RideFAST Cycling coaching
  • Home
  • How it works
  • Strength training
  • Who is RideFast Coaching?
  • Training tips
  • Testimonials
  • Mallorca - OQRideFast
  • Great Britain Transplant Cycling Team
  • Contact me
  • Rider profile and induction
  • Coaching consent form

Little old ladies in little old cars

11/26/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
​So, there I was, flying through the air thinking ‘here we go again’ closely followed by ‘if I survive hitting the deck, I hope nothing runs me over’. Time stands still whilst a crash is happening but soon enough, I was lying face down on the A458. I was 200 metres away from my house having had my recently started Sunday ride brought to an abrupt halt by a little old lady in a Volkswagen. Again...

I’ve got a thing about being hit by little old ladies in little old cars whilst riding although to be fair, this is my first VW. I’m beginning to think it might be my fault, or maybe I did something terrible to old ladies in a past life. My brother had to fish me out of a hedge after being broadsided by a driver emerging from a T junction a few years back. Renault Clio. She said she was so unsettled by the crash she’d just caused; it was her sincere hope she wasn’t going to hit anything else on her onward journey. I shared her concern.

More recently a little old Spanish lady decided to turn right to get petrol at the same time I was riding past the filling station. Peugeot 206. She said it was ‘mucho calor’ and, yeah, perfectly understandable, paying attention to other road users when it’s warm is pretty challenging. Either way, Mallorcan tarmac tastes the same British tarmac – it’s just served warm.

I walked away from the first two with some missing skin, a collection of bruises and some bike scrapes. The latest instalment did involve a (short) lift home in a Shropshire ambulance and a bike that will only turn left. Well, it would only turn left if the wheels went round. Which they don’t.

I was fortunate to be helped off the road by a young lady who took charge of a situation very calmly (an ex fire fighter now in the armed services), a young man who witnessed the crash and stopped to help and give me his details, the cops and the ambulance staff. I’m extremely grateful for their care and attention.

If you ride long enough, this shit happens, a moment’s inattention from a driver and bang, down you go. I was lucky again – it you want to frame it like that – but it got me thinking about the value of healthy life and why I choose to spend a good chunk of it astride a bicycle.

Although it comes with obvious risks, stuff like this will not stop me, or you I suspect, from riding. It’s too important for my physical and mental health. I don’t ride a bike out of a determination to exercise my right as a road user. Self-righteous indignation is no protection against inattentive drivers and riding angry is no fun.  it’s just cycling stops me from going bat shit and keeps the ravages of Mr Kipling's finest at bay.

Recent experiences have made me reflect on the place riding a bike has in my life. Instances of chewing tarmac aside, cycling gives me an enhanced quality of being, and training and racing gives me a sense of purpose and fulfilment. To some non-cyclists what we do may be no more than playing on a child’s toy dressed in a Lycra onesie, but for me it’s a fundamental part of my identity and psychologically important. Have you ever been prompted to think about what cycling means to you? Or is it just something you 'do'? I'd be interested to know. 
​
Riding a bike outside makes me feel fully alive - in the elements you sense the environment and feel the work. It’s a real, not virtual, world and to me it’s all the more valuable for that. You can’t ride a bike without hurting a little although hopefully this is self-infected rather than in the gift of a little old lady in a little old car.

The moral of the story? I guess don't take your ability to ride a bike for granted. Value it, own it, nurture it and above all, enjoy it. And get insurance. And... bear in mind if you need a new bike, there's a long, long wait because there's nothing in stock! 

If you've had your own experiences of bouncing down road unattached to your bike I'd like to hear about it, particularly if it's changed your attitude to riding or made you reflect on how riding effects your life. 

Rich Smith bounces real good. He has coached the Great Britain Transplant Cycling team for over 10 years, is a British Cycling qualified Level 3 coach and a mature psychology student. He spent 30 years responding badly to people in authority in senior roles for Barclays, HSBC, British Waterways and National Grid Property before launching RideFast Coaching which is much more fun. 
2 Comments
Alan Jenkins
11/30/2020 06:28:41 pm

What a fab blog. Really enjoyed it!
Riding a bike has always been there for me, though not always as a hobby. I rode a bike as a child, learned to explore my local area in parka & jeans on an old second hand sit up & beg, then was delighted beyond delight when my Dad traded it in for a 5 speed racer. I rode this bike through the difficult years of teendom, I used it because we had no car to give me lifts. A car came along with marriage, so the bike lived back in the shed - and eventually was stolen from the shed. I replaced it (twice) and eventually my bike became my rock again, this time through a crumbling marriage, when getting out was important for all sorts of reasons. A few years on and I was riding bikes with my kids, riding to work in the rain and shine, wandering up to the shops and back. It wasn't really until 20 years or so ago, as a runner, that it occurred to me that cycling could be a hobby and a fitness thing.. and since then I've sort of joined the masses on the roads, doing the same as every other middle-aged wannabe. But I've always retained this love for doing the small things, I've always had this deeper love. I guess when I'm on my bike, I'll always be with my late dad in some way, always riding back from work with him. I love to visit the quirky places, take weird pictures and generally behave like some kind of vagabond, but if you're enjoying it, hey who cares ! :)

Reply
Rich Smith
12/2/2020 06:39:50 pm

Thanks for responding Alan - I'm chuffed you enjoyed reading the blog. I inherited a 5 speed Dawes from my older brother when I was 11, I remember being amazed when somebody said they had a bike with 10, yes 10, gears on it. Sounds like you've had a lifelong relationship with cycling - long may it continue!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    The ramblings of a cycling coach...

    Archives

    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    November 2022
    June 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture
Follow me on Strava
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • How it works
  • Strength training
  • Who is RideFast Coaching?
  • Training tips
  • Testimonials
  • Mallorca - OQRideFast
  • Great Britain Transplant Cycling Team
  • Contact me
  • Rider profile and induction
  • Coaching consent form