My leave period as always was fantastic and it was great to be back in the arms of my family. The weather was fantastic and I couldn’t wait to get out on my machine and test my fitness. To be honest I didn’t feel any different, it was just fantastic to be ripping up the roads and getting some good lean angles. It wasn’t until my fuel light came on that I realised I had been in the saddle for over an hour. In the past at this stage I couldn’t wait to get off and stretch my aching body. Not this time, no pain in my ankles, no pain in my wrists and I felt great.
The big test was about to take place as I rode down to Liverpool with my better half on the back. The ride down was fantastic, it took about 3 hours and it was a joy. I couldn’t say the same for the wife, the pillion seat is small and high up and so are the foot pegs. God love her she didn’t complain but she was a bit sore from the riding position of the GSXR 1000 K9.
The Isle Of Man was a blast, I couldn’t wait to hit the roads and the sun was blistering. I did a full lap of the TT course with the wife on the back and yet again I was on fine form with no pain anywhere. The big test was about to take place, I dropped the misses off at Creg-Ny-Baa a pub at the end of the mountain course and on a great corner. This was it, the mountain was all mine, I was going back to the hair pin to start my first run. The first run of many over the next few days and my runs got faster and faster as I learnt the mountain course. As long as you’re not an arse the police leave you alone and I was touching speeds of 170mph, the fastest I’ve ever been on a public road and it was all legal. I was working overtime on my bike, moving from left to right, very heavy breaking and some serious gear changing. It was absolutely amazing, not just the riding but the simple fact I was riding as hard as I could and for hours at a time. My only rest periods were to fill up and to check on the wife, she was fine at the bar J
After 3 days of hard riding over the mountain I thought it would have taken its toll on me. But that wasn’t the case. At no point did I ever get off my bike and complain about a body part, nothing was hurting and I was ready to go again. It wasn’t my ankles that surprised me the most, I think I knew deep down that all the exercises I had done on them to improve both strength and flexibility had worked and I knew that from the simple fact they didn’t hurt me at all, no matter what I was doing. The biggest surprise for me was my wrists, there were times on my bike in the past I couldn’t change gear or keep the throttle on due to the pain of fatigue and forearm pump. It would come on relatively quickly as well and get worse as the day went on. Not this time, the difference was amazing, I could break really hard, accelerate even harder and pull the clutch without a grimace. Where do it start to explain the difference it has made to my riding ? It goes without saying my grip strength has been a major factor and that alone has improved my riding ability. Because I now have abs that actually work and support me, my arms are no longer supporting my weight and this frees up my hands for controlling the bike. Having stronger legs and abs means I can move more freely on top of my machine. I’m in full control all the time and my bike is never running away from me. I can physically lift my bike out of a corner early to get the power on quicker and it makes all the difference. My riding has been transformed, not just my racing but my road rides as well.
Even the long ride back home to Scotland was good fun, after nearly 5 days in the saddle I can safely say I past my own fitness test. I had achieved my aim and in style, not an aching muscle or bone in sight. At the very start of my fitness I picked a “WHY” and it had to be big enough to keep me in the gym, to motivate me to keep training. The TT was one of my WHY’s and I feel I have achieved so much more. Biking is a major part of my life and to consider I thought about leaving it because it was hurting me is now unthinkable. An hour a day, that’s all it’s taken to turn my sport around.
“All men die but not all men really live”
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