Falling in love

7 December 2016

There was a time when I was in love with my wheels. I started riding a bicycle regularly on off-road trails with my friends in Tallahassee – Munson Hills, Tom Brown, Redbug – and when I moved to Australia, I took my trusty bike with me (including on planes, in Ed’s open jeep, and on trains). My first trip around Adelaide was on my bike. My first trip to Kangaroo Island was on a bicycle, by myself, camping and riding. My first trip to New Zealand included a bicycle tour of the South Island. I worked a bike ride into nearly every trip in every country on every holiday. My bike was my preferred means of travel when exploring a new place – faster than walking, but still part of the environment; being in it and part of it rather than moving through it.

A couple of months before the debacle, I put a deposit on a new touring bike – the bike that was to take me many, many more places. A handcrafted Llewellyn. I visited Darrell in his workshop in Brisbane and he measured me up … and his lovely wife made dinner for us. Amazing attention to detail and the craft of cycles. I felt like I had toured enough with big groups, small groups, and by myself to have worked out a good combination. I was scheming and dreaming about what my first trip would be on my Llewellyn – Vietnam? Italy? Japan?

But now here I am with four wheels instead of two. Compared to how I felt about the touring bike, well, this is a little more like an arranged marriage. I didn’t look at it and swoon, it was chosen for me. There wasn’t any chemistry and there wasn’t any honeymoon. Here we are, the TiLite and I, working it out and trying to make the best of it.

Being who I am, I’ve decided that perhaps I can do better than just making the best of it. Maybe I can re-frame the situation and learn to love the chair. On the upside, if it weren’t for the chair, I would … what … be in bed or at least stationary all the time. Or I could have one of those wheelchairs like they have in the airport that someone else has to push. I find it excruciating to ask someone to reach a mug for me in the kitchen, can you imagine how miserable I would be if I had to ask to be pushed everywhere? I can imagine it, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I could have a power chair that doesn’t fit through most doorways and that is too heavy to pack into the car. Okay, so things could be much worse. The question is, could they be better?

Enter Aaron Fotheringham and his attitude “It’s wheels stuck to your butt. How is that not a good time?” He’s the guy who opened the Rio Special Olympics with a flippin’ wheelchair backflip through a flaming circle. And, of course, Katherine Beattie who I’ve praised in this blog before, but who is (in this clip) bailing several times in a row … and persisting.

I asked you all about inspiration before, and whether it is enough to have the thought without the follow through. I don’t think it is – not for me anyway.

So, Step 1: find the model. Tick. See above.

Step 2: find a teacher. Timothy Lachlan – WCMX competitor who lives on the Gold Coast Queensland. Tick.

Step 3: connect with the teacher. Tick. Yay the internets.

Step 4: get your gear. Tick.

(and yes, that is indeed a camera mount on the helmet. gnarly shit coming your way … or more likely, high definition images of me a) leaving skin in Queensland; b) chucking a tanty; c) cracking the sads; and d) eating an ice cream while pouting)

Step 5: video the carnage. Not there yet.

Step 6: get comfortable with wheels stuck to your butt. Not there yet.

Step 7: fall in love with the chair. Not there yet.

Steve and I are headed to the Gold Coast on Friday. We’ll have a little break before meeting Timothy on Monday for a couple of days of learning and practicing. I’m not aiming to do flips or glide on rails, but I’m looking for skills that will help me navigate cities without help. I have no idea whether this will work, but I’m so excited about learning new skills that I think will facilitate my independence. Then we’re off to Canberra to catch up with a few mates and back to Welly in time for my birthday. In addition to the chair skills, we’ll practice traveling and going without professional carers and being in unfamiliar places. Can’t wait.