Lucky in Wheels
When you lose something for a while, it makes you appreciate it all the more. After the weeks laid up in bed back in April (with a small pressure sore) the freedom of being back on the bike has spurred me on for hours ‘in the saddle’ (well, the handbike seat if more like a comfy recliner than the knifeblade of most bike saddles).
Miles of pedaling quiet Highland lanes got traded for flatter Spanish ones back in June, for a World Cup Paracycling event, my first in a long time international race. Fast and intimidating, I was lucky to get third (which doesn’t sound so impressive when you know there were only 7 in the race), and an invite from British Cycling to the World Paracycling Championships in Quebec, mid-August.
So suddenly training has got more painful, with Gordon Gillespie (Handbike Scotland, http://www.handbikescotland.co.uk ) offering to pace me at least once a week…still trying to catch him on the hills, but all good stuff for the races ahead.
The pacing, combined with the new bike currently winging its way to me from Albion Mobility (http://www.albionmobility.co.uk ) near Stirling, should hopefully improve my speed and maybe, if training and luck work their magic, get me a decent place at the finish line. Albion Mobility are the first Scottish retailer for handbikes (at last we don’t have to travel hundreds of miles to southern England!) and I owe them a huge thank you for their help getting me set up in time for the Worlds.
In between all this, I had my eyes opened in the bright lights and smoggy skies of Shanghai, reminding me how lucky we are in the ‘West’ when it comes to wheels.
I met two young men who’d been tied to a bed in an orphanage for 20 years, just because they have disabilities, and another young man who’d been sold for sex since his birth, to age 17, because he has Spinabifida and was unwanted. It seems that disability is misunderstood, or at worst, and unwanted embarrassment in Chinese society.
The Home Sweet Home charity (http://www.homesweehome.org.cn ) rescues people with disabilities from orphanages and the streets, gives them a home, and a job. Any profits from the products they sell is re-invested to support the work of the charity. A fantastic social enterprise. Realising how lucky I am when it comes to wheels has me thinking about how to help places like Home Sweet Home where people with disabilities aren’t so fortunate. Email me if you have any ideas?....
— July 29, 2010 10:24 PM
Spring Forward, Fall Back
The clocks are forward at last, lighter nights, new energy after the long cold winter months of the far north. And ‘Spring Forward, Fall Back’ seems a great metaphor for life too – at least from my position right now. I’m stranded in bed in a flat in Sheffield, due to a scuff on my backside that would be inconsequential for anyone who could walk, but a potential disaster for anyone sat in a wheelchair (the nightmare of pressure sores).
I’d just had a spring forward after winning the first bike race of the season for the British Para-cycling Series (thanks to John at http://www.fit-for-purpose.co.uk for his coaching over the winter) and two weeks bike training in Mallorca – oh so good to ride on roads where there are more cyclists than cars, more sunshine than cloud, and more cafes than a hungry woman could wish for.
But with every bit of progress we make in life, there is often a setback, and as I’m reminding myself now, its how we deal with the setbacks rather than the leaps forward that makes the difference between being happy or miserable, succeeding and failing…
So here’s what I’m telling myself…you’ll be stronger for resting; Lance Armstrong won races after cancer, so a tiny sore on your bum is nothing; read some books; learn some stuff; enjoy the peace and quite of being cooped up in four walls; don’t go on your turbo trainer ‘cos you’ll only scuff it up again – patience is a virtue; write blogs that you never find time for otherwise!
So far, so good. And as the quote below reminded me, I’ll do what I can to find the good bits about being stuck in bed, rather than get pulled into the potential gloominess of it! (yeah, probably most teenagers dream)
“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down” (Mary Pickford)
All a bit melodramatic for a scuff, but then it’s the scuffs in life that have the potential to drag us down, when really we just need to scuff them off.
— April 09, 2010 06:05 PM
Norway, mountains, friends and stuff
Minus thirty. Eyelashes tipped with mini balls of ice. Fingers numb. The cold gnawing at my cheeks so they feel that skin has been stripped from them. I wish I could feel my legs and wonder if my toes are blue; and we’re planning to head for Antarctica? It seems a mad plan when even a Norwegian winter feels so harsh.
At minus thirty, the sit-ski has no glide over the snow, as if there’s a layer of superglue between it and the white stuff. Pulling on my ski poles with all my strength, I barely move, and suddenly the prospect of a mountain sk-tour seems like a sentence for torture.
My friend Kristina straps on a harness, normally for towing sleds, and hooks me in. She’s hardy, born on skis and used to the Norwegian winter. The ‘stick’ of the cold snow is broken, and we start moving. My arms work like pistons in rhythm with her legs, and the intermittent tug from the tow-line keeps my momentum going. Slowly but surely we follow a skidoo trail, up, up and up into the mountains.
Way up high, its warmer; some kind of temperature inversion. There is pristine snow, peaks and valleys blanketed in ice, the sky blue, a sparkling landscape. I’m glad for friends mad enough to help me be there.
Without friends none of the stuff I do would be possible. So thanks to all of you, and for being a little bit crazy to trek high and far with me. That’s the stuff that brings life to life.
— February 17, 2010 12:39 PM
Into the Unkown
Over the last few weeks I’ve donned my very best BBC voice, presenting a new series for BBC Scotland called ‘Into the Unknown”; interviewing explorers such as John Blashford-Snell, John Ridgeway, Pen Haddow and Benedict Allen. It was a real privilege to hear their stories, and perspectives on adventure and exploration.
You can listen to the programmes by going to BBC radio Scotland ‘Into the Unknown’ page.
— February 09, 2010 11:21 PM
Remarkable New Year
Happy New Year! Its snowing like I’ve never seen it snow in Inverness before. Scotland has the best ski conditions in Europe, as demonstrated by skiing along the canal towpath this afternoon. Had to remove the Air Greenland tag from the back of my sit-ski, which is really sad because it means I haven’t sat in it since then…that’s three and a half years since the most incredible journey of my life, skiing across the Greenland icecap. Big skies, open space, pure wilderness, the kind of place that empties you, so you can stop doing and start being.
At the end, I was hooked, reluctant to return to ‘normal’ life, and was sure I’d be hard parted from the ice for long. So what happened? Work, family, commitments, daily chores, miles of biking…the kind of stuff that although important, can easily squeeze out a few vital blocks. The blocks that hold all the mortar together; the adventures that give us the space to breathe amongst all the busy-ness of the business of life, and remember that we’re a little being in a big universe.
Our ski tracks across the pristine surface of the Greenland icecap are marks I’ll never forget. Simple marks that made life feel remarkable. It is, but sometimes we get too busy to remember.
To all I know and all I don’t, Happy Adventuring in 2010, and may you find yourself feeling the remarkable-ness.
— January 01, 2010 08:09 PM
Fit for Purpose
Fit for Purpose
I spend dark winter hours like a hamster, pedaling my handbike on a turbo-trainer, occasionally strapping on a heart rate monitor to try and keep a pace. I watch something on iplayer – great that ‘Spooks’ is back - to distract myself from the boring labour of pedaling a bike when there’s no view whizzing by, no wind or rain to distract me from the pain of burning muscles.
It’s all in pursuit of this slightly mad idea of making the handcycling development squad with a view to 2012. Apparently UK Sport is eager for aspiring Paralympians, but my eagerness is falling on deaf ears at British Cycling. Maybe they just think I’m too old or no good. But strangely, just when I’m wondering how to train smarter and get stronger, I get a call from John and Christine at ‘Fit for Purpose’ , offering me some sports performance testing, nutritional advice, and coaching. Perfect timing if I’m to sustain the hamster wheel any longer.
A torturous 40 minutes on the turbo, with minute intervals to prick my fingers and squeeze blood out for testing, I now at last know more about the text book training measurements I’ve so often read about, but never known how to get. Lactate threshold, maximum heart rate, body fat percentage (yikes), peak flow measurements etc. I’ve struggled to get into these more ‘serious’, perhaps slightly geeky aspects of training, but as I’m serious about getting faster on the bike, and training smarter, then it couldn’t have been more perfectly timed.
John and Christine have years of experience but have only recently put it together to establish ‘Fit for Purpose’, Aberdeen-based and offering a personalized service for anyone who wishes to get fitter, better. I’m hooked now and have just bought some electronic scales to help me keep a food diary for the week…probably so they can tell me to eat more protein, and less chocolate biscuits. Hmmm.
Watch this space to see how it develops, as ‘Fit for Purpose’ help me get fit for 2012, whether that’s handcycling at the Paralympics, or skiing to the South Pole. They’ve offered Andy a diet analysis too, but he’s not up for it…it would be goodbye to bacon butties and mountains of chilli, chips and cheese.
— December 07, 2009 07:20 PM
Cosmo Fearless Woman Award?!
Just home from glitz and glamour of the Cosmopolitan ‘Ultimate Women of the Year’ Awards for ‘Fun Fearless Females’. What’s one of them, I wonder? Certainly there was no fear of showing legs or cleavage, and amongst the glittering celebrities, it was with some bemusement that I was privileged to receive the ‘Fearless Woman of the Year’ award. Absolutely not true – Andy has seen me quivering beneath a climb, shaking with distress at the sight of surf whilst out sea kayaking, and jumping at the scurry of a fat spider.
I’m not sure whether being viewed as fearless is an honour or a representation of my tendency to launch foolishly into potentially dangerous situations. It is certainly a humbling experience, to be gathered with a group of women doing incredible things, inventing equipment to help the world’s waterless population, humanitarian work in far and dangerous places, giving opportunities to teenagers who might otherwise go astray, fighting cancer, etc. – a room full of people doing really good and hard work, which make climbing mountains and crossing icecaps look like sheer, indulgent, adventurous idiocy (but that still won’t stop be from doing it).
Ruth Jones (‘Nessa’ in Gavin & Stacey) seemed unsure what to make of her Ultimate ‘Funny Woman’ award (quote ‘is that funny ha ha or funny strange’?). I was typically envious of the Ultimate ‘International Angel’ award…having that spiritual slant to life, I like the idea of being an angel.
The thing that connected everyone in the room is that we all do things we love doing, and have travelled the roads that those passions have led us along. We probably all think we’re just doing what we do, and feel lucky we are able to.
As I stood on the stage, I could see beside me the friends, family and strangers that over the years have helped me do more than I’d once dared to dream, and it is to all of them that I owe my experiences. If you’re reading this, you know who you are, and thank you!
Meanwhile, the Pole of Possibility plan is getting underway…watch this space for news of ‘Operation Snowball’ – our master plan for involving young people, helping them towards their aspirations, and raising £1 million at the same time.
An inbetween, cycling, writing, cycling, writing….plans for the new book, ‘Dizzy Fingers’ are getting closer (but not in time for Christmas)!
— November 15, 2009 11:14 PM
Sport mad week
Last week was a mad one for travelling and sport.
The 15th August was the London World Triathlon Championships, where bizarrely given my minimal experience of triathlon, I was asked to go and compete for Britain…apparently my one half-iron-man effort in Scotland two summers ago qualified me for an entry! It was a bit of a showcase event for Paratriathlon as a sport – that means a range of disabilities such as wheelchair users, amputees and those visually impaired - and the largest race ever held in Europe with 42 competitors from 7 countries. It was centred in Hyde Park, and involved a 300m swim in the Serpentine Lake (I tried not to swallow but failed badly), a 10km cycle (using a hand-bike) and a 3.3km run (for ‘wheelies’ that means pushing a racing wheelchair).
The event was watched by Olympic representatives looking to include Paratriahlon into 2016. Despite swallowing a lot of murky water, it was great fun & I somehow managed to win a Gold medal for the wheelchair women’s section (though there were only 2 of us!), but most fun of all was watching Andy’s kids Ella (10) and Ewen (7) getting interviewed for TV about what it was like to be there. More info at http://www.britishtriathlon.org
Then it was off to Hungary for the World Orienteering Championships. I was one of six in the British ‘Trail Orienteering’ team, that is an adaption of orienteering for anyone who can’t run through the forest: it’s not a race, more of a mental challenge reading maps and problem solving, sort of like suduko in the forest. With thirty five degrees, and two of the courses around a zoo, it was an interesting week.
I was 8th in the Paralympic class, and our team were 8th overall: it’s hard to beat the Scandinavians where orienteering is more popular than football in the UK! For more info see http://www.woc2009.hu; http://www.trailo.org and http://www.orienteering.org and follow links to Trail O. The British team are always on the look out for new recruits, and you don’t have to have a disability to take part.
Next on the whirlwind week of sport was a day in Preston with British Cycling. They’re looking for a hand-cycle development squad to work with over the next year, in the build up to 2012. The day involved physiological testing i.e. torture on a handcycle with a power meter attached, some explosive power tests, a time trial on the track and some racing around a bike circuit.
I was the weakest and the slowest (consoled by the fact I was the only female there as Rachel Morris, Beijing gold medalist is busy training for the forthcoming World Champs in Italy). Anyway we’ll find out in mid-September whether we’ve made the squad…
— August 30, 2009 10:22 AM
Paddling and hand-cranking
Any kind of adventure would have seemed great after a week in bed with swine flu - good to have some antibodies now though in case of a more vicious winter version. We chose the Caledonian Canal. There were three in a boat (Andy and his kids, Ella, 10 and Ewen, 7) and me in a sea kayak. It was four days of wind and rain, singing, cajoling, midge-biting, wet-tent antics, fearing for the safety of Andy, the kids and my wheelchair as they bobbed merrily on the rolling swell of Loch Ness. No monsters. Two-thirds of the route from Fort William to Inverness is along lochs, the waves quite bouncy at times, and only one-third on canals, where you hope the lock-keepers will let you through in the kayaks. We only got lucky once. I thought the Caledonian Canal would be a dull paddle compared to the mountains and lochs of the west coast, but its a fantastic journey, with free camping and good facilities offered by British Waterways - who market the canals as ‘your outdoor gym’. There’s a map and info about it on the Scottish Canoe Association website.
On the hand-bike front, the National Disability Cycling Championships, a colossal sixteen hours drive to sunny Kent, saw a big field of handcyclists turn up (well, big for the UK at around 20, but apparently they get hundreds in mainland Europe races). Rachel Morris, gold medallist from Beijing, and in the same category as myself (though she is a double amputee), made an appearance after months in hospital, and some intimidating competition for everyone. After a promising start, I couldn’t stay on her wheel, and she pulled away, cranking up an increasing lead to win the race. She’s either a natural or has been pumping iron in the hospital gym, or both. Well done Rachel. Next race in Warwick town centre, 6th September, then the final round of the UK paracycling series in London on the 26th.
— August 11, 2009 10:08 AM
Skwooshing by…
The last month seems to have gone with a skwoosh! (check out http://www.skwoosh.com if you never want to get a sore or numb bum again – brilliant products that I’ve used loads this month for kayaking and biking - thanks Skwwosh!). Spent a week in Italy for the ‘Bibione sea kayaking event’, which started with a fantastic carnival atmosphere at the Venice ‘Vogalonga’ – a tour (or race if you feel like it) around the canals and islands of Venice for any non-motorised boats. There were giant gondolas with teams of gondoliers, rowing boats, dragon boats with drums beating, and amongst all that some small fry kayaks and canoes. Sadly it was the wettest / windiest weather ever known to summer in Venice (and a heat wave in the UK), and only 600 of the 2000 boats entered actually started…and 50 of those capsized (luckily we weren’t one of them). If you like water and boats of any description, it’s a great event, and happens every year.
Bibione Kayak week is in its second year (see http://www.bibionekayak.com), based on a fantastic campsite an hour or so east of Venice, on a small peninsula between the Adriatic Sea and a lagoon. So whether you like surf and sand, or grass and calm blue waters with a network of channels to explore, it’s a great event for water lovers, ice-cream and food lovers alike. There were plenty of kayaks to choose from – mainly by Sweden’s Point 65 and Italy’s CS Canoes, and the foldable Klepper boats from Germany too. There are some great designs out there for anyone in a wheelchair to paddle, with more stability – for example the Point 65 Double Shot (2 person kayak), CS Canoe single kayaks have a great range with good stability, and Klepper have a new ‘XXL’ design that even fits a wheelchair in it, and still handles really well.
Early June also saw the first bike race of the British Para-Cycling series. A pretty good turn out (about 20 riders I think, including about 12 handcyclists), and a great tarmac loop specially designed for cycle racing, at Salt Ayre in Lancaster. I averaged 16mph, so not bad for a ‘weeble’ and came in second. It was interesting to see how disability bike racing works. We all got a ‘handicap’ allowance, and were set off at intervals depending on this (calculated in relation to each persons disability and level of function). It meant a couple of us were like rabbits being chased by the greyhounds – an intimidating bunch of guys with bulging muscles and a fair number of tattoos, trying not to be lapped too many times. All good fun.
Roll on more summer.
