“As a child, I loved riding my bike it was such fun!
I remember so well the feeling of freedom and the excitement of venturing off in the school holidays with a group of mates…..it just didn’t get any better than that. So at what point did I stop riding my bike and why? I honestly don’t know…
I guess if I think about it, learning to drive and other life ‘stuff’ just took over and somewhere along the way, I must have just forgotten what riding a bike was like and how get two wheels out of the garage.
Recently I’ve been having lots of discussions with my own 11 year old about cycling. She wanted to go out with her friends, and after lots of, “Ok, you can go as far as there, but take your mobile”, she’s already gone out. I do feel reassured that she is with her friends, and that the cycle training she’s had at school and at a local cycling holiday club will have helped her with the basics. (And every time I say that, I convince myself a little bit more!)
She comes home with the same pink cheeks and cold hands that I remember , with a lovely cycling glow , and even though I have this feeling of anxiety when she is out, I see her come home with the same excitement that I felt as a child. I know that she has had the best time, and as a mum that’s all I want for her, to be as safe as possible but most of all having fun!
So now that she’s starting her own cycling adventure I think that it’s about time, at 37 years of age, I begin mine again. After all, can I really advise her, if the last time I rode a bike was twenty years ago?
So here goes… here starts the blog of the ’37-year-old-experimental-cyclist’.
Day 1At my request my husband has been in the garage and checked my bike over, (I really should learn how to do this for myself), but apparently it just needed a pump up of the tyres, the brakes are fine. My Dad has since oiled the chain, fixed the brakes and adjusted the handle bars for me… I’m officially ready to go…
I’ll start tomorrow.
Day 2Hmmm… Rain!I’ll get the bus today.
Day 3
I have just been listening to the local radio, and the Severn Bridge is closed due to high winds.
I live in the city centre but I ought not to go out on my bike… far too dangerous.
Day 4
Ok, I have no excuse today…
The weather is perfect, no high winds or rain, I have the time, and my bike is in good working order. So I am going to just go for it…
Wow… brilliant! I arrive at work 15 minutes earlier than I would normally, it didn’t hurt, I didn’t fall off, I chose to ride the most flat route – some cycle paths and some on-road. It was busy but I felt ok and in control.
It is only Day 4 (Day 1 really!) , but apparently if you do something 14 times it then becomes a habit. So I am determined to make cycling my new/old habit.”
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