(Post 9) The end of the innocence
I’d really wanted to draw things together before I moved on to the next chapter of this adventure however, as is often such in life, things got in the way, I became allergic to keyboards, I ran out of time, etc, etc. I now find myself writing this under the fog of chemo… but the chemo story belongs in the next chapter!
So, what’s been going on? Why have I been too busy to write?
As throughout July and August, I was determined to enjoy as many mini-adventures, trips and good-times as possible. I also wanted to continue getting as fit as possible before C-Day arrived. I also had a lot of work that I needed to complete on the house whilst I was still able to.
Throughout September I enjoyed several bike rides including a 2-Day solo ride around the Dark Peak, and another 2-Day ride to the bottom of the White Peak with my good friend Pete. The picture was taken outside of Trader’s as Pete and I enjoyed a couple of well earned pints at the end of our wet and muddy 2-dayer. All good bike rides should end here 🙂
The following weekend, I took part in the Hell of the North Cotswolds (HONC- cycling event), although I ended up doing the medium length ride (75km) rather than the full-fat version (100km). The shame.
I’ve also enjoyed a couple of motorcycle trips on my beloved BMW R9T. The first of these was to visit my friend Emmy and her beautiful new pupster “Daphne”. It was great to stay in Emmy’s stunning house that nestles on a remote and hard-to-access North Yorkshire hillside. It was lucky that I was on the bike as I would have been very tempted to pupnap Daphne if I’d been in the car 🙂
The second ride was much more local, yet still an adventure, as I had never ridden the R9T with a passenger on board. Although having a powerful 1200cc engine, the bike is quite small. Sam and I usually just jump on the massive 1250 Adventure as it is so comfortable; the R9T made it a much more cosy affair and Sam had to cling on tightly to avoid getting dragged off the back as we cracked the magic ton. It’s a bit of a thing that I have: if I’m going out on a bike, then I have to crack the ton.
We arrived in Eyam and enjoyed a lovely evening in the pub 🙂
Did I mention that I’ve been working on the house? Talk about mission creep; I’d only wanted to reconfigure one of our rooms to become a dedicated exercise room. However, this seemed to involve moving every single item in the house… often twice. Then moving electrical sockets, rewiring stuff, building shelves in almost every other room in the house, etc. Then the house decided to conspire against me as the cold water storage tank began to overflow, an old pipe began to leak and the bathroom fan failed. Cosmic.
Other stuff? I’ve enjoyed several visits from family and old friends and I’ve spent ages feathering the nest. Part of this included upgrading the TV, getting a soundbar, a PS5 and a new chair to enjoy it all from. Pity that I still can’t sit still then.
Unfortunately, throughout September, I found myself becoming more and more tired. This worried me somewhat, as I’d wanted to hit C-Day (21st September) in peak condition. It also made me doubt whether the cancer treatment was working… was it still growing, or was it the hormone suppressant treatment affecting me? Either way, I found the last few weeks very hard going and I even found myself looking forward to C-Day. At least the chemo would give me an excuse to rest for a bit; even if it was only me that needed the excuse. Little did I know…
3 thoughts on “(Post 9) The end of the innocence”
Andy, you take on more whilst coping with cancer than most fit people would tackle! You have my admiration.
Hi Andy.
Yes your mom is correct, you’ve done more than I have lately. Lots of little adventures and married too yeah 👍🙂
Hope the chemo doesn’t have you looking like Tony 😁
But we still love him too 🤗
Hopefully see you soon.
Hello Andy,
There’s not much to be added to your mum and Steve’s comments, you do indeed even now put to shame lots of fit and healthy people, including H and, even more so, me.
It seems that, rather than lowering your arms and giving up, the challenge makes you go further and further, I bet that, even if you slow down during the C period, this will not tame you, just make you more determined
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