How to trash your knees without really trying...

[Chancery]

Hi, I'm Chancery and I'm an alcoholic.. Sorry, just kidding - couldn't resist! My knee pain story goes back to around when I was 43 or so and living on the Isle of Orkney. We decided to get bikes so we could cycle to the nearest town as we didn't have a car. I bought an old second-hand thing which either had no gears or just two. It was a cheap bike and no great shakes. The route to town was up a very steep hill called Wideford and my bike made you do all the work. My knees started hurting quite soon into our bike adventures, but I cycled on through the pain, not wanting to be a stick-in-the-mud. Subsequently I damaged both knees and they simply never got better. I've never been on a bike since, which I regret.

I'm now 61 and my knees are stiff and non-bendy, but they don't hurt me on a day-to-day basis, which is good. Unfortunately though no longer strong enough to do anything with them other than walk, but at least I can do that. So the moral of this story, children, is when your body makes it plain you are over-taxing it - LISTEN! If I had I might still be able to cycle and hunker down without needing a rail to pull myself back up again!