“You can have my bicycle when you pull it out from under my cold, dead ar....”

The last two years has seen a distinct decline in my coordination and general physical ability…

I can still lift prodigious weights, but not as quickly, and not as often…

My limbs are reluctantly cooperative, but tend to unpredictability with little respect for the fragile world around them, and they keep dropping stuff…

Walking unaided is becoming increasingly difficult and I notice I avoid it if possible. This is unfortunate, but I’ve walked up and over all the highest bits of the U.K. (and crawled through a lot of it’s deepest dark, cold, and wet bits) so don’t feel as if I’m missing anything I haven’t experienced already…

Running is now, thankfully, out of the question. I never liked running and only did it so I could be self-righteous in the company of the slovenly…

But cycling…

I’ve had a long relationship with cycling… I’ve worked in the industry, competed, built countless examples, injected testosterone into… err, and cycling seems to be paying me back…

The moment I’m on my bike and rolling, I’ve two gyroscopic elements holding me up that mean I don’t have to continually worry about doing it myself. I feel “propped up” and comfortable…

I’ve long since abandoned the exotic dream machines I used to build and ride and have two 3speed machines… One, a custom I built myself (based on the Path Racers of the 1930’s) and the other, a Raleigh Chiltern Gents Sports Cycle which I restored after it had been hidden in a shed for 15yrs… sidenote: quite sad really as the guy who gave it to me had hoped it may help him combat Parkinson’s, but it didn’t.

in exercise terms cycling is the best use of any available energy I have and one massive advantage of the Baclofen I take is I don’t get the horrid cramp I used to get because I was too lazy to stretch out the accumulated lactic acid in my muscles… WIN.!

Anyway, basically cycling is great…

hi

a billly connollt fan perhps?! cheeky

i have very linited bike knowldege but i recogniase a passsion for something when ui see it!

that sort ofbpassion gives experience of a kind that canr be bouhgt but must be shared.

talks/demoonsartrions to local clubs-bike youht etc-eve classses. online or in person-adapt it so it suits yuo. when/if that tim e comes.

sharing yuor story/experiece willl bring yuo benefits that yuo havenr even thiouhgt of yet! yes

el

Good for you - I understand the thrill of cycling. I was a mad keen cyclist until dystonia made it too difficult. I had and still have 2 beautiful lightweight tourers, one (the Bob Jackson) I had the frame made to my own specifications and I built up as my dream tourer / audax type bike. More lively feel than a typical tourer, but could lug tent and camping gear when required. The other was an Orbit standard frame, and built up to a slightly reduced specification - that was my commuting bike, slightly less lively but a lovely bike too. I had to stop as the dystonia meant I couldn’t hold my head up to see where I was going, and also couldn’t brake - things that are essential! Boy, do I miss it. I do still try them out as the dystonia is now more controlled but the position does exacerbate the dystonia. But I still get the thrill, and the body / brain hasn’t forgotten the skill. It just seems so familiar and natural on the bike. Then I have to wait a while for the dystonia to settle back down.

I had a friend with PPMS. He was also a very keen cyclist and was able to continue cycling long after his walking had got very shaky and he needed a blue badge. On the bike you wouldn’t know he had anything wrong with him. Off the bike straight away you knew his MS was not minor.

I guess if balance issues start to make it more difficult then perhaps lightweight trikes might be the next step. I’ve never had a go on one. Something I’ve wanted to try. They handle quite differently I understand, and I may be wrong in assuming that they require less sense of balance, particularly at speed.

I love the title of this post!

my son loves his bike and goes miles.

We live half way between Wigan and Bolton.

sometimes just the west pennine moors.

then Blackpool and even Lancaster and beyond.

I can totally imagine him saying the title of your post.

Keep on pushing those pedals!