Tag: Cycling

The English Women’s football team

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Name the professional athletes you respect the most and why.

Lucy Bronze is one of the names that springs to mind. She was one of the English Women’s football team who won the European Football cup in 2022 and we’re runners up to Spain in the World Cup final this year.

I’m not fully aware of the whole team, but I did actually watch their games which is unheard of for me. I guess it’s because it’s so unusual to see women’s football being promoted. Up until a few years ago there was very little coverage. At one time in the past in the 1930’s I think there were huge league matches that could be compared with their male counterparts but then women’s football was banned here!

It was only when the film ‘Bend it like Beckham’ came out in the 1990’s. It was about an Asian girl wanting to play football and all the problems she had getting her family to accept that she could do it. It was a brilliant film. I’m sure some of the professional women football players who took part in the recent competitions were encouraged and spurred on by that film.

As I say I’m not very sport orientated but I also admire the tenacity of professional Cyclists. Today is the last day of the Tour of Britain cycle race which will be held in south Wales. Wout van Aert is only leading by 3 seconds after a week of intense racing. There is a slim chance he might be beaten. I will be watching.

Watching cycing

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There is a virtual festival of cycling on TV in the UK. The cycling is mainly taking place in Glasgow. The cycling games are on for 11 days till next weekend.

I have never seen so many ways to use bicycles as I have over the last couple of days. Road races, madison racing, time trials, track cycling. BMX freestyle, BMX racing, artistic cycling? then there is a type of football using bikes. I can’t believe how at versions of using cycles there are.

I am amazed at the skills on show and the fact that paracycling is included has added to the spectacle and has improved the understanding of the crowds and viewers of cyclists with physical and or mental disabilities. It’s a wonderful example of how sport can be integrated. Very cool.

Le Tour

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I’m really enjoying the Tour de France this year. I don’t have all the names of the Cyclists, but it’s impressive to see the work they put in and the speeds they move at.

Today a breakaway of four riders stayed away until the end of the stage. There are three more days to go, with the final stage on Sunday when the current yellow jersey holder expected to win the overall three week tour.

Up and down mountains in blistering heat and massive rainstorms, this years tour has not been without incident. Motorbikes and cars in the way, crashes into barriers on fast, technical descents. The steepest stage (yesterday), for several years caused the rider who was second in the race to loose precious time during an individual time trial.

If you can see it. Watch it! It’s fantastic.

Security

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Are you seeking security or adventure?

At my age I prefer security. I used to like adventure, but I’ve grown out of it!

When I was young we used to cycle all over the country, riding a bike or a tandem for miles. We would go out and ride at weekends to different destinations. We would also catch the train and then cycle from there to campsites or a place to visit like a castle or a forest. One of my favourite places was Grizedale Sculpture park. On that occasion we had got a car and the bikes were tied to the top of it. We parked at the campsite and used that as a base to cycle all around the lake district.

One day I was cycling home from a friends houss and was hit by a car. I ended up with a fractured skull. From that day I became nervous of cycling. After a couple of more years of riding the bike suddenly collapsed underneath me. It had been damaged in the accident and the brazing had broken on the bike headset. It took months to get my bike repaired by which time I had started to drive more frequently. My health got worse and I was not able to ride my bike any distance.

I think it was about then that I became more risk averse. I still liked to go and do adventurous things but I was more careful. Nowadays I am even more concerned with safety. Covid and the pandemic has made me more aware of my situation and my security. I guess that I realise my life has changed, and I can not do things I would have happily done in the past.

Devon

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What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

Of all the places I’ve stayed on holiday, Devon is my favourite.

We used to visit a friend from college who had moved back there. He lived on the outskirts of a city and was happy to put us up as houseguests of him and his family.

We had many pleasant times there. We tied our bicycles on the roof of the car and cycled around the countryside on the bikes. The Devon hills almost made me give up, they were so undulating and steep. Cycling up and down the hills and banks, out to beautiful secluded beaches and bays. Devon banks (hedges and walls) made the roads sheltered and narrow. You had to take care not to run into cars coming along in the other direction.

We visited several times over the years. Exploring far and wide. Sometimes we stayed in caravans and watched massive thunderstorms and lightning hitting the Cornish Coast across the bay.

We used the city as a jumping off point. Visiting abbeys and steam trains. We bought Mead made with honey, and I spent time exploring caves in the south west. (the furthest south in England I think). I have memories of sunshine and sunburn. Falling off my bike coming down a steep hill too quickly. Sunny, happy memories.

It was cycling

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What’s the most fun way to exercise?

When I was a lot younger my then boyfriend (now hubby) encouraged me to buy a bike because I couldn’t afford a car. We would cycle short distances but gradually I got fitter and we found we would go off into the countryside to enjoy the landscapes or put the bikes on the train and visit our families (both about forty miles away).

But then we started to cycle to and from the family homes, we had both got to the stage where we had got fit and healthy. It’s a great way of getting around and we eventually bought a second hand tandem which was actually two bikes welded together! We manages a hundred mile reliability trial, despite a pedal falling off because one of the chain wheels had been put on back to front. We then got a Gitane tandem, it was much better but the chain was always too slack. We could get up a good speed on it. We would cycle along and down country lanes. Once we ran into a boy scout jamboree, and also a pony trek with ponies stretched across the road up in the Staffordshire moorlands.

My regret? I got knocked off my bike and ended up with a fractured skull. I carried on cycling for a year. But then one day I was cycling up a hill and the bike collapsed underneath me! I took it in for repair and the cycle shop lost my bike for a year! I got it back eventually but I’d got a car and although I still cycled work got in the way and I didn’t use my bike as often. I now can’t get my leg over the bike because my hips are too stiff. I regret losing that fitness and a wonderful exercise.

Two years ago…

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The snow was heavier a couple of years ago. You can see the streaks of it falling on this photo. I love the quiet hush as it muffles sound.

But the heaviest snow was several years ago. I remember cycling on a tandem from Stoke to Stone (about eight miles). It was a least thirty years ago and me and my hubby had no car yet. We decided to visit some friends. It started to snow but we were warmly dressed so we got on the main road. But the snow came down thick and fast. I remember a friend who was with us decided to turn round and go home. But we continued along a dark country road through Barlaston and on to Stone. By the time we got there it was like being on a snow plough! We were starting to slide and slip because of the ice and catching the snow with our pedals! There was no other traffic and the snow was illuminated in orange patches by the street lamps. We met our friends and left the tandem at their house. I remember going to the pub and sitting in front of a roaring fire. When we came out there was about two foot of deep snow. We stayed overnight at our friend’s after falling off the tandem when we tried to ride off!

Cycling

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I was thinking about when I used to cycle several years ago. I used to be able to ride for miles. Unfortunately I was knocked off my bike and sustained a head injury. When I recovered I carried on cycling, but I did not know the brazing on the front of the bike had been damaged. I was cycling up a hill when the headset and down tube seperated. The front wheel bent forward and the forks collapsed!

I decided to have the bike repaired as I only have short legs, I’d tried getting a new bike, but it wasn’t the right size or shape of frame. Unfortunately the bike shop I took my bike to was a little disorganised. They lost the frame for a year. I didn’t have a bike, so I took driving lessons. By the time I got the bike back I had a job that I had to commute to, so I used the bike less and less. I eventually gave up. I keep thinking I will try and get on my bike again, but my hips and back are too stiff…. Life, sometimes it really gets you down.

My Old Viking Queen

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I was talking about this last week and I suddenly found a drawing of it in an old sketchbook. This is a Mixte frame which basically has two top tubes that run diagonally down to the centre hub of the back wheel. Some ladies bikes have a single tube running down to the seat tube (where the seat pillar is inserted into the frame). I’m hoping I’ve got the terms right but its been a while since I used them and I may be wrong.

I was and still am in love with this bike. I could cycle really fast on it. I once came off on a lane in Cornwall. I was chasing my boyfriend (now hubby) and a friend, they had cycled off fast and left me behind. They had seen a pile of washed away gravel in the road and were trying to get back to warn me. I came round a corner too fast, hurtled onto the gravel, tried to brake, and ended up flying through the air over the handlebars. My hubby said I did a somersault! I was very badly bruised. Then wehe we got to the ferry to go back across the Tamar the ferryman would only let two of us on the ferry. We turned round and cycled several very painful miles to get to the Tamar Bridge and back to my friends house in Plymouth, Devon….

Poor old bike

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Poor bike. I last road it seven years ago, and since then it’s been gathering dust. I still love it. Its actually the right size (19 1/2 inch frame) for my short legs. But my balance isn’t good and I think I’m shrinking. The bike still has toe clips in that I think my feet might get stuck in…. But… Now I’ve lost weight I might just be able to set it up and use it… Can anyone tell me where to get stabilisers? X