That is all good news! I saw you had ordered the charger (HB is excellent at finding stuff eh?) and I also saw Milton's offers of a loan (how did he go too with the voltage difference, did you share a few beers yet?) but was wondering about the battery; obviously it just needed a good long bath in resuscitating electricity.

Do you think the back tyre (note the correct spelling lol) really slipped because of wear? Even my worn knobbies stick well most of the time on dry tarmac, but seem to slide a little for no reason at other times. It is either road markings which can be bloody slippery even when dry or it is a layer of dust I find, fine dust and a bit of gravel that you can hardly see. There is one spot near me always does that. Anyway, good luck with finding tyres.

Something that gave me a lot of confidence years ago after a crash was some engine guards, the sort that are usually chromed and stick sideways out from the front frame. Not so much for shoulders but I got my leg pinned under the bike one day and it was only when the machine hit the curb of the roundabout and hopped up again that I got free. My leathers were torn right through - another few feet and I would have been ripped up myself. Next time I slid (front wheel lost it on a manhole cover) the new guards kept everything lifted from the road and the bike swept away from me and slowed in a shower of sparks and it and I were OK, just scratched the chrome. It doesn't directly save the shoulder but means you can twist onto your back and slide to a happy halt if there is nowt else in the way! All the 'Tour de France' cyclists seem to have smashed their collar bones a few times so I am surprised no-one has invented anything for protecting that if it is so vulnerable. Maybe those new-fangled air-bag suits!

And the shank should be turned into a real 'shank' perhaps, not a keyring, with a collar-bone handle of course? I am sure you can pick up human body bits in China. Because of your Hippocratic Oath and peaceable nature, you needn't use it as a weapon, could be a letter opener ...