100 Words from Matthew Welton

100 Words from Matthew Welton

What I remember about physics is that each thing has its own properties.

Fit a bike with rubber tyres, you might get the occasional puncture but you’ll have a generally comfortable ride.

Stay away from the A-roads and you stay away from the traffic, plus you’ll probably get an uninterrupted view of uninterrupted village lanes.

A film that shows the everyday life of an East Midlands city might, when seen in an East Midlands cinema, demonstrate something you’d have to be there to understand.

Put the effort into riding your bike uphill, you get to freewheel down the other side.


Thursday 25 November 2010

100 Words from Janet

Lost and hurt adult, confused and frightened teenager. Strangers, thrown together through changed
circumstances. Desperately seeking common ground, alighting on Channel 4’s newly televised Tour
de France, a small spark of connection a fascination with the mountains, a life long bond slowly
developing between father and daughter.

30 years later, tables turned, frightened adult, standing at the foot of Alp D’Huez. Summit too high
to be seen. Daunted, scared, memories flooding wishing my Dad was here. 2 hours 14 minutes and
21 bends later, crossing the finishing line triumphant.

Freedom, strength, empowerment, my bike.

100 Words from Kiran

My Personal Experience

I first learned how to ride a bicycle when I was 5 years old in Uganda. I use
to ride my first bicycle named “PRINCE” everywhere I went to show it off. I
use to go racing on my bicycle with my friends

Later I moved to London (UK) and still used my bicycle everywhere I went
including at work only this time my bicycle was a proper raleigh racer with 6
gears.

Sunday 24 October 2010

100 Words from Arthur

"A joyful commute!"

I take the towpath to work
Pass moorhens and ducks
Or glimpse the hungry heron
As I pedal rhythmically by.
Other cyclists gesture a friendly greeting
Come squally rain or soothing sun.

How could I envy those that drive by car?
I get my twice daily dose of fresh air
(cheaper than a gym)– and what’s bizarre…
It's quicker!

Saturday 9 October 2010

100 Words from Martin

There was a young man from Bali
Loved riding around on his Raleigh
Met a girl from Cullompton
And she rode a Brompton
And now they are extremely pally

Friday 8 October 2010

100 Words from Adele

I’m jealous, I admit it. I love the lines of the dutch style city bikes and how neat their riders are swooping around town, backpack in the basket. On a sunny day I wonder if anything could be better. Of course I’ve only lately learned to ride. Learning to ride a bike at thirty is… not as hard as I thought. Nerve wracking but do able. I want to join them. Make up for lost time. I want one of those pretty city bikes. I want to swoop around with my backpack in the basket.

Saturday 2 October 2010

100 Words from Andy

Miriam taught a whole gang of kids to ride one summer day in ’72

On the promise of a Play Street from sunrise to sunset

A ‘One bike fits all step-through challenge’

With linked circle of supporting hands

Momentum and direction (of sorts) from gridded Victorian Middlesbrough

Four left turns and one crash into a parked caravan later

Inspired !

I have not look back since

One long ride from Boro to Brooklyn from Sandy Bank to Santiago

Some pushes last a lifetime

The taste of fresh air & freedom leaves you wanting more

Sometimes with flies mostly with friends

Andy Salkeld

Friday 1 October 2010

100 Words from Ian

For me cycling is freedom.
Freedom from work, freedom from screens, freedom from being stuck in an office/car/bus.
I hate seeing other people cycle when I’m not; I just want to be out there with them.
My favourite cycling terrain is the mountains; I love the challenge of me against the gradient. I hate cycling in the wind; all the effort for little reward. Rain doesn’t really bother me but I’d like someone else to clean my bike!
Now my kids cycle too and a whole new world has opened up; cycling as a family. Different, but just as good.

Dr Ian Murdey

Monday 6 September 2010

100 Words from Kim

For me, cycling is a celebration of youthfulness. No matter what stage of life I’m at, the act of cycling makes me feel young – I hop on my bike and suddenly my responsibilities vanish. I am free to leave the strict confines of a road and zoom along forest trails under my own power, fully enjoying the present moment. I no longer think of myself as stuck in the drudgery of adult life. I become ageless. I am pure movement. When cycling, I am empowered to go where I please and leave all of my concerns behind me.

Wednesday 1 September 2010

100 Words from Charlie

What cycling means to me.

When I think of cycling, my first thought is freedom, freedom to express myself through which bike I choose, where I go, what style of riding I do and who I ride with. In my eyes, cycling gives uncontested benefits to my health even if I ride for a short time. Cycling also means to me care for the environment as I take a conscious choice not to use a motorised vehicle which can emit harmful by-products into the atmosphere. I’m currently very excited about the recent developments in cycling through organisations like SusTrans who are providing all kinds of cycle routes throughout the U.K for use by anyone at anytime. As more substitute their car trips for cycling, hopefully it will become more popular.


At cykel; hvad det betyder for mig.


Når jeg tænker om at ride på min cykel, tænker jeg på frihed. Jeg tænker på cyklen jeg rider, hvor jeg tager hen, hvordan jeg rider og hvem jeg rider sammen med. Jeg tænker på hvor godt for sundheden det er at ride og fa noget frisk luft, det er lige meget hvis det varer en time eller ti minutter. Hvis jeg siger at jeg vil cykle istedet for at køre, ved jeg at det er bedre for mine omgivelser. Lige nu er jeg rigtigt imponerede med udviklinger i cykel verden, specielt igennem firmaer ligesom SusTrans. SusTrans viser de mange forskellige vejer at man kan tage hvis man kører på cykel som alle i UK kan bruge. Alle kan køre på cykel, og vis flere mennesker vælger at køre på cykel i stedet for i bil, bliver det forhåbentlig mere populaer.

Monday 30 August 2010

100 Words from Kerry

Cycling is so much more than an alternative means of transport. For me, cycling is an escape; it’s a way of getting out into the fresh air in the countryside and being able to see and notice things that pass you by when you’re in a car. It’s a simple, inexpensive and pleasurable form of exercise and is something that you can happily do alone or in company. It’s the sense of achievement when you reach the top of a very big hill and the feeling of exhilaration as you fly back down the other side of the hill!

Italian
La bicicletta è molto pìu d’un mezzo alternativo di trasporto. Per me il ciclismo è una possibilità di fuga; è un modo di uscire alll'aria aperta nella campagna e d’avere la possibilità di vedere e notare le cose che spesso non si nota dalla macchina. Si tratta di una forma d’esercizio semplice, poco costosa e divertente ed è qualcosa che si puo fare tranquillamente da solo o in compagnia. È il senso di realizzazione quando si raggiunge la sommità di una collina grande, seguito da la sensazione di euforia mentre si vola giu dell’altra parte della collina!

Spanish
El ciclismo es mucho más que un medio alternativo de transporte. Para mí el ciclismo es una vía de escapar; es la oportunidad de salir al aire libre en el campo y ser capaz de ver y observer cosas de que no se dan cuenta cuando estás en un coche. Es una forma sencilla, económico y agradable de ejercicio y es algo que se puede hacer por su cuenta o en companía. Es la sensacíon de logro cuando se llega in cima de un cerro grande y la sentimiento de euforia mientras se vuela de vuelta al otro lado de la colina!

Sunday 29 August 2010

100 Words from Purva

The word for Cycle in Gujarati = divya chakari vaahan

I use to cycle to school when I was young (in India) and then as we grew up we started using motorbikes and cars. When I came to UK , I started using more of public transport (buses) , but when I tried the cycling again , it changed the meaning of life for me – it was as if I have learnt to live all over again.

Cycling for me = Refreshing (stress reliving) and Exercise (and fresh air)

100 Words from Danie

Monday.
Sleepy and grumpy, sweating and standing up – your feet hurt, your weekend’s over and it’s another week of cattletrucking your wobblesome arse to work.
Sod that.
Biking may take a little extra effort. But you’re free, you’re fit, you’re playing dodgems with the traffic and you’re winning. Bike under you, you’re faster than the train, muscles pumping, and you’re AWAKE.
Enjoy the road and the early morning sun; never be sleepy in that 9:00am meeting. Commuting by bike is the single best-work related decision you’ll ever make.
Just one thing…
Friday? Don’t take the bike to the pub.

100 Words from Maarten

Toen we mijn oud-tante weer eens bezochten in haar flat te Epe (ze was toen 95 jaar oud) vertelde ze me dat ik haar fiets mee kon nemen naar Engeland, want mijn vader had haar verteld dat zij er niet meer op mocht rijden. Die ging dus mee op het dak van de auto. Toen we bij de tunnel aankwamen reden we onder een maximum hoogte hek door en verloren de fiets, die we hadden vergeten. We probeerden toen op de fiets de tunneltrein in te gaan, maar dat werd niet toegestaan. De fiets was al 60 jaar en onbeschadigd.


When we visited my great aunt in her apartment in Epe, Holland (at the time she was 95 years old) she told me that I could take her bicycle to England. My father had prohibited her from riding it any longer. When we arrived at a maximum headroom sign at the Channel Tunnel, we had forgotten the bike was on the roof of the car. When the bike came off we tried to ride it onto train but that was not allowed. The bike was already 60 years old and not damaged. Any conversation afterwards she always mentioned missing cycling.

Friday 30 July 2010

Welcome to the 100 Words for Bicycle Project

Ride Leicester ‘100 Words for Bicycle’ Blog

Our aim is to share;

- 100+ words for 'Bicycle' representing Leicester’s written & spoken languages & dialect
- 100+ short (100 word) stories/poems/documentaries/rants/jokes/notes about riding bikes
- 100+ words that describe cycling for the people of Leicester

Our questions are;

- In a rich cultural city with 100+ spoken community languages and dialects – What are ‘100+ words for Bicycle?’
- Some say ‘Access & mobility is a civil liberty, ‘Cycling is an essential life-skill’ – ‘What describes Cycling to you?’
- In a ‘21st Century’, ‘People-friendly’, ‘Readable & Rideable’ City – What’s your story?’
…………………………………………………..

You do not have to live in Leicester to contribute.

The ‘100 Words for Cycling’ Blog and supporting events are a Ride Leicester contribution to ‘Everybody’s Reading’

'Read Leicester –Ride Leicester'!

The project launches on the 30th August 2010, we will be accepting submissions before then to
Andy.salkeld@leicester.gov.uk

Some submissions will be posted on the 30th as part of the launch.