Lucrecia

 

We will be going to Lucrecia's betrothal in the not too distant future - all being well. So looking forward to it. Her mother Ellen had the most wonderful birds nest head dress at her own wedding [I have seen the snaps] and I am sure Lucrecia won't let the side down. 

This snap was taken days / years ago at Manchester Velodrome as Lucrecia's Ma and Pa were in the training as tandem pilots for the Athens Paralympics. They both both won medals with their respectively partially sighted stokers - Aileen and Ian.

Now, I am not one for telling on people but Eve had two pieces of cake on her birthday. One Coffee and walnut  Made by Gill Price and one "Tom Hickman orange cake".

still love this

 

I mean tandems and everything - what's not to like.

We owned one for a few years - hung the Christmas lights on it as it had to grace the lounge in our tiny Lancs home. And tandems were a large part of my working life at Manchester Velodrome. Somewhere I have a snap of eight tandems in my works office - such as it was. They were ready for one of the Tandem omniums I ran.  Oh, and lets not forget The [two] Fuji tandems we managed to get made for Ellen and Aileen for the Athens paralympics where they won gold. [and again in Beijing].

Then Eve raced a few times on tandems with Paul Hunter and also Vic Possee, the latter in a tandem criterium I organised. She almost raced on tandem with Michael Hutchinson but the weather made the course unrideable which was a pity.

See here for more tandem posts.

Then up here in the windy cool north west Eve rode a 100 hilly and wet mile cyclosportive with Mr WInndy from which I'm not sure Mr WIndy has ever recovered from.

That's why I am attracted to images of tandems. Does that make sense>

Vic

 

Sad to say our great pal Victor Posse died yesterday.

Think this picture sums Vic up - always up for a challenge here riding a tandem criterium race with Evelyn some years back. 

A fine fellow, he will be missed by everyone not least his wife Gwyneth and the rest of his family.

Rest in Peace Sir

not the best but lovely

 

Not the worlds best shot but a lovely snap of Eve racing a criterium with our great friend Vic Posse who is a tad unwell at the moment. We wish him all the very best for his recovery.

Back in the the day the racing club we ran promoted quite a few tandem races both on the track and on road circuits like here. Great fun but I did rather have my fingers crossed at time - tandem crashes are not fun. Having said that we never had one during all the promotions thank goodness.

Some years back

When Eve raced and everything. [I did race too but that was only in silent B&W].

Eve and the great Lummux Paul Hunter - him of the paralympic bronze medal and everything - when he piloted Ian Sharpe in the Kilo tt in Athens. They were riding a tandem 15 mile time trial near York. The tandem was borrowed and put together the hour before probably. As it happened, Eve and Paul broke the national 15tt mixed tandem record that day - but didn't claim it because they didn't know they'd have to.

I think the Bob Jackson 2 won the event that day.

Not been out much

I've been throwing paint at the walls in the warming room [aka the kitchen] and as a result have been neglecting my snaps. Of course I managed a little trip to a coffee shoppe but the weather is a bit dim and dreich here at the moment so that f2 1/30th asa400 barely cuts the biscuit [or whatever ones says these days].

I show here, for your amusement a little snap I did earlier. Talking of which, I came across my Blue Peter badge whilst clearing the room. Eh? Yup, got it for arranging them TV people to film Sir Chris Hoy [or Chris as he was then] and Andy Slater riding a tandem on Manchester Velodrome where I worked at coach.
Fame eh?
No.

The wedding

Don't be impertinent! Yes this was the wedding - or part of it anyway. Messers Commonwealth Games riders trashing the tandem in the grass sprinting.
What? You have never been to a wedding like that?
I hadn't either but I'd be happy to again.

Him

Sometimes one likes a snap even though the technicalities - whatever they are - are absent.    This is Paul, no doubt searching for some aero/hydro-advantage for his son Harrison in his rowing boat thing. Paul did the same for his dear wifey Ellen on her tandem - to great effect - and for his own tandem to equally good effect

Back in the day

I have bikes. We have bikes. In the darkroom and in the loft and the tandem at a pals' place. We sold/gave away a lot of bikes when we came up here to live some nine years ago.

Eve still does ride regularly, wind permitting but I, dear old things do not on account of me on-going M.E./CFS that I do and have done for 15 years or more. It is debilitating. I still work but save my daytime energy for it. I can sail if I don't overdo it but cycling.......

I miss cycling a  lot. I was my fav pastime and for ten years my profession as a Velodrome cycle coach. sadly, the last time I had a proper bike ride was after I'd got myself back on track doing The Lightning Process . You see, I'd pretty much had worked it out that ME?CFS starts with the mind and then manifests itself physically gradually wrecking what physical stability you had before, making me tired - very tired, fogging the brain etc etc. And The Lightning Process sorted that out. Overnight. Over three nights really. I could walk, cycle, laugh, sleep, stay awake and my tummy settled down for once. Wonderful.

In celebration - this was 2011 I have omitted to say - Eve and I cycled round Harris. For Eve this is nothing much, for me after years not cycling it was a tad more of a challenge but one which I enjoyed immensely. It is a lovely route to ride after all.

Look, cycling and snapping. Smiling too - or was that a grimace? 

Only this state lasted 6-9 months only. I don't know why. I used the tools I'd been so well taught. I got support on the phone and I went to have a top up which gave me another few months on no CFS. Now I fret. I know I managed to sort myself out with some support and advice but these days knowing that just makes me annoyed with myself for not being able to do it now.

Now you know why I get grumpy from time to time.

I'd like to say my New Years resolution is to get better biut I am losing faith with my ability in this area. But I will try.

Have a wonderful, safe, healthy 2016 who ever, wherever you are.

It must be the green tea

Maybe it was the green tea all brewed nicely at 81c and all that. Radio4 seemed to have taken a turn for the interesting - just like my dream last night when my [un-named] friend and Eve my partner rode a tandem along a narrow path on a cliff edge and.....

No, it wasn't nice.

You see, Radio4 seemed to have a taken an odd turn Monday morning and I wasn't sure whether I was hallucinating. Recycled radio and the Cold Swedish Winter had me both enthralled and wierded up as well. And everything.

Our darling furry-face of a cat HHHCB was there listening with me, hiding behind her pile of books and the flowers. I snapped her up with a handy Fuji Instax camera and here we have it.

Allo Allo, do you ride tandem?

I have a lovely friend. Several of them in fact, not all who we see on a regular basis more's the pity. Why they don't move up here to the island is beyond me!

We did catch up with some of these dear friends while on the mainland recently. Angela, a bike racer from our old cycling club was there and keen to get back on a tandem. Angela raced a few times on the track and road on tandem - including an International in Ireland. How good is that? Very since you ask.

Brendon was there too. His daughter is riding the Commonwealth Games on the track this week and he is a fine chap and cyclist as well. So it didn't take long for Angela to persuade him to get on a bike made for two. The tandem was an ancient but lovely Hobbs of Barbican.

Can you actually ride a tandem Brendon?

Ooh, Lovely

Brendon and Birthday boy Vic fettle the tandem

Proper office

Now that's a proper office! My old office at the Velodrome in Manchester -some years ago now!. I'd migrated to a shed like room under the main stand after a large piece of concrete fell through my office ceiling downstairs when the earth shook in a minor earthquake we had. I mean, they called it an earthquake [August 2007] , it shook and everything, the roof made a right old racket, the concrete on the track edge where I was stood at the time moved - wobbled even but the riders on the track - didn't notice anything at all. Typical.

I think there must have been one of the International Tandem events I organised imminent when I snook this snap as I didn't usually have 8 tandems in the office. four maybe but there were some of the Irish team's bikes there too. And Eve's bike and mine there somewhere too.

I organised for Sir Hoy of Hoy to ride the tandem on Blue Peter once. I have a Blue Peter badge to prove it though Sir Hoy has a Gold Peter badge. Isn't THAT just typical!

Don't forget a Tour of Britain cycle race starts on the 7th. If you are nearby, do go and give it your support!

Old snaps

I may have posted this some years before - I have no idea really and I can't be bothered to look. But I rather like the snap - taken through the glass that used to reside in the wall between the kitchen and the, , , the other now non-existent room. I think I took the snap with a Kiev60 - now gone to the great camera place in the sky. Yes, it's my dearest Eve.

USA TT tandem team

And this snap comes from Athens - the Paralympic Games and all that. The time trial for visually impaired stokers. Paul Hunter and Ian Sharp were riding too - they didn't get a  medal here - or in the road race where they punctured but they did get two bronze in the track at the same Games - 4km pursuit and the 1km TT beating the GB favourites as well.

 Hunter/Sharpe on their ill-fated RR ride in Athens

Celebrating with me in Athens after a bronze medal ride

Ellen Hunter OBE and Aileen McGlynn on their way to silver in the sprint after winning the Kilo TT

Yes they are old snaps - although we do still have a bouquet from that event  which is lovely. Only I am still very sore and less than able to snap more snaps or print more images till things improve at my nether regions!

The two headed cyclist that could have been an Ace Tone, but it wasn't

Back in the day. Back then.
When the rain rained, the wind blew, the cyclists cycled and The Two did Tandem, I shot this snap. Not sure when in the day but I did. I'm still drying out yet it was six months ago. It might have been the same roll of film that these top two came from. It doesn't matter anyway. The point is, I found this neg somewhere and I liked it. So I printed it - without any mathematical formula and everything. On Slavich Unibrom too.

It might end up in An Lanntair where a former Ace Tone lurks.

Oh look

While some chap was making history jumping out of balloon some miles up somewhere of other - and then breaking the sound barrier on the way down, I found some negs down the back of the settee. Negs that seemingly came from the little trip o'er the water to the Ullapool cyclosportive - that Mr Windy and Eve did on the tandem in horrible wet and windy conditions.

I shan't over excite you with too many more snaps from this occasion as it may prove just too much so recently after the above event in the skies. Still, two showing Eve and Mr Windy at the race control, thank-full it's all over.

I just knew...

 Mr Windy. Wondering what lays ahead

Sea. Out there

This was before THE RIDE IN THE WET AND WIND ON T'TANDEM. That's why he looks quite relaxed and happy. He didn't know what was ahead. Neither did I but I suspected and kept it to myself. I saw 'it' in the sea - all lumpy and bumpy with a touch of white cresty things on top that weren't seagulls. I have that gift - or like to think I have - especially in retrospect when I know I was right.

Someone had been there - Assynt that is - before us a took some nice film.  Look and learn.

Yeah, well.

Man on bike

Personages on Tandem

They leapt out at me. In the darkroom that is. Had to fight them off such was their desire to be printed. I stuck some Russian Slavich Unibrom paper under the enlarger and then developed the first one. Then I stuck some old Kodak Bromesko under the light for the next. I like them both.

Don't panic, I might find some other recognisable images soon :-)

Castle - lithed up

Like this one.

The very moment

The pain starts

Here it is; the very moment Mr Windy and Eve cocked their respective left legs over t'tandem for the start of the epic in excessive dampness and wind. 

A young Windy looks on bemused. Deanne is thinking 'why'. The bushes seem rather unconcerned at the 88 hills miles ahead.

An ostrich chases the tandem.

There seems to have been an incident with an Ostrich. I must have missed that while I was concentrating on the camera thing. But, look there it is. No doubt at all. Maybe he was a ringer in the Elphin chicken races a few days before. You would have thought they would have noticed!! 

cheerie 

I'm not sure what to think........

The tandem has not revealed itself in silver. Not one snap can I find where the tandem sits there demurely with two personages aboard. Or even one. Must have been the weather. The image got washed or blown away before it reached the lens. Or it fell out the bottom of the camera. Since there seems to be a lack of gaffer tape about the place - and all weekend end too, I suspect the latter.

One thing is strange though, snaps of hills remain. I found these today after sloshing the film about in random chemicals and the like. They sit there. I wonder if they know where the tandem snaps went? They do look a bit guilty.

I shall search again. Meanwhile you can see the two tandemist here and here.

It was a wee breeze.

The aptly-named Mr Windy rode the tandem with Eve for 88 miles over the Assynt hills the other day on a tandem. Why? Mr Windy had no answer to that when a bright 5 year old asked him.

The weather was a tad breezy, and wet. The next day we prised them out of their seats and walked up a small hill in a breeze. This was they/that.

 I told you it was breezy!

 Three on a hill

Looking down on a path

Further input later on. Once the other film from the Perkeo and the films from the OM1n have gone through the soup.