Positive Spin lived up to its name

What a great couple of days we had in London! Some time ago, Peter was asked to be one of the Patrons for a London based organisation: For Brian CIC. For Brian facilitate cycling activities for people living with dementia, cognitive impairment/other conditions - read about their values and inclusivity work on their website. This latest project, Positive Spin, is all about accessibility to all types of cycles in order to let people experience the joy of cycling. Peter, Teresa and I were invited down to London to take part in this project.

The incredible strand to this story is the amount of goodwill and philanthropy we discovered as the planning progressed. Although we were keen for Peter to take his penny farthing to this event, the prospect of getting it on a Suffolk train, down through Ipswich and across East London to West London was somewhat daunting. But, through fantastic networking, we were able to source a bike for Peter and, as long as he provided his own handlebars (hence some of the strange photos!), then he would have a penny farthing available to ride.

What could be better than one penny farthing? Well, three! I can’t thank Fran and Les enough for bringing their own penny farthings to this event (plus the one for Peter) and for creating a wonderful visual panorama of penny farthingists alongside the other bikes as we cycled from Ravenscourt Park to Bishops Gate Park and back. There was much discussion about what to call a trio of penny farthing riders: I opted for plethora but was quickly poo-pooed so do feel free to come up with your own collective noun. It doesn't even have to be alliterative.

We had a truly wonderful time, met some amazing people and felt very much part of For Brian’s project. Inevitably there was talk of a future event, maybe closer to Suffolk. I am sure that both Peter and Teresa would very much like to continue their involvement with this project.

Thank you to Clare for being our generous host and for ensuring that we arrived (and got back) in one piece.