The leg had returned to nearly normal at the time of my last formal blog last November but in late December it began to give me pain after walking any distance. The pain was located about half way up the shin. By mid January it got so bad that I needed to take painkillers to complete my normal walks with Louis. Two weeks ago I had images of the lower body and legs taken at the local Nuclear Imaging service. This showed that my left leg between just below the knee an just above the ankle had markedly increased blood activity and this was due to inflammation of the bone in this area. I was given several possible causes for this.
The first and most worrying was a bone tumour, but a normal X-ray showed no sign of one. The next and, in my GP's opinion the least likely, is that bone in the area of the 2000 break, which has never healed properly, has started to heal. The third is that the tibia nail inserted in 2003 to support the 2000 break has moved in the 2013 accident or the bone around the nail has changed.
I have an appointment to see the surgeon who inserted the nail in late March. In the meantime I am surviving on paracetamol.
I don't like blogging about the negative things in my life but the last few days have been a really fun time and I'll explain why.
I ride most Saturday mornings with the Sunshine Coast Bicycle Touring Club in the beginners' or has-beans' group where we ride 20 to 25Km and have a coffee break on the way. They are a really fun and laid back group. Over the last few weeks a couple of members, Jen and Terry, proposed an informal camping weekend at the Noosa North Shore Tourist Park. As the name suggests this is across the Noosa River and is about 6KM from my home. At first this didn't appeal to me but after the ride two weeks ago I decided to put Louis in kennels for the weekend. I phoned up Terry who gave me the camping area details and I booked a site adjacent to theirs .
I dug out my camping gear, which I haven't even looked at for nearly two years, and checked out that I could erect the tent and that my air bed would stay pumped up. I am getting too old to sleep on a thin camping mattress!
Last Friday lunch time I dropped off a wailing Louis at the kennels and rushed home to load my bike into the car along with all my camping requirements for three nights. I crossed the Noosa River on the car ferry without too long a wait as school summer holidays had just finished. Four days earlier there was a three hour wait to come back.
It was about three kilometres to the tourist resort and Jen and Terry had already arrived in their large RV.
I set up my tent nearby.
Other club members arrived and there were 10 of us camping Friday night. We all went down the road to the Hotel to which the tourist resort belonged for dinner. It was a nice meal and the group were fun to be with. It was a fair walk and I had to use my stick. We sat around chatting until about 10.00pm and agreed to go on a ride at 6.30am next morning to avoid the heat.
I was up at 5.00am and had an orange juice, cornflakes and a cup of tea for breakfast and gradually the others emerged and we set of on our ride about 7.00am. We crossed back over the river on the ferry. There was a $1.00 return fare as compared to a $7.00 one way charge for the car. We were joined by three more club members at the ferry who were riding with us for the day.
We rode through Tewantin, then along the Noosa River to Noosa Heads. On the way back we stopped for coffee along Gympie Terrace.
I picked up something for lunch and hung around the camp site while most of the others went swimming. Actually Terry took his harem swimming as the only other male, Ron and I stayed home.
Terry was watched over by his partner, Jen, in sunglasses just behind him.
While they were away Kerry and Denis arrived and set up their trailer tent.
That evening we had a barbecue and actually play silly games until about 11.00pm. It was great fun and they even got me involved. We agreed to try and ride at 6.30am next morning and went to bed.
As usual we left late at about 7.00am and our first stop was the Noosa Farmers' Market which has just been listed as the best in Australia. I bought some Turkish Garlic and Cheese Bread for my lunch and the others left with bags of produce hanging off their bikes or slung over their shoulders.
We cycled to the river at Gympie Terrace where to my surprise most of the group removed any surplus clothing and went for an impromptu swim leaving Ron and I to guard their possessions.
Then it was back to Tewantin and the Marina Markets for a big scoop of ice cream. Before riding back to the ferry I dropped into the Tewantin Woolworth's to pick up something for dinner.
The afternoon saw most of the crew pack up as the next day was a work day. I stayed and extra night with Kerry, Denis, Jen and Terry. We cooked our own improvised dinners, I had soup and fresh bread washed down by a nice local drop of red wine. By 9.00pm we all retired to bed early. The others were going for another ride but I was picking up Louis next morning.
I woke up early and said farewell to my friends as they rode off at 7.00am. I packed up and was home by 9.00am. I unpacked the car and put my washing on before picking Louis up at 11.00m. He was please to see me.
It had been a fun and, at times, down right silly weekend. Just what I needed.
We will all be riding this Saturday morning.
