Pat's story - Getting back on a bike after 65 years!
By Kay.Lakin
Pat Lemon cycling in Plymouth
As part of Plymouth City Council’s active and sustainable travel programme Plymotion, travel advisors visit residents at home or in the workplace to chat about how they get around the city. They provide help and advice on how they can travel more actively and more sustainably. Cycling is the obvious choice.
When travel advisors knocked on the door of Pat Lemon, she had already begun a journey to a more active life, having successfully achieved a healthy weight through the 10% Club, which is a weight loss program provided by Plymouth Community Health Care.
Pat’s interest was sparked and her resolve strengthened when she read a story in the Plymotion Newsletter about a lady who had started cycling and now cycles to work almost every day while alsp volunteering to help others get out and about on social rides.
“I received my copy of Plymotion News with information on cycling and thought, why not?” said Pat.
Encouraged by her family, she got in touch with Cycling UK’s Cycling Development Officer in Plymouth, Brett Nicolle, and after a quick chat, had her first cycle session booked in her diary. Pat admits that she arrived for her first session with trepidation, but Brett soon made her feel at ease.
I must admit my first attempt was not very good, but with Brett’s patience and encouragement, at the end of the second session I actually cycled. What a thrill!
Pat Lemon
The last time Pat had experienced the joy of cycling was in 1949 on a bicycle that Pat remembers was “black, with one gear and heavy!” She recalls that there weren’t many cars to contend with in Plymouth in the 1940s and she used to cycle with her friends all around the city and beyond for fun and adventure.
Pat is now cycling for leisure but she hopes to ride around the roads in her local area as she feels that the cycle training provided her with the skills and confidence to cycle safely on the road. She says that the exercise she gets from cycling will improve her fitness and is hoping to join a group or club who can show her some of the cycle routes around Plymouth.
Cycling UK’s Brett Nicolle works as part of the Plymotion project, which aims to make it easier for residents to get around Plymouth by bus, bike and on foot. In partnership with Plymouth City Council, Cycling UK provides free adult cycle training to anyone who lives, works or studies in Plymouth.
If you would like to join Pat and the thousands of other people in Plymouth who are getting out and about by bicycle, please get in touch with Brett Nicolle, the Cycling UK Development Officer. Brett can offer help with learning to ride, improve confidence cycling with other traffic, or he can give your bike a free health check.
Contact Brett on 01752 307704 or by email [email protected]