In August, Dad and I thought we'd do a cycling holiday, and test out using Bromptons combined with local buses. Dad took up cycling in his 60s, doing local trips by bicycle instead of by car, hopping on the bike pretty much every day to nip the shops, or see friends. Now he's 87, and he's still out every day doing local errands by bike - riding 20 mins or so - as well as heading out on longer loops around his patch in Stockport, just for the pleasure of looking around, and being out in the open air. He regularly does 10- to 15-mile rides, taking it at a nice easy pace, although one of his favourite routes - up to Lyme Hall on the edge of the Pennines - involves a pretty hefty climb, so not easy at all! Luckily, when the cafe up there is open, you can get a scone and tea at the top, which obviously helps everything. Anyway, this summer Dad and I decided to do a cycle tour in the Welsh borders, in Herefordshire. The idea was to go back to some of the places that Dad had enjoyed exploring with my Mum, who died many years ago now. Dad still has hundreds of booklets from all the places they visited, nicely stored in folders. So Dad's job was to pick out some places to see again, and to bring the booklets. And mine was the logistics. Dad normally rides a hybrid, but we thought we'd try using Bromptons in combination with local buses, to make the cycling manageable and enjoyable. It took a bit of work to get on top of where and when the various buses went, but it was so worth it! We had a fantastic time.
