Xipe Totec
Frrrg rrrrf yrrrr crrrnds
- Location
- Between The Thirteen And The Nine
Took me until age 50 and a major crisis - or more realistically a combination of major crises - in my life to rediscover cycling. Had been a club rider in my teens but distractions like music, motorbikes, sex & alcohol pushed cycling out of my life. Over the years I dabbled on & off, always had a bike (usually crappy MTBs), but rode very little and with no commitment. When everything hit the rails 9 years ago I borrowed a mate's neglected Raleigh gaspipe road bike, thoroughly enjoyed tidying it up & getting it running nicely - and started riding again.
I'm not pretending it's some magical panacea, it hasn't made all my struggles disappear, turned my life around and recreated me as a different, better person but I sometimes think the benefit to my mental health is the difference between being here & not. And over the last year, I genuinely don't know how I would've got through lockdown & the pandemic without being able to regularly get out on my bike.
As it happens I still have my old 70s Carlton frame that my Dad bought me back in my club days (think it's a Clubman, 531 tubes/forks & sexy Nervex lugs), would love to find the time/motivation to refinish it & build it up as a sort of retro/modern classic wannabe.
I'm not pretending it's some magical panacea, it hasn't made all my struggles disappear, turned my life around and recreated me as a different, better person but I sometimes think the benefit to my mental health is the difference between being here & not. And over the last year, I genuinely don't know how I would've got through lockdown & the pandemic without being able to regularly get out on my bike.
As it happens I still have my old 70s Carlton frame that my Dad bought me back in my club days (think it's a Clubman, 531 tubes/forks & sexy Nervex lugs), would love to find the time/motivation to refinish it & build it up as a sort of retro/modern classic wannabe.