Adults who don’t cycle

Pashley tricycle

A few days ago I had a meeting with someone through work.  To cut a long story short, we met at the Forest Centre, Marston Mortaine in Bedfordshire.  Lovely place.

After we’d finished our discussions, I headed off to the toilets to change into my running kit for a post-work run.  My colleague said “you will have to excuse me, I couldn’t possibly run around here like you” and went on to say it looked a nice place to walk around.

Indeed it is. Several miles of flat trails around a couple of lakes, all from a regenerated area of former brick works.

I suggested he could come back another time and hire a bicycle, as I pointed out the cycle hire facility which was right next door to where we were meeting.

“Oh I haven’t ridden a bicycle since I was 16 years old.  I couldn’t do that now”.  He said this with a hint of regret, pausing a little as he said it.

I thought that was so sad.

At a guess this chap was a similar age to myself, mid fifties.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to go decades without riding a bicycle and yet I suspect this is so common.  Surely there must also be people who do return to cycling after a break of many years?  After all, they say you never forget how to ride a bicycle.

There must be many stories of people in the same situation as my colleague, not cycling for years and then take that step to climb onto a bike and give it a go……?