Riding the hobby horse

No posts for a few days, just been so busy. Good news is I am over the chemo and feel better than at any time since I started the treatment. Been sleeping really well, so well that on a couple of days I have not needed a sleep in the afternoon. The outcome of feeling so well is that it seems like I am living in Clapham Junction. Have had so many visitors, its been really good. I can't name you all as there have been so many I would probably miss some one out, suffice to say it's been good to catch up with everyone. Expecting more of the same today too. Bad news is that we seem to keep finding faults at home to spend money on. Earlier in the week I went up the garden to let the chickens out, yes we still still have 9 of them, and noticed that part of the garden fence had decided it did not like our garden and had decided to move to Pauline's next door. So need to get that back. Then, yesterday, the big car decided it was going to have a falling out with the battery. Calls to Dave then Adam, sorted a replacement and fitting. As the big car is the one I can still drive ok, this needed doing. Right time to ride that hobby horse ...

... this time it's motorcycling, so jump to last paragraph if you want to bypass most of this bit!

I was always a little interested in getting a motorbike, but never followed it up untill I was in my early 20s. I remember talking to Dad at 16 about getting a bike. Dad was against it big time, so much so the bribe came out. If I did not get a bike, he would buy me a car when I was 17, buy a bike, and I was on my own when it came to a car. Now I was very naive and accepted it, as my own car was so important to my cycling that I decided to wait. Why was I naive, well if Dad was so against it, if I had bought a bike, he would still have bought me that car just to get me off the bike, but I did not think of it back then. As it turned out Dad actually came round to bikes as we both got older, so much so, we spent several weekends away at race meetings at Brands Hatch watching the World Superbike races, camping, drinking etc. They were very special times. Only , got hom on the back once though, that was enough for him!

Anyway, think I was 22 when I got my first bike, scared me to death at less than 30 mph. Bearing in mind I often rode my push bike at that sort of speed, it should not have done. I rode little bikes for a while before Adam decided to join me and we pushed on to get our full licences. We had great fun getting as much experience as we could, often doing 100 mile plus rides in the summer evenings, on bikes that struggled to do more than 50 mph. We finally got our tests through, and both passed first time. I had a big incentive to pass, as I did my test with £2,000 in my pocket as I was going straight to the dealer to pick up my first big bike, a 600cc Suzuki.

Adam soon had his own big bike, and many Sunday's were spent out early, breakfast at a cafe by the coast, then a coast ride and home. A bigger challenge was to follow, France. We agreed to a 2 week tour in France in early September. Sarah and I would sometimes take separate holidays and she was fine with this. Well we had a great time, with many happy memories, unfortunately the next time we went did not ave the same outcome. A couple of years later Jeremy also had passed his test and we agreed another tour. We actually ended up at the same camp site on the Med that Adam and I had found on our previous trip, bit rough and ready, but cheap, close to the beach but most importantly, a great food outlet with monster bottles of very cold beer, just what you need after a day on the beach. We stayed a few days and then decided to make our way home, via Marseille, as we had some bike bits to buy. Within a few miles of leaving the camp site, there was a very bad accident, where a drunk driver, bearring in mind this was about 10am, lost control n a mountain bend and drove straight at us. Unfortunatley Adam could not get out of the way. He was in a very bad way for quite a while, but thankfully he is still with us, as you can see from the start of this post.

Even though this was a bad accident, it did not put me off, and I have continued to ride ever since. I enjoy the immense feeling of freedom, the speed, the ability to bypass traffic, the commoraderie (all bikers nod or wave at each other), the race meets, touring, in fact the whole shbang. let me finish this bit with a little road safety message about speed. Speed does not kill, bad driving and inappropriate speed kills. If speed kills then I and many others would be long gone. I agree that if you combine it with bad driving, then you had better get used to the fact you might not be here long.

I am already planning some biking for after my chemo, one trip for me, and one as a fund raiser. The trip for me would be to the Tour de France, to follow it for a few days, and to see the race in the high mountains, something I have never done. Will need a better bile for that trip, so had better get saving. The other is something I had always thought about for my retirement, but might be good to bring forward. I fancy a fund raiser, a round the UK, by the longest coastal road route, ie that nearst the sea, on a moped, camping and b&b on the way. The fact its on a moped would make it fun, I think, but certainly different, and slow. I have already started thinking about this trip, and will be seeking some sponsors provided I am recovered enough to do it, raising funds for St Catherine's Hospice and Cancer Research. So what does the week ahead bring, well hopefully a few days out with Sarah, doing lunch, but mainly getting as well as possible, as a week Monday its round 3 already.