So today was the day. The day I had worked up to. The day I would sling my leg over that top tube and feel the (very cold) wind in my face. The day, 2 months and 2 days after surgery, and I was going to ride my bike! Now riding my bike is special to me. Ever since I was allowed to go off and explore the local park on two wheels, I was hooked on riding my bike. This meant today was a big day.

It was a bright sunny autumn day and Stephen was going to meet me at the local bike shop. After a quick change of inner tube at home, I headed down the hill to Stephen. Now I realised it was cold, very cold! Luckily I had my thermal gear on and extras in my backpack. However, I wouldn’t need this to begin as the start of the ride was 3 miles up hill (Cornwall is not flat!). Stephen led the way setting a kind pace for my withered legs and we slowly, very slowly, made our way to the local services. Here we indulged in coffee and cake. I’ve got to keep the calories going in especially if I’m now burning them again! I had my favourite, millionaires shortbread.
After a good break we headed back into the cold. The temperature on my Garmin slowly dropped as my heart rate rose and we headed for the back lanes. Here the tall hedges and walls sheltered us from the bitter wind and we made our way home. This was when we came up against my current nemesis: hills. Not any type of hill, but steep, Cornish hills. Here Stephen (a cyclist who regularly hits 200 miles a week) left me behind as I took the hills at my own pace (don’t worry he waited for me at the top). Soon I was home. 20 miles complete and had a fish finger sandwich to recover.

Now, not once here have I mentioned my stoma bag. Was it an issue, not that I noticed. Could you tell I was wearing a bag under my lycra bib-tights. I don’t think so. I had it folded up in half up to the coffee stop. Here I noticed it had started to fill up, but not massively and I unfolded it. On the way back because it was unfolded it sat slightly lower in my bib-tights, but after the first few minutes of pedaling I forgot it was there. It was only on the last part of the journey I realised I had not taken any supplies with me (an issue ‘the cycling stoma’ and the ‘gutless cyclist’ have discussed before http://thecyclingstoma.blogspot.co.uk/ http://gutlesscyclist.blogspot.co.uk/ ). This wasn’t an issue due to the short length of time I was riding (just over 2 hours moving). However, next time I will put together a mini kit for emptying and emergencies as I was pretty full by the time I returned home.