Tag: Cycling

My 20’s

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Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live?

Random photo of a jumper I knitted in my 20’s!

I did my fine art course.

I met my boyfriend.

I cycled everywhere.

I made good friends that I still know.

I created lots of art, including murals.

Basically, despite bad things happening in the world I was very lucky to have a great time. Plus there was punk rock, TV shows like ‘the young ones’. I also bought a bicycle and cycled many miles around the north West of England. My boyfriend and I went cycle camping up to the lake district and cycled round Devon and North Wales on holiday. It’s surprising how far you can go on trains and bikes.

I have so many memories that I still recall. Life was simpler then, I am glad I have them. Plus I knitted the jumper (I never made one before). I remember adding patterns that I completely made up including the red arrows on the sleeve, and space invaders on the bottom of the jumper!

Life I had that I’ll never go back to. I wish I could!

Previously bike, now car

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You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

When I was young I cycled evrywhere with my then boyfriend, later to be my hubby. Sometimes we went on the train with our bikes then cycled on to our destinations. I was fit enough to cycle 100 miles on our tandem. I enjoyed the trips and went round the lake district and over to places like Harrogate, down to the Midlands and into Wales. We travelled in all sorts of conditions, Sun, rain, snow, ice, wind. It was interesting to see the world pass quite slowly and yet for the landscape to transform as we passed through valleys and over hills. Whipping down hills, wind in my hair. Then one day I was knocked off my bike by a drunk driver. After a short spell in hospital I started cycling again. But unknown to me the bike had been damaged. A year later it collapsed as I was cycling up a hill. The down tube had pulled away front the headset (the tube between the handlebars and the forks.) I took the bike to a cycle shop but they lost it and the replacement bike I bought was not the right size. By the time I got my old bike back I had learnt to drive. I needed a car because I had a job requiring me to work in different towns. I still had my bike but the car was convenient. If I had continued to cycle every day I think I would be fitter now.

I’ve had a varied life…

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You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

I’ve had a varied life, most of it devoted to art, but I’ve also managed to cram a lot of experiences into it.

I would then go on to detail sow of the art work I have done, but also the adventures I’ve had with my hubby, who was a most eccentric man. Our main mode of transport when we were younger was by bicycle and then a series of pulled old cars that consequently meant we had a lot of situations to deal with. My jobs were also varied and I would talk about as much as I could without disclosing personal information. I am not sure if it would be interesting to anyone else though?

Cycling

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What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

I love cycling, it’s been a while since I did any, but I still love it on TV. The tour de France, the tour of Britain, the Vuelta, I try and catch all of them when I can.

I think Mark Cavendish was a brilliant sprinter. He won more stages than any other cyclist in the history of the tour. I think it was 35 over 15 years. He’s from the isle of Man and represented it well.

I like the female tours aswell but they aren’t as well publicised and I’m not sure who the best racers are.

I remember riding down hills and trying to keep up with my hubby who was very fast. He even came third in a big race once against tricyclists. He was the real cyclist, but I’m glad he got me into the sport.

My bike

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Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

45 years ago I bought myself a ladies mixtie frame 10 speed bike.

It cost £120 which was a lot of money then and as a student I had to pay monthly to get it. I think it took me 6 months.

But it got me through college and into the first jobs I had. It was my method of visiting family and friends. I must have ridden thousands of miles on it.

Bikes are a means of transport for all sorts of people. Who needs ebikes. Keep cycling.

Esther Chiltons Blog prompt “surprise”

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Surprise!
One night I dreamt that I would meet some friends on a road nearby, but since they lived 40 miles away and only cycled that seemed unlikely. I also remembered the dream was on a wet day. Things seemed very clear. But as usual I couldn’t remember the details when I woke up. Then a few days later we decided to ride out and meet some other friends on their farm. It was an overcast day as we started out on our 5 mile ride to visit them. But SURPRISE! In the distance we saw our friends cycling towards us. They must have had the same idea. But they were with some others. It started to rain and as the friends drew closer I realised they were with the people I’d dreamt of! Then we all took shelter under cover of a bus stop. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashing! I realised it was my dream!

Watching Paris paralympics

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I am glued to my TV. The Paris paralympics started on Wednesday and since my Internet was down I got into it. Team GB is doing really well and I have limited my Internet use now it’s been restored to the gaps between TV programmes showing the athletes in action.

So far I’ve watched Boccia (like bowls but using cloth covered softer balls), archery, athletics (field and track, with various disabilities), rowing, badminton, table tennis, tennis, cycling, and blind football. There’s also been wheelchair rugby and basketball.

It’s all fascinating and the skills the athletes show is amazing. If you can watch have a look!

Esther Chiltons prompt Crazy.

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Wifi is back on and I am trying to catch up.

Esther Chilton has another prompt using the word crazy. I wrote about this trip with my hubby….

So many crazy things! Cycling home to my mother in laws house over the pennines springs to mind. It was after an easter camping trip. It snowed heavily as we started home over main roads. It was about 45 miles to cycle. But there was a steep hill to climb at the end. We were heading up about five miles of steep hill. Unfortunately the snow had other ideas. The road had been cleared until we got halfway up. Then we were faced with snow drifts and snowbanks. Even with our combined strength (we were on our tandem with a bike trailer carrying our gear) we realised it was crazy to go on. So a twenty mile detour back down the hill was the only solution.

The place where we stopped? A village called Turn!

Compassion?

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I just wrote this in response to someone complaining about people being on benefits. I’m trying to point out that you don’t have to look disabled to be disabled, and most people would not choose to be poor.

I gave up working to look after my hubby because of his severe PTSD and my health started to deteriorate. I tried to set up a small business but couldn’t earn enough to manage and when he died I was left with my work pension and a bit of savings. My Diabetes had never been good and two and a half years ago I started to shake. That turned out to be Parkinsons disease. For several years I’ve had to wear a mask at night because I suffer from sleep aponea. I lack strength in my arms because of a frozen shoulder and the spasms from Parkinsons in my arms and legs. Now I might have heart failure after several years of atrial fibrillation. I used to be able to cycle up to 100 miles with hubby and was quite fit.
In all that time until I gave up work to look after hubby, I was only unemployed for 6 months. I have full pension contributions.
I appreciate that there are some people that don’t want to work, but would you know about my disabilities if I hadn’t just told you? I know I’m deteriorating but I want to keep going. There are a lot of people out there with hidden disabilities.
Why do we always complain about benefit claimers when 80 men in the world have as much money as half the world’s population? That’s 4,000,000,000 people? Many of these billionaires inherited their money and avoid paying any tax? The poorest don’t chose to be poor. Imagine yourself going to a food bank once every two or three months and getting 3 or 4 days food? Or desperate people renting houses they can’t afford in poor or moldy homes. Would you choose that?
I’m sorry for this long comment. I can tell you about all the hospital visits I keep having to attend. The scans and blood tests. I try and keep going. Life is difficult. We all have our crosses to bear as they say. It’s that old thing of don’t look at the speck in someone else’s eye and not see the beam of wood in your own. It’s easy to criticise but we need more compassion.

Travel, Esther Chiltons blog prompt.

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Transport; I wish I could still cycle, but I stopped a few years ago. Driving a car didn’t help, the more I used the car the less I used the bike. That was because I had a accident that damaged my bike so it came apart while I was riding it a year later. It took a year to get it fixed and in the meantime I got the car. I used that for work and to travel further with my hubby. I did keep cycling for a few years, bur as I say I gradually lost my fitness and confidence. I still have the bike, it’s in my house. It’s a classic, I hope one day someone else can use it.

Written for Esther Chiltons prompt “Travel”,