Pedalitis

Seven days from now, at 7:30am on April 1st, 2012, I’ll set out from the centre of Barcelona, Spain. I’ll start my journey from the old cathedral square, to cycle to Bristol, UK. I have to be home, near Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, by midday on 14th April because my wife’s parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a party at our home. It’s a party I can’t miss.

The 1950 Thanet Silverlight, as I purchased it in 2011 with a single-speed, fixed wheel

The journey is unexceptional by cycling enthusiast standards. At least it would be if it weren’t for the fact that I am 60 years old on April 1st, and the bicycle upon which I’m undertaking the journey is about 18 months older, having first been sold on 22nd October 1950 to someone by the name of ‘Miriam’ residing in Liverpool.

Both the bicycle and I are going back to the place of our birth. The Thanet Silverlight road bike was made at 50 Elmdale Road, Bedminster, Bristol. The address is now a private house and I doubt very much that the present residents know about its place in cycling history. I was born 5.8 miles away in Southmead Hospital, Bristol.

I thought that the first ride of my 60th year should be something a little different. Taking one of only a hundred or so Thanet Silverlight’s known to exist back to where it was created gives the journey a purpose of sorts. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. The word ‘Pyrenees’ looms large in my mind!