Swollen Parts

I have come to believe that for all the Marathons, sponsored runs, walks, swims, bike rides etc that I have done for the best part of my life.. for all kinds of charities.. raised thousands of pounds.. had blistered feet, cramp, pulled this n that's. Lost toe nails through friction due to miles and miles n miles of training..that I have possibly worn my joints out! Having had a swollen left knee for quite a long time (3 months roughly) I decided to go have a friendly chat with the Doc. I was right in my theory about wearing myself out.. don't get me wrong, if I had my time again.. I would run again, raise megga amounts of money for charity.. my knee has become swollen.. it's very tender and for the past three weeks I have been limping,. I have started self help. I now take Glucosamine with sulphate twice every day.. I wear supportive tubular bandage on my leg every day.. I rest when I am asleep.. I find it very difficult to rest for more than five minutes.. I'm a 'fidget' can't sit still.. but I find red wine helps, normally after an 8 hour shift of cleaning.. I am half way to falling asleep... wine just helps my eyes to close ;)))). Anyway.. I have the symptoms of 'house maids knee' and I can here you askin yourselves what the fuck is that? PAINFUL springs to mind.. fluid under my knee cap.. Arthritis to be precise!! So if anyone can shine some light on this, got any other remedies or painkilling ideas, I'd be most grateful for your input. I have to admit it's starting to piss me off, especially when it interferes my m'bike riding abilities!! That aint funny!!!!!

Black Thunder

It is a week today that I had the misfortune of dropping my pride and joy, my Yamaha FJR 1300. It is an awesome piece of machinery and....... bloody heavy. I was parking at my parents house, the same place I park it every time I visit, but.... for some unknown reason, I put the side stand down, it stayed down , but the bike started to slide inward toward me.......
and when that happens, it becomes the point of no return. Down she went, as if in slow motion, but I couldn't stop her! My leg got stuck under her as she hit the pavement. I tried to pick her up but you're looking at a quarter of a tonne of motorbike. I managed to get out from underneath her, scramble to my feet.I was horrified when it happened. My lovely bike, scratched!! My pride "Dented!!"
I did eventually get the bike back up with some help from passers by. I thanked them. I just stood there in shock... I was physically shaking.. I felt sick. My left leg throbbing. BUT... and there's always a but.. at closer examination, I hadn't actually done too much damage, some scratches, but I didn't break anything on the bike, which I'm very happy about. Mirrors, indicators, foot pedals; the little things don't come cheap. As to my left leg, my knee ached some what, but my bones were still in one piece..."phew." The ride home was a nervous one, only three miles to go but I went steadily... my nerves slightly shaken. I have to be thankful that it wasn't a high speed smash, that I wasn't being scraped up off the road, taken to the morgue. I was merely standing still, at the side of 'Black Thunder' when she decided to have a proper rest and lie down!! I look back now, a week later, hopefully wiser, but these things happen, no-ones perfect. My knee is bruised and battered but I'll survive, I have it bandaged up and have had for the past few days. As the week's gone by, the pain has grown. I suppose the muscles that I have hurt are mending, and what with the miles that I cover at my job,the exercise will help heal it.
I told a couple of guys at work what I'd done and they just laughed at me. I can look back now and laugh too. Apparently I've now become a proper biker, I've officially "christened" my bike!
I can think of easier less painful ways of christening Black Thunder. But as I said I'm OK, that's all that counts... we can mend bikes, replace them if necessary. However people aren't always so lucky!!