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| Ready for action |
It has been great to see some really young people take their first wobbly rides in safety on the purpose built track and from week to week to watch them improve their ability and skill as a result of the basic coaching they receive.
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| warming up |
It's all a long way from how I first learnt to ride. My first stuttering attempt on two wheels took place at Gelli, in the Rhonda Valley, South Wales. This was sometime in 1941 - 42 during my evacuation and I would have been about six years old.
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| Could this be the bike? |
The bike I rode was a girls loop frame Hercules that belong to a girl of about twelve who I believe was called Thelma and was a friend of my cousin Doreen. I can remember that I was given a push start from the top of a railroad bridge and then made a very shaky descent off the bridge and took a sharp right turn into Rees Street where we were living. I just about made the bend before falling off.
I persevered, as you do, and from that very dodgy beginning my love for cycling was born. I just hope that the kids at the Cyclopark get as much enjoyment as I have over the past seventy odd years.