My cardiac doctor at rehab during a consultation listed to me all the things I could do now after my heart attack… most were normal almost humdrum but when she said I could fly, I quickly interjected and said that´s amazing because I couldn´t do that before. It took a few moments for the joke to find its legs and then we all then fell about in laughter.

After stamping brevet kartes for the latest Thursday evening Gö Gravel ride I went for a road ride, this was my first non-motor assisted pedal since my heart attack (other than commuting 4km back and forth to reha x 12 which includes a forest path and Kopfsteinpflaster).

With thunderstorms rumbling all afternoon and the threat ever present I rode conservatively to my heart rate monitor, and it was glorious to be back riding a lightweight, responsive and a bike with a soul rather than a motor on a warm summer evening. Josh´s ebike is cool nonetheless and it has been pivotal in keeping me sane and enabling me to ride in June.

I have been reading up on what happens to you when you have a heart attack and its pretty mind boggling – the chemicals in your body go seemingly helter-skelter but there is rhyme and reason to it, for instance first your immune system kicks in big time, then the body must find a balance and in the Proliferative Phase your cells being the regeneration process. Additionally, your stomach can turn acidic.

These are just a some of the things going on in your mind and body and although I feel strong this ride was to help me gauge where I am presently. During and after the ride I felt good, which if you had told me that a month ago, I may not have agreed with you.

This was a big step in my recovery as I took to the sky.

On Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11754484720

The Gö Gravel group were Chris, Jonas R, Jakob, Konstantin, and Jonas G.

Foto: Tecklenburgstraße which means I have now ridden all of Gö’s cobbles and pictured with my commute bike.