It’ll be 7 weeks on Tuesday since the surgery and I just got the all clear to cycle and drive, earlier this week. Consultant said it’ll take up to 18 months to fully heal. My aerobic fitness is probably way more of an issue than the hip!
I decided to go for a road ride today, following up on some exploring I started a few weeks ago. Operation build-a-road-bike' is still at the acquiring parts stage, though, so I had to resort to every roadie's dream stand-by bike: a twenty-seven year-old Specialized HardRock. Built as a chill out and cruise bike, it's got slicks on so away I went. The bike got a few puzzled looks from passing roadies but it was okay: the slicks make it light work, even on a tough old thing like the HardRock. (I checked out some entry level drop-bar 'adventure' bikes when I got home and the HardRock is, actually, significantly lighter. Go figure.)
Followed a loop taking in Fordwich, Stodmarsh, Grove, Preston, Wingham, Adisham and Patrixbourne. There were plenty of miles left in the legs when I got home so I'll probably increase the loop next time.
I guess the horse was camera-shy.
A WW1 memorial in the village of Preston: I suppose there was a Mrs Southern whose life was shattered too (see the list of names). 'So little thinking, leads to so much thought.' (Anon) Sadly, history teaches us that the thoughtless are liberally sprinkled throughout the timeline, both before and since.
