Life has changed considerably since my last entry to this blog. Steve's Parkinson's diagnosis in late 2018 may have meant resetting some goals but it hasn't stopped us having adventures in other ways.
Completing the West Highland Way when Steve retired in April 2022 was our last significant hillwalking challenge. The risk has just got so great. .
COVID lock down I discovered Zwift. Now I had my safe way of pushing my limits and even racing. This opened a whole new world.
As we stepped back from the hills, Steve's table tennis sessions increased along with my cycling
Through an aborted attempt to attend a table tennis event in September 2022, we found ourselves inadvertently setting up our new regime for time away - somewhere with stable weather where I can safely cycle which also has table tennis in the hotel and hopefully at a local club. We now have a few destinations on rotation Alcudia, Altea/Calpe, Lanzarote and Paphos.
Steve started entering table tennis tournaments locally and abroad. This included him becoming Doubles Champion at the Scottish Parkinson's Open in 2023 and at ITTF Foundation World Parkinsons Championships in France in 2024. He even won a raffle for a place at the ITTF World Masters Championships in Rome in 2024.
From being a very casual cyclist I've now developed a liking for sportives and long rides. Getting Minty, my Orbea Gain D30 X1 unlocked the barriers to this joy.
E-bikes are often misunderstood. They are not cheating, they provide assistance when pedaling up to a speed of 25kph at various levels. Minty had 3 levels which give 30%, 50% and 90% more power than what I'm doing through the pedals. In reality the motor makes Minty almost 50% heavier than a carbon road bike so level 1 assist of 30% offsets that weight. I only use assist above this when I run out of gears and the gradient is over 7%. It's a bit like going into the granny ring!! Suffice to say this has enabled me to do routes my dodgy knee would have previously said no chance. Plus I've greatly improved my fitness to the point where I'd started using the lovely Bling Cervelo Caledonia carbon bike (no assist) on some undulations.
As 2025 was coming to a close, I started to hatch some plans to mark The Big 60.
2025 had been a roller coaster: the ups - Jennifer and David's wedding, Steve and Lynn regaining their gold in the Scottish Parkinson's Open, me doing better than anticipated in Tour O the Borders and ticking off some classic routes in Mallorca
The downs - my parents deteriorating health, my brother dying, getting knocked off my bike by a careless driver and sustaining a T12 fracture.
I'm writing this as we enter the 12th week post the accident. Rehab plans are still unclear so those goals I'd started toying with are indefinitely on hold. Not what I wanted for turning 60.
Suffice to say, there WILL be more to come
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