Although I’m happily married, I do enjoy my own company at times. I have found my latest pondering time has included cycling while spending some time on my own. To summarise:
The value of turning a heap of junk into a useable bicycle
I think I might have told you about this Falcon hybrid we were given a while back, not that this is a heap of junk at all. I quite enjoyed tuning it up and bringing it back to life, even though it has needed a little more TLC than originally expected. You see I decided to ride it to work a couple of weeks ago and needed to pop out at lunch time.
It was then the back tyre went “BANG!”. I thought I’d been shot. Thankfully it was no more than the inner tube suffering a puncture and instantly the rim was on the road. The tyre sidewall had ripped itself from the bead wires and needed replacing. I put this down to the fact the bike had previously been sitting doing nothing for several years and you could see a distortion in the tyres where they’d been sitting flat all that time. They were only cheap Kenda tyres anyway, complete with several cracks.
Let’s get the scene right with Sally Riceman
Set the scene. So on Saturday afternoon it was time to fit new tyres (some obsolete Specialised 700x38c). Outside it was starting to rain. Inside the garage I brought a tray for afternoon tea – a pot of tea, favourite mug, milk jug and some peanut butter sandwiches. This is important to get right. On the radio was Sally Riceman, a new presenter I hadn’t heard before. Some great music and conversation which made me think this show could be a local 3CR version of the excellent Radio 4 Saturday Live. Nice to have that in the background for company but forgive me here for digressing. Nevertheless it will be interesting to see how this show develops as I like the concept of local radio, serving local communities.
Back to the bicycle in question. Fitting the new tyres and inner tube was very straightforward. While the bike was hanging up I ran it through the gears and all was fine, working much better than you’d expect if you made a judgement based on its looks. Hannah came out to take a look, she has a vested interest in this bicycle and approved of what had been done. We talked about a respray; sure I can strip the frame but we didn’t go any further. If it were me, I’d get creative with a unique, wacky colour scheme and finish.
All this latest pondering is so very therapeutic. I found myself thinking once again about the Common Wheel project in Glasgow (previous post) and also about a really nice mental health project I have visited in Dunstable. This was Impact Peer Support and I paid them a visit in the context of my work as commissioner. There you have a group of people with low to moderate mental health needs, a couple of facilitators and then changes take place. All good stuff but not a bicycle in sight. Again I reflected on my beginnings in social work back in the 1980s and how it was almost becoming a full-circle. Wouldn’t it be great to be a part of a local “Common Wheel” project……
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