Hello to Ellie

Overdue update from our tandem world.

So what happened? At the beginning of June we drove down to Devon (fact: when heading west from home it's down and east is up. Why is that?) and collected our new Hase Pino Steps from the lovely Tom Pales aka Tom Freetrike:

https://www.freetrike.co.uk

Tom has an amazing business, combining his professional training as a physiotherapist with his love for the outdoors, especially cycling! Having  previously supplied my beautiful Hase recumbent trike Harriet for me we didn't hesitate to entrust him with ordering and assembling our new tandem.

And wow! What a tandem she is!  Took a bit of getting used to it must be said, especially manoeuvring round corners at slow speed (eg turning round in the road when you realise you've gone the wrong way). We've named her Ellie. She's grey, equipped with an amazing Shimano Steps electric motor and weighs rather a lot. Ellie the Electric Elephant! The recumbent seat is oh so comfortable and the front seat view as we whizz through the countryside is amazing! No more being stuck at the back. John and I are also sitting really close so conversation is easy and he can't pretend not to hear me when I tell him which way to go. The best thing is the motor is always there ready to kick in if we need it. And we do, more and more. It also means we can go faster which can be a lot of fun! Above all it enables us to go on slightly longer and more challenging rides with our tandem friends again.

What happened to Charlotte? I can report she's doing well with our friends Mark and Liz. If you look closely behind Ellie in the photo you might spot an uncharacteristically shy Charlotte lurking at the back.

We'd clocked up 4300 miles with Charlotte, here's to thousands more with Ellie.

Tail'walking' #loveparkrun

We're in Scotland on holiday, staying in Aberdour for the festival and Donkey Brae run. On Saturday we were parkrun tourists and visited the Beveridge Park (named after John's family*) in Kirkcaldy. The course is two laps of the track running around the park and, as I've brought Mac McLaren with me, I (somewhat naively) thought I'd give it a go....

The Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy 

*Beveridge is a common family name in Fife 

So, at 9.30am** I managed to self-propel for maybe a couple of hundred metres before accepting more than a little bit of welcome help from one of the tailwalkers. We then turned the corner and started the ascent up Mount Beveridge. In theory the descent should have been easy, except that Mac (being a tail-dragger) has a habit of spinning out of control around corners or when attempting to brake. In the end I left steering to my assistant and concentrated on putting power in. John and Ali joined us as we completed the final lap. Fortunately, none of us had barcodes so the near hour it took is lost forever to historical record.

With tailwalker Sandie from Dunfermline 

**parkrun in Scotland starts at 9.30am in order to give everyone chance to recover from the indulgences of the night before.


Haha, next time it'll be a flat course, I'll take an assistant to steer, I'll wear gloves to avoid nasty blisters and just maybe I should one day invest in a real racing chair. Don't get me wrong, I've no desire to go fast, just get round parkrun without having to apologise to the tailwalker. But once completed, another run calls and before I know it I'll be a chair-parkrunner ever searching for my next PB..... #loveparkrun

Volunteering #loveparkrun

Crikey, no posts for over a month! The sun has been shining and we've been as busy as ever getting outside in the fresh air: cycling, swimming and volunteering at our (now 11 week old) Street parkrun.

#parkrun is a weekly 5k timed run, jog or walk around a park or similar public space away from roads. #parkruns take place every* Saturday morning at 9am throughout the year come rain or shine. Friendly, inclusive, everyone welcome and completely free to enter!

Originally started in the UK in 2004
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkrun
parkrun has spread around the world and to date about 4.5 million people have registered with the event.

To enter you register online
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/ 
and print off your personal unique barcode. Then simply turn up (don't forget your barcode!) at about 8.45am (in time to listen to the pre-run briefing) on Saturday morning at any parkrun location worldwide. At 9am the run will be started and off you go! As you reach the finish line after 16 minutes* (you're very fast and probably came first!), 26 minutes* (a highly respectable run time), 36 minutes* (running/jogging), 46 minutes* (a good fast walk, or walk/running) or 56 minutes* (walking steadily) your barcode and a team of volunteer timekeepers, barcode scanners record your name and time. In about an hour's time your phone will ping as a link to the results is received. Magic! 

*Note - Street parkrun is flat, others are more challenging so be prepared to add a few minutes for hills.

Well, not quite magic, it's all down to a team of volunteers who turn up every Saturday from about 8am and transform an ordinary park into a 5k course complete with start line, route markers, marshalls and finish funnel. Then there's the results processor to upload the timers and barcode scanners to a nifty bit of online parkrun software.

Street parkrun volunteers 

I'm in there somewhere 

As you probably know, I used to love getting out for a run, carried on (sort of) a few years post MS and badly missed it when I had to stop. I love to encourage others to run and for this reason was keen to get involved early on when I heard that our local Parish Council were hoping to establish a parkrun in Street. More selfishly, my son has also taken up running over the last year or so and if parkrun gets half of my DNA up and running for 9am every Saturday that's great!

Street parkrun

He's in there somewhere

 http://www.parkrun.org.uk/street/news/2018/06/25/street-parkrun-report-8-230618/





*extreme weather conditions (floods, hurricanes and blizzards....) excepted

Farewell Charlotte

Another beautiful Bank Holiday Monday, we are getting a bit too used to all this sunshine! Took Charlotte for a final gentle ride to Wells before she graduates to a more challenging life with our (considerably fitter and more adventurous) tandem friends Mark and Liz.

Bishop's Palace, Wells

with tandem pirates Rex and Hannah 

Meanwhile I am pleased to report that my right leg has returned to (almost) as it was earlier this year. All in all I found this rare relapse (sharp deterioration over days/weeks with some recovery) a remarkably positive experience. For one it made me rethink things and at last give in to the wonders of the electric motor. And I am incredibly grateful to have made such a good recovery.

We are due to collect Charlotte's replacement tomorrow, I will endeavour to post some photos soon.

Edinburgh Marathon revisited

As many of you know Edinburgh Marathon has very special memories for me. 13 years ago I entered John and myself to run to celebrate John's 50th birthday. Little did I know when I ran happily over the finish line in June 2005 that 6 months later I would be diagnosed with MS.

https://annoniemouse1970.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/2005-in-pre-ms-days.html?m=1

In addition to the 26.2 mile distance Edinburgh holds a concurrent relay race for teams of 4. It's a great idea as the course is flooded with fresh runners every 6.5 miles or so to inspire the tired marathoners on their way.

This year Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her husband Richard and family/friends had decided to enter as a team and raise funds for the human rights charities who had supported Nazanin whilst in prison in Iran:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/runningfornazanin

Nazanin has been training by running around a courtyard in prison. Sadly, as we know, her release at Christmas didn't happen. Family and friends will run without her. If you can spare a few moments and a token donation to Amnesty Scotland and other charities the message will give support to Nazanin and boost media coverage. Amnesty and the other human rights charities will continue to use their resources to support Nazanin and many others unjustly imprisoned in Iran and worldwide.

This family's living nightmare puts my relatively minor discomfort of living with MS in perspective. Sometimes it does me good to escape my little MS world and think about other problems.

Och aye

We headed north over the border last weekend, travelling with Sitzkreig is so easy! Why has it taken me this long to give in to the power of the lithium ion battery? An absolute dream whizzing round smooth level floors at airports (you get VIP fast-track service at airports when you travel with a wheelchair/scooter, my family love flying with me) and rolling out at Edinburgh straight onto the tram. Ok, Edinburgh itself was somewhat more challenging with some steep hills, dodgy pavements, adverse cambers and, on occasion, a strange concept of what constitutes a drop-kerb. I improved with practice and only performed one out-of-control wheelie stunt during a seaside visit to Aberdour across the Forth.

With John's son Joe in Rose Street

End of a sunny afternoon at Aberdour looking south to Edinburgh 

Edinburgh Castle 

The Spinning Blowfish, best busking band ever!
Make sure to catch them outside the National Gallery

Blue skies and sunshine at Greyfriar's Bobby 

Sitzkrieg!

My TravelScoot 'Sitzkreig' has arrived! I can now go into shops and even join a queue without resorting to sitting on the floor. Took it to yoga this morning and, unlike last week when I went with Harriet, managed to join in with some of the class (and not just the lying down bit at the end that I'm always really good at). I can also take Sitzkrieg right to the edge of the swimming pool, no more struggling on crutches all the way back to the changing room.
On the downside, Sitzkrieg progresses at 4mph (6km/h) walking pace which feels frustratingly slow by comparison to cycling.

TravelScoot is designed by a German engineer who needed a scooter small enough to stow into his self-build light aircraft (which immediately sold it to John). So when I said I was looking for a German name my son came up with 'Sitzkrieg' which translates as 'seated warfare'. Apparently the word originally came from the British press at the start of WW2 as a play on Hitler's proclaimed 'Blitzkrieg' (rapid mobilisation of motorised weapons) when not a lot happened and things got off to a slow start (how my son knows all this at age 18 when he didn't even do history at GCSE is beyond me). And, as Ali also pointed out, TravelScoot is motorised and I do sit on it. Besides, we always hear about people bravely fighting their cancer so why are we assumed to merely suffer MS? Seated warfare it is.

Fact: mobility scooters and wheelchairs are male, whilst tandems and trikes are female. Here's a quick recap:

Charlotte - tandem
Harriet - recumbent trike
Mac - all-terrain wheelchair
Norman - normal wheelchair
Sitzkrieg - as above - Sitzi for short  (I  pronounce with English S)

Quite a collection. Sitzkrieg is the first motorised vehicle, but I'm keeping options open with Charlotte and Harriet as electric power-assist is possible for both......