i am not the best person on a bike,if anything is to go wrong then i am your woman,i decided to have a go on my daughters mountain bike the other day as i felt very energetic as you do,so i got out the bike had a look at it plucked up the courage to get going,shut dog in house and off i went,it was weird as i normally have the mary poppins type but i was on the move, i managed to the end of my road and to the local shop about 5mins away a double mini roundabout i was still ok bit odd i felt i was peddeling and getting nowhere but ok, i came to a hill not a big hill but a hill boy are they the pits,looking around me and no one about i tackled the hill,only to be stopped by 2 wee boys well 2 tall young boys about 10/12yr who proceded to let me know i was in the wrong gear and need to be in hill gear if i wanted to get to the top of the hill,then they put the bike in the right gears for me,i felt very old and silly for a moment then i thanked them for the help expecting them to go on and have a good laugh at me,no they went up the hill with me sweet i thought they have manners bless,on we went the boys went on to school,i managed a little bit more and decided enough as i had to get home now,i found a wall and had a seat for a rest as the old legs were wobbling by now,ok i had to get home and the only way was down the hill and back the way i had come,so off i wen't stopped at the top and thought the hill wasn't that bad so i was feeling good about it short easy ride to bottom and left turn at the bottom for home,oh no not that easy i hadn't changed the gears had i so i flew down hill didn't stop at the bottom and landed in a hedge not pretty and i was stuck,where were the lads now,no i got a big hairy bin man coming to my rescue with a bin in his hand and laughing yes laughing said i was the best thing he'd seen in ages,he pulled me out and must say he and his colleges were very nice about it and gave me my dignity ,probably be in the paper next week under "no fool like an old fool" but i walked said bike home,so now bike is firmly back in garage for my daughter and no more said, dog will be walked as per later.dorothy,

do not try this at home without children present for assistance.

thanks for giving me a chuckle Dorothy .. lol,

i take my hat off to you for attempting to even get on a bike let along trying to ride it up a hill!!

keep peddling

oh paula i am so glad i am not alone but gotta laugh ,dorothy

UPDATE i am now totally in confusion of my chidren ie 26 &29 after my bike trial as wrote they have took it upon themselves to buy me a brand new ladies low step 6 gear push bike as i am turning 55 this month,i ask you where is the logic are they thinking well at her age let her have fun or are they after my money i shall use said bike as long as i have no hills,gear changes,bin men or children to avoid,honestly, i am so excited got all emergency numbers locked into moby,will let friend know where i am going and hope i can do this,oh and a taxi numb just incase,bottle water,snacks,sanity!!!! nope out the window,dorothy

cheers jane, i looked at 3 wheelers before but they are so expensive even 2nd hand,i had a little sit on one and felt like i was in driving miss daisy but really comfy with no worries about balance,on 2 wheels i feel like mary poppins without the majic, i have so far had a little jaunt to the top of my street and back,my son just loves the idea of nutcase mum on wheels,i hope to make it down to my town centre on said bike as our roads are being shut and parking will be a nightmare to watch the torch go past(lowestoft)on thursday the 5th but im not promissing that one,might take the car,well it could rain ....might be on telly,just hope not seen if falling off,dorothy

Good luck for Thursday Dorothy!

We'll all be watching the news to see if there's a glimpse of you!

Doreen xx

hi sylvia, i like the wind turbines they now have them over the south side ie kessingland,i worked in birds eye when they were building gulliver and the new orbis offices and when it first went into use it scared me near to going white haired as it has a whooshing sound that sounded like a heavy breather in you ear and it is spooky enough down there in the first place but i got to like it kind of a friendly noise,i started at 5 am and it is so quiet at that time even hearing the sea was spooky,
olympic torch in town.#
i went down to town in car as weather was iffy so left bike at home,was worried about it getting stolen anyway,ok i didnt think i'd make it,
traffic was starting to get diverted and roads getting closed as it was now 9.15am so i wondered about parking as the town has never been so busy,schools were walking and loads of people about walking any way,i spent about 15min looking in town for a space but gave up, i go home past my daughters house near town and her road was pretty empty so i parked there, it took me 20min to get from hers to town,she does it in 5,i found my friends the red hats crew and we stood together proud to be there and we stood and we stood however i as per had to take a pit stop and a wee sit down and rest when there got chatting as you do to staff and the torch was running late,went back gave info to others but the street clown etc came and was great bless them they was there about half hour the school kids loved them,it was getting very hot by now,well the proccession eventually came and it was awsome then the girl with the torch which was not as big as i thought but look so nice,that was it, another few mins and it was all over, we did get lots photos taken by the press and the tv was there so we thought we had our 5 min of fame,no i watched the news just in case and all lowestoft got was 2min at ness point with the 2 women dancing about,no town mayer,, no us no town view of the kids cheering,i was so dissappointed as most of the towns had alot of coverage on it at least lowestoft is now on the map, ah well didnt want to be on telly anyway,the weather done proud it got to 28% by 10.30 so it got too hot for me glad i had the car as i dont think i would have made it home before dinner,the town cleared in 5 min flat it felt more like a ghost town so many people just vanished but i was really glad it gave me time and space to get back to my car not being jossled about but i would like to say the police/paramedics were lovely they played with the younger children as they went by on there motorbikes,i am glad i did go after all even if i didnt take the bike, i did however use it to slimming club and went the long way as no hills and it was so good i felt like a kid again,just hope knees ok with my ventures out,will now rest up for day or 2,dorothy

Glad you had a good time seeing the torch. We went to see it n Exeter, and there were so many people all waiting patiently. It was over too quickly but at least we stayed for a little dwinkie in the nearest pub (that was before I started the MTX, now it's slimline tonic - ugh).

I'm delighted that Lowestoft is back on the map, and good luck with the bike

Sylvia xx

Lovely to read how you're enjoying the bike Dorothy.

I have to say that I find cycling easier than walking due to my dodgy feet, and it's gentle pleasant exercise (if we get some nice weather to go with it)

I've picked up quite a few bargains from Aldi for cycling, including some padded cycling shorts which I wear under a pair of crop trousers as it makes things a bit easier on the bum. Also got some waterproofs from there too and despite them being cheap they're really good quality and kept the rain out when i got caught out in a heavy shower a few weeks back.

Nice that your friends are thinking of getting bikes too, a nice ride out with a stop for tea and cake can be lovely. it's also worth checking to see if there are any local SKyride groups, they organise rides of different levels of ability and most cycling routes seem to involve a cake shop for some reason :)

Have a look here, it might be that you and your friends could go on one of the gentle ones to get started http://www.goskyride.com/ they're free too!

Enjoy your continued cycling Dorothy :)

Jo. x