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Learning to count to 29

ESWIL
Jun 12, 2016
2 min read

Learning to count to 29……

I used to cycle to work when I was a teenager and I’ve always enjoyed the two-wheeled mode of transport. The only drawback when you live on the doorstep of the Kennet and Avon canal is that you can become very used to just cycling on the flat.

So gorgeous hubby set me a challenge to be able to cycle to the top of the Caen Hill lock flight and as hubby said it was easy, all I had to do was to be able to count to 29 (that being the number of locks on the flight).

Image courtesy of canalrivertrust.org.uk

As every woman knows having the right clothes are critical to the success of any venture and this is where I came a little unstuck…. We are all being encouraged to get fitter especially those of us whose weight suggests we should be 6’8” not the paltry 5’ 5” I currently boast. And therein lies the challenge; great fitness clothing for big and bouncy girls is as rare as hens’ teeth. Now I am not about to mount my soapbox about the lack of great clothes for Rubenesque women but sometimes it does cheese you off that anyone north of a size 12 is excluded from great gear.

That was until the internet came up trumps; I found the website Fat Lad at The Back (F.L.A.B.) a term of endearment used commonly in Yorkshire. Cycling wear for proper-shaped people made in proper sizes and best of all I could embrace my Fat Lass at the Back……

Image courtesy of fatladattheback.com

I have been eagerly watching the weather forecast hoping that it would remain wet and windy so cycling would be off the agenda, I jest, I was itching to introduce Wiltshire to my new F.L.A.B. look. Hubby gave me a quick bike tutorial - it’s all about the gears and making the bike do the work, ah I thought, said bike still has said body on it though….

We struck out on a sunny Sunday morning. It is only when you get out and about you truly understand how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place with the Kennet and Avon on our doorstep realising that people come on holiday to where we live full time.

Me and the hill – we got on fine, as I worked through my gears and with hubby counting down from 29 on my behalf – I was too busy concentrating on breathing and turning my pedals at the same time. My time from the pumping station to the top of the hill was 11 minutes which is not too shabby for a first attempt, no stopping and no cardiac arrest - THAT I call a great result.