It's better by bike

Why is it easier to pedal than walk?

We've just enjoyed another trip with our tandem, this time in Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland. Spot Ben Nevis trying to hide behind a cloud ;-)

I can ride our tandem Charlotte with John for about an hour (10 miles or so) before fatigue sets in and nerves fail to get the message through to my muscles. It's a gradual thing, in practice John contributes more and more power and I less. The well-worn tandem insult 'she's not pedaling at the back' is in part true ;-) A welcome rest for photos here (near Port Appin)

Getting off is interesting, John has become adept at leaning round, grabbing my left leg and lifting it over the rear allowing me to disentangle from the tandem and collapse to the ground to recover. Tandem Club friends, family and even complete strangers have stepped in to assist with this many times. If insufficient recovery time available the reverse exercise must be performed to get me back in the saddle again. Recovery time is best spent in cafés :-) or in the Highlands, ferries were a welcome rest too ;-)

My pal Justin in France is the same age as me, has similar MS and yet cycles solo. He's an ace cyclist and regularly does long hilly rides in the Pyrenees. His neuro in France cannot understand how is still able to cycle so well and once commented that if he were unable to cycle he would probably be using a wheelchair to get around! Justin loved the irony of this, as his love of mountain-biking in his younger pre-MS days had on numerous occasions almost put him in a wheelchair. Despite his amazing cycling ability, Justin often relies on fellow cyclists to lift him safely down from his bike to rest before he is able to stand. If cycling alone he has apparantly perfected a technique of falling off into a suitable bush!

This was Justin and me during Justin's fundraising ride from North Wales to the Pyrenees in August 2016. We are demonstrating our n=2 study showing that MS is not linked to genes controlling height.