my works Xmas do so probably better not to ride.
Gave my Profile hubs to my friend to drop off at Crucial to get built up after Xmas as well so not a wasted Journey.
Going to rest until after Xmas now and hit the Gym hard after the break to try and get in some kind of shape before I go to Seattle at the end of the Month.
I want to try and get my knee strong enough to try and race in Torquay on the 6th of January so I need to drop a bunch of weight and strengthen my knee as it is still feeling really loose.
Went to Bristol this morning and tried out the Redline and didn’t really like the way it rode. My knee held up pretty well but the bike didn’t feel good so I am changing my ideas and I am going to put the cranks and bottom bracket back on the Curtis and take it to Crucial to get the bearings swapped out and then take it to the US instead of the Redline.
I am going to sell the Redline frame and forks on ebay as I will not be using them.
I am just researching bike insurance to make sure that I do not lose out if anything happens to my bike while I am travelling.
31/12/18
Bike insurance is looking too expensive as it is over half the price of a new bike in the USA so I have changed my plans again. I am now going to buy a new bike in the USA and then sell it when I come back home. This will also make travelling much less stressful as I will not be worrying about my bike going missing.
At the moment the best option is a chase element 24” as it has a 21.5” top tube which is the same size as my Curtis.
I have also been thinking about New Years resolutions and apart from the usual stopping the drink fizzy drinks I am going to try and ride a bike every day to try and get my weight down and also work on my bike skills.