Posted by Neil Davis It was early April 2013 when we started training on the tandem together. Ill never forget going up our first hill. After about 100 metres of going up Norton Park Ave, I was gasping for breath and it looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water over Phil, he was perspiring so much! I really thought then, this is going to be one heck of a challenge! But after about a month we had soon conditioned ourselves to just grind our way up them. I was having bad knee trouble and after seeing a physio, she simply said, lighten the bikes up and stay off steep hills until it comes right. I was reluctant to tell Phil that we both had to lose weight as food is one of his few pleasures, but it had to be said. When I told this to Phil, he told me he would try his best. He lost about 10 kgs in a couple of months which did make a difference, which I appreciated. I had lost about 6kgs so it did help take the strain off the knees and we could get up any hill now but the recovery wasnt so great. I was concerned about how long it would take us to get round Lake Taupo, so I drove up one day and estimated each kilometre based on our training speed on certain gradients. If we started at 6 a.m., I calculated we would finish around 3 a.m. the next day! I stayed at the Lake Taupo Christian camp that night to also check out the facilities for Phil etc and I couldnt get to sleep thinking that this was virtually going to be impossible. What if it was a stinking hot day? What if one if us was sick during the week of it? Would it be just too much to ask of Phil? I and a few others had tried out hand cycling in Phils seat and really struggled just to get up one hill let alone fifty or sixty longer ones! I was also feeling very guilty about all the time the training was taking away from my wife and three daughters. When I came back from that trip to Lake Taupo I had decided to call the whole thing off, but when I talked to my eldest daughter Anna, she was adamant that I should keep going. Gaye, my wife, and other two daughters, Jessie and Lucy, were also just as adamant after a good family discussion. That gave me the fire again to get stuck back into it. We were getting up to 30 and 40 km rides in training, three times a week, which, looking back, gave us a good base. I was also getting in a few rides by myself on Riverstone Terraces on the recumbent, which could be easily detached into two bikes. But Phil was always in various degrees of pain with various parts of his body which always concerned me. Some days it was his hip, others his back or somewhere else. Then one day he really felt sore in the forearms. So we needed to get that sorted out and quickly, as we only had about two months to go before the challenge. Sarah Tucker, from Hutt Physio Therapy, was terrific. After viewing a couple of DVDs I had made up of Phil hand cycling, she suggested a couple of changes in the setup which made an immediate impact. But the most important thing she explained to Phil was that his posture had to be correct to prevent the nerves to his forearms from being compressed, which proved to be very significant advice as you will read later. Jane Anderson from Accupuncture Works, was also giving Phil some very good treatment which lessened his pain in his body significantly. So with just a few days to go to the challenge, we were both in pretty good shape to take on the challenge. I drove up on Thursday, two days before the challenge just to get there in plenty of time and not have to rush. On the way up, I thought of all the amazing people, and I mean really amazing people, who had helped us to get there. Abi and Bridgette, who out of the blue, had offered to train with us and come along on the challenge at the Blind Restaurant night. They had been a strong support for both of us with their encouragement and enthusiasm. Elinor and her partner Sam, for organising the Blind Restaurant night and taking care of catering on the weekend of the challenge. Clem, Phils brother for coming along on training rides. Jon, who helped with alterations to the bike and taking care of all the finances. Phils parents who followed us on training rides for the first couple of months in case we broke down, which we did on a few occasions. And Julia and his kids Brooke and Harrison, for coming for the odd ride and encouraging Phil. My family who were right behind me and my brother Mark, who had been giving me good advice about training and had almost done Taupo before when he crashed 5km short of the finish and ended up in hospital. I also thought of the many people Phil and spoken to at schools and other people he had inspired. I remember one lady I spoke to after Phil had spoken at a school. She had breast cancer recently and was having difficulty coming to terms with it, but after seeing Phils attitude towards life, it helped her get things in perspective and realise that there was plenty of life worth living for. The students from Heretaunga College who sat and listened to his story and also encouraged us. Stu Henderson from the Kings Arms Church, who had done the challenge before and knew Phil before his life changed, had been a terrific support for me. There were so many other people that had done all sorts of things and donated money towards the challenge, that it really got me in the right frame of mind to make sure we completed this challenge. In the next post Ill outline the build up to the start.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 03:47:12 +0000
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