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British 2012 MTBO league kicks off on Feb 19th

The first round of the UKs national MTBO league kicks off in two weeks time at Gilling woods in North Yorkshire on 19th Feb
http://www.bmbo.org.uk/calendar/details.php?event_id=291

Last time we all gathered at Gilling it was somewhat ….. overplanned
see my report here from 2009, including the maps – http://www.stodgell.co.uk/?p=566 but it is an excellent area with steep long climbs to punish those who get the route choices wrong.

The league is somewhat down on events this year for various reasons so please support the events that are on.

 

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New toys – full suspension!

Even if I get back to full fitness, my back is going to need TLC from now on, so my lovely new lightweight Maxlight Pro 3 hard tail will probably have to go before I’ve even ridden it, still its an opportunity to get excited about new toys (anyone want to make me an offer on the frame and headset?).

So full suspension bikes – uurrrgghhhhhkkkkkkk, heavy, bouncy, inefficient, lots of maintenance, lots to go wrong…..that’s the way I have seen them in the past – sofas on two wheels.

But now I have no choice, its switch to full sus or risk another back problem in the future.

I’ve ridden a full suspension bike in anger twice. Once in about 2005 when Gary from Mammoth loaned me a Giant NRS team which I hooned around the chase on for a couple of hours. It was awesome at the time, but also loads of money. I then rode a ‘Cult’ prototype mania 6 inch hired trailbike on an MTBO in Slovenia. I spent most of the time cursing the weight and pedal bob but was impressed by the way it climbed steep rocky terrain http://www.stodgell.co.uk/?p=684

So, where to start with choosing a full suspension bike. I spent most of the time between Christmas and New Year, whilst I had a serious dose of cabin fever, researching and getting properly confused with horst links, single pivots, monolinks, virtual pivots, switch links, 4 bar links….yawn!

I was also wincing at the price of getting a half-decent frame.

Then, mooching around on Singletrack’s for sale page I spotted a second hand Whyte E5 frame for sale. Two friends and former GB team riders, Jimmy Taylor and Steve Heading, both rode for Whyte and raced on E5s back in 2006/7, so after a couple of emails I did the deal and I now have a 2006 E5 frame to build into a bike so I can at least start to work out what I like and don’t like about full suspension design. It was a very good deal: frame, seatpost, saddle, front mech, front wheel and front shock for £350!

Seeing as I am still many weeks away from riding it, I have decided to give the frame bearings a proper service so am waiting for a few tubes and tubs of various types of exotic grease to arrive before I get started. Whyte’s service instructions are very specific, which is probably why the bearings have a lifetime warranty!

 

 

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Injury update

Well, I’ve been using the lumbar traction stretch thingy for a couple of weeks now. I saw an immediate improvement in the sciatic pain I was getting, especially first thing in the morning. The problem is remembering not to do anything daft which sets me back. For example, on Wednesday I had a full-on day at work, zooming around to various meetings all over Manchester with a laptop bag. In hindsight, I ended up walking too far and should have got some taxi’s but that’s just not how I am used to operating 🙁

I have been to the GP and lined up an orthopedic referral ready for if the lumbar traction does not work and I need some form of intervention. Apparently, the waiting list for an initial consultation isnt too bad and as ‘Ive already got an MRI, and if they decide an injection might sort it, it could happen reasonably quickly. Hopefully, I will get the green light from the physio today to get back on the turbo trainer now to keep the weight from piling on and the cabin fever at bay…..

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A video tribute from my work colleagues!

A few giggles met me at work early this morning before eventually I was emailed a link to the clip below……

Taking advantage of me  “not being there to defend himself”, a few of my  Pozzoni  (who kindly helped sponsor the GB team kit last year) work colleagues, in the graphics and viz dept, gave their trubute to me at the Pozzoni annual awards last Friday as I lay 200miles away being ‘stretched’ by my physio.

I won 2nd place in the ‘Evelyns A&E award’ section – see you tube clip below (sound needed for full effect), and also second place in the ‘Whats going on? award’ – see left for the car park physio session! I lost out in the A&E award to a colleague who managed to crack the ribs of the host at a Go-Karting jolly when he crashed into him!

Cheers Greg, Rob and Damo !

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Treatment!

Scan showing my herniated disc

Following my diagnosis of a ruptured disk I’ve been to Bridgwater again to see my physio, Ivor, to get my treatment plan started

I’ve also come back with copies of my scans. Its very bizarre to sit there and look at slices through your own body. Forget losing weight  so you look good in your holiday or wedding photos, try an MRI. There is no turning your best side to the camera or wearing stripes the right way round to hide/accentuate your curves. It shows all your fat, in lovely cross sectional detail. Cath also pointed out that she can see poo in some of the films!  Nice…..

Anyway, on to treatment.

Firstly, I need to be very careful. No dynamic loaded stretching, twisting or impacts, which, in English, means no DIY, gardening, lifting, running or mountain biking for at least a couple of months.

      Essentially I need to learn to think before I do anything daft, which is a lesson I suppose I should have learnt earlier this year when I jumped off that wall, however, Ivor thinks its been coming all summer and that the jump was just one of the causes.

Apparently, I’ve also got a dehydrated disc on the next one up (L3/4) which might cause me issues in later life if I’m not careful with impacts, too.

Lumbar Traction

I’ve  been tractioned and given a portable traction machine to use three times a day for the next month or so. This essentially stretches you, relieving the compression on the lumbar spine and doing some other complicated stuff I didn’t understand. I’ve only been using it for a day, but already, together with rest and icing, I am noticing reduced sciatic pain.

After the weekend I am to restart my core stability exercises and in a couple of weeks I can get back on the turbo trainer to keep my general fitness at a sensible level, though I wont be able to do much.

I’ll be going to Somerset once a week for more treatment and review. Ivor is hoping that in a couple on months I should be starting to see improvements and that eventually, although I will have to avoid heavy impacts and big dynamic stretching, I should be able to regain my MTBing fitness and possibly get back to where I was in 2011.

I am also going to be having a look at my stable of bikes with a look to move to full suspension to protect my back from impacts in the future. More on that in another postin,g but if anyone wants my single-speed rigid On-One Inbred, its up for sale 🙁

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Helmets, why bother?

I know there are lots of stories out there about how helmets have saved lives and a lot of people also who defend not wearing a helmet. I’ll let the two photos of Alan Hartley below speak for themselves.

Alan fell in June at the World Cup MTBO in Hungary in April and cracked his helmet (which you can just see in the photo). He also damaged his knee and elbow and is still suffering from the knee. Although there was nothing visible at the time, since June the hair in the impact area has fallen out and is now growing back white!

 

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Diagnosis!

Well I’ve had the result of my MRI scan and its not good….

 “The report identifies a small intraforaminal disc protrusion on the right which appears to be compromising the exiting L4 nerve root. This would explain your symptoms and the lumbo-sacral instability”

Looking back I think have had something going on in my lower back for sometime and that Russian jump just finished me off. I wouldn’t be surprised that the original cause was the Wiggle 6 Enduro in May when I finished after nearly 7 hours in the saddle of jarring racing on concrete-like surfaces with a very sore back. Even my feet hurt from the pounding I got that day.

I’ve also had lower back ache when riding my rigid singlespeed on Follow the Dog and Monkey Trail!

Treatment options at the moment are continued rest and icing (as I overdid it over the weekend organizing the event on Saturday) before starting a course of traction (being stretched to relieve the pressure on the disc). If this isn’t successful, apparently I could have an injection into the spine but it would need orthopedic evaluation and assessment which I would have to pay for or get onto a very long NHS waiting list (8 months+).

So unfortunately it looks like my plans for 2012 and a medal at the World Masters have been scuppered. I’ve had 3 months off training so far and even if the traction works I will have to be very conservative with my training for several months until I get the all-clear.

So not all bad as at least there are treatments available, but I think my days of lightweight, racey, hard-tail mountain bikes might be over. Time to buy a sofa bike?

One bit of advice – don’t jump off 3 metre walls!

 

 

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Hope XC Rear Hub Service!

My old wheels have been on Cath’s bike for a while. The rear wheel bearings in the Hope XCs have given up the ghost with the amount of riding she has been doing recently, so I thought I would have a go at the service myself.

I found out the bearing reference numbers ‘6001 2rs’ from the Hope tech website and then found a local supplier to get some top notch SKF ones. I can recommend PT Bearings of Wolverhampton, they have an ebay shop and they arrived the next day! http://www.ptandbearings.co.uk

It all started well enough but I could not get the axle shaft and bearing to come out of the brake side of the hub body. I used bigger and bigger hammers and soon had shards and splinters of wood flying all over the place, forget the ‘soft-faced hammer’ in the service notes.

I went inside to check the service notes again, with pins and needles in my hands from all the banging, before I got the sledge hammer out. However, a quick Google search suggested a fantastic idea. Wrap the hub in an old cotton rag and then soak it with boiling water straight out of the kettle.

A fairly gentle tap from the sledge hammer (well, not that gentle) and it came out, the water having expanded the aluminium hub enough to release everything. Other than a particularly pesky circlip, the rest went like a dream, tapping in the new bearings with a 17mm socket as I haven’t got a working vice at the moment.

So, a complete hub rebuild for £12.82 and a smear of grease. Can’t be bad!

 

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