Birthday bicycle...

...in the kitchen...

This is the very first – and only – bike I have ever owned, as we lived in an area where there was too much traffic when I was little ( according to my mum ). Little did she know that I borrowed my friends’ bikes whenever I could...  I don’t remember ever learning to ride, so I guess it must have come naturally – I certainly can’t remember ever falling off...

When we were older (much older!)and mountain biking became fashionable I went out in the Peak a few times, again borrowing a friend’s bike. I loved it – and so Roy & I were persuaded to do the C2C not long after it was first set up – again, on borrowed bikes. I struck lucky, and my bike behaved beautifully all the way. John’s chain fell off before we even left the car park, and we thought Roy was having a heart attack when he was pedalling like mad downhill and couldn’t keep up. His brakes were seized on... Some good friends ( including blipper  Sue Middleton ) delivered us a road bike for Roy when we reached Keswick, and then a hybrid at Portinscale for the journey across the Pennines. Another abiding memory of the trip is Roy and John in biking gear near Sunderland, going into a shop for a sandwich with all the workers in overalls, and not knowing what a stottie was...

Happy Days! Anyway – as a result of all this fun, Roy bought this bike as a surprise for my 40th birthday. Unusually for me I was off ill that day, and hadn’t got out of bed when he left for work. He left it in the kitchen like this with a note to say don’t get on it for a ride – it isn’t properly fixed together yet! I wasn’t tempted, to be honest, as I had flu – but we have had fun on bikes ever since ;)

Great themes this month sk – though how I’m going to represent my favourite colour in mono next week is yet to be fathomed ;)