I had a decent training push this morning; around 12 miles including (deliberately) a section with a spectacularly bad camber. It rained a bit, but I missed most of it.

However, at the far extent of the push (it would be, wouldn’t it?), I noticed that my chair back was sagging at one side. When I looked, one of the push handles had snapped, somehow. The seat back is made from various velcro straps strung across two vertical struts and the push handles form part of those struts.

Bugger. The Leeds event is on Sunday so the chance of getting a replacement in time was virtually zero. And it would leave no time for further training while the chair was out of action, in any case.

Fortunately, I fixed it. I was able to remove the broken part, lower both handles and restring the velcro straps. So now my backrest is lower than it was. It’s not 100% ideal but it will do for training and will get me through the Leeds event.

After that, I’m going to look for a new backrest. Perhaps a low, rigid (but folding) one, this time.

I always seem to break my chair just before something important. Wheelchairs require more maintenance (and expense) than you think.

As always, take a look at my fundraising page. I’m doing wheelchair half marathons (three this year, plus sundry 10k events) to raise money for nia, a women-led, women-only, secular, rights-based registered charity which has been delivering services to women, girls and children who have been subjected to sexual and domestic violence and abuse, including prostitution, since 1975.