RichardB
Slightly retro
- Location
- West Wales
I have been so impressed with CannondaleLady's thread that I wanted to do one of my own. This will be quite a long post, so please feel free to ignore.
I have been on two wheels all my life, ever since I graduated from three at the age of about 8. I am 61 now, and slowly returning to cycling after a long while away. I'm loving the journey, but it isn't all easy!
I cycled a lot as a child and teenager, and in my 20s I was commuting to work across the Yorkshire Wolds, 16 hilly miles each way, five days a week. It was the closest I have ever come to being properly fit. However, the arrival of children of my own suddenly made two hours a day doing something like cycling seem a bit self-indulgent, so I got a small motorbike to speed the journey up. After that, it was motorbikes (with a car for mere transport) all the way. I was never without a bicycle in the garage, though. When I moved to Wales and got married again, we bought a pair of MTBs (my wife was pretty much a novice cyclist) and then a pair of beautiful Dawes Galaxies. We toured Holland with them, and took them to France every year behind the car. However, at the age of 40 I developed ME and had to stop cycling (and most other things as well, including my teaching career). In 3-4 years, I had recovered enough to return to work in another sphere, but I never had the energy or strength to start cycling properly again.
With children grown up and away from home, I longed to get back to cycling, and tried commuting once or twice. But my muscles were too weak and I had no stamina, so I gave it up. I put on a lot of weight and got the usual warnings from the doctor. I was 60, and was starting to feel properly old. And then we took a holiday and ended up with our caravan parked next to a couple, older than us, with electric bikes. I had to ask for a go, of course, and loved it. They couldn't praise their bikes enough, and as soon as we got back home we started making enquiries. I sold two of my motorbikes (keeping one for old times' sake) and bought us both an electric bike. I got a Wisper 905 Classic (big battery, big strong bike for a big fella) and my wife got a Raleigh Motus. As soon as I got it, I started plotting how I could use it to cycle to work. I dug out some old cycling gear from the attic, and started doing short local rides. I found I could manage short rides with the electric assistance, so I started going further. One day, I rode half the distance to work and back, and from that moment I realised I could do it. I ought to say that the journey to work is 13½ miles of hilly rural roads, not a smooth 3-mile bimble along city streets.
To be continued ...
I have been on two wheels all my life, ever since I graduated from three at the age of about 8. I am 61 now, and slowly returning to cycling after a long while away. I'm loving the journey, but it isn't all easy!
I cycled a lot as a child and teenager, and in my 20s I was commuting to work across the Yorkshire Wolds, 16 hilly miles each way, five days a week. It was the closest I have ever come to being properly fit. However, the arrival of children of my own suddenly made two hours a day doing something like cycling seem a bit self-indulgent, so I got a small motorbike to speed the journey up. After that, it was motorbikes (with a car for mere transport) all the way. I was never without a bicycle in the garage, though. When I moved to Wales and got married again, we bought a pair of MTBs (my wife was pretty much a novice cyclist) and then a pair of beautiful Dawes Galaxies. We toured Holland with them, and took them to France every year behind the car. However, at the age of 40 I developed ME and had to stop cycling (and most other things as well, including my teaching career). In 3-4 years, I had recovered enough to return to work in another sphere, but I never had the energy or strength to start cycling properly again.
With children grown up and away from home, I longed to get back to cycling, and tried commuting once or twice. But my muscles were too weak and I had no stamina, so I gave it up. I put on a lot of weight and got the usual warnings from the doctor. I was 60, and was starting to feel properly old. And then we took a holiday and ended up with our caravan parked next to a couple, older than us, with electric bikes. I had to ask for a go, of course, and loved it. They couldn't praise their bikes enough, and as soon as we got back home we started making enquiries. I sold two of my motorbikes (keeping one for old times' sake) and bought us both an electric bike. I got a Wisper 905 Classic (big battery, big strong bike for a big fella) and my wife got a Raleigh Motus. As soon as I got it, I started plotting how I could use it to cycle to work. I dug out some old cycling gear from the attic, and started doing short local rides. I found I could manage short rides with the electric assistance, so I started going further. One day, I rode half the distance to work and back, and from that moment I realised I could do it. I ought to say that the journey to work is 13½ miles of hilly rural roads, not a smooth 3-mile bimble along city streets.
To be continued ...
