I finally managed to get out on my bike. 
On Saturday I dressed up extra warm and rode down to the seafront, then along towards the garrison and then back, up-hill, against the wind, all the way back.
Despite clipping a camera to my helmet, I did not get any useable footage at all – the mount slipped, so everything was at a strange angle.
It was great, but scary, to be back on the road. I was very nervous to start with, the first kilometre or so was pretty nerve jangling, but once I calmed down, things were not too bad. I am still obviously very nervous around the traffic and I tried to keep to the bike paths as much as possible.
So, my shoulder……
It was not bad at all. This is a huge relief, obviously. There are still some issues, in the cold it aches really badly, if I move way too sharply it will throw my bicep into spasm and the range of movement is still pretty terrible.
In terms of bicycle riding, this means several things;
– Indicating left is difficult / poor as I cannot raise my arm level with my shoulder.
– Using my arms as shock absorbers on the pothole ridden streets is painful.
– Standing to climb is harder on my abs than previously.
– When it is cold out I probably need a few more layers.
So really all-in-all it is not too bad really.
I see the surgeon tomorrow morning, hopefully he will refer me to physiotherapy and I can start to really get back into my cycling habit. Previously I would ride thirty or more miles on a Sunday morning, this weekend I managed less than twenty spread over two days.
However, I really enjoyed my rides.
I am still rather nervous of the traffic, I am hanging back almost to the point of dithering. This is bad because I need to be way more decisive, dithering is bad. Also I am riding too close to the kerb, so cars are finding their way by me rather too close for comfort, I need to take control a little more.
My second ride was better, I was a lot less nervous and I felt much more comfortable, my shoulder was still aching from the previous day, but I mostly forgot about that and concentrated on my freezing cold fingers. The video was a lot better too, so much so that I had a major play with iMovie and uploaded a 720p version and uploaded it to YouTube.
The sound was terrible, so I added some Stone Roses….
Ignore the datestamp, I could not figure out how to use the menu system, but at least my second attempt got the camera mostly aimed in something like the right direction…..
