Up/Down...Down/Up

Up/Down…Down/Up

For every up there is a down. For every down there is an up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/c5y0l0v6y2do Muriel Furrer

Tragic news reached me last Friday, of the death of promising young Swiss rider, Muriel Furrer at the World Championships in Zurich. Cycling is such a troubled sport. The greatest sport will always have the greatest difficulties.

A cyclist strives to perform at their individual optimum.

Laying in hospital forces independent thought.

I was then entrenched in a rehabilitation life where independence was the ultimate goal. 

I achieved the ability to live alone.

I am alone, forever.

Much as I want to be in a strong relationship with a partner, I think it may be impossible.

‘Oh, what do you do? Where do you work?’

‘My job is living life.’

I use this blog as a route back to the real world, knowing that people anywhere can read my words!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y35qz73n8o

Momentous. (the link above, explains Britain closing it's final coal power plant).

Unfortunately for many portions of this country, this halt in such industry will hurt greatly. The step can be viewed so importantly though. Positively, this is such a vital step forward. The whole Globe is feeling the effects of our fossil fuelled damage to our climate. If the UK can be a leading country in renewable energy production, it can only be a good thing.

Is the monk going bald?

(I love any excuse to include a photo of my coffees)!

So many coffee shops ask customers whether they want chocolate on top of their cappuccino. I am me, and I always feel like interrupting and asking ‘well, is the monk going bald?’

Although perhaps the most popular coffee drink, very, very few people know the backgrounds of the name.

When you add ‘ino’ on the end of any Italian noun, it basically tells you that it is a small version of the initial part. The ‘Cappuco’ part tells us that it is a monk. So ‘a little monk’. It is when you look down on top (of either), you understand. The sprinkled chocolate symbolises the monk’s balding scalp. The surrounding frothy milk represents the monk’s hair. The outer, slim ring of coffee represents the monk’s cloak, or ‘habit’.

:) SO THERE!

‘The Capuchin Franciscans are a Roman Catholic order of brothers shaped by this heritage. Building on this Franciscan tradition, the Capuchins were founded in 1528 and emphasized prayer and contemplation, preaching, and physical care of the needy. Today, many of our brothers continue this preaching tradition.’

Merckx on Pogacar

The greatest on the (new) greatest...

Some almighty due praise for Tadej Pogacar... BRAVO TADEJ!!

 

(Democratic Celebration)

July 04th 2024 -  UK General Election 

                            USA Independence Day (Democratic Celebration)

November 05th 2024 -  USA General Election

                                      UK 'Fireworks night' (Democratic Celebration)

Why do I smile?

 Why do I smile?

I often hesitate as I’m halfway down the street, I realise that I’m smiling. Whilst this is obviously a good thing, I do recognise that I am standing out, different! I fear that my smile is viewed as that of a ‘crazed, mad, disabled nutcase!’ 

I trust that this is not usually the case. I smile because I am on a journey. A progressive journey, on which I can regularly review from where I have begun. Around another hairpin, I reflect on the steep slopes starting my climb. There are still plenty of corners ahead but not as steep as I have already conquered!

(I’m honestly also smiling to raise my cheeks and keep my glasses straight)!

;)

I used the restriction on excursions, of COVID lockdowns, to return to teaching myself Italian. I had been learning basics, before my accident in 2006. I happily received a new notification on Monday…

I just got a perfect lesson… writing in Italian ‘There was a bag full of blood’

C’era una borsa piena di sangue

Duolingo obviously doesn’t know my history! My history being a fan of a very troubled sport, professional cycling and blood-doping in the decade surrounding ‘the Festina Affair 1998’!

A lifelong fan of the greatest band in the world, Radiohead, I have long been a member of ‘the Radiohead Fans Group’ Facebook page. When i was faced with a post asking for my opinion on Radiohead’s most underrated track, I knew immediately which i would choose. Although it was included on the recent ‘OKnotOK’, I was in love with the relatively unknown ‘Palo Alto’ (a ‘B-side’ of Airbag…How am I driving EP) having bought it in 2002! To pleasant surprise, my comment was ‘liked/agreed/confirmed’ by Colin Greenwood (Radiohead bassist).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21TmsT1qsPo

My mental state was regularly built invincible, whilst I cycled individually. My mind was so self-conflicted.

I loved the fact that cycling meant so much to me. I loved cycling. FACT. This was a fact. It seemed to give me so much. I knew this, I loved it, but it also troubled me. What had I lost to it…(positives ALWAYS equal negatives)? 

I always had a huge underlying fear, that something would happen. I ignored this ‘irrational fear’. Whatever, there’s nothing I could do. 

I decided that I best carry on enjoying it! My mental state was strengthened incredibly, once I lay awake from my coma… I had proved myself correct! I was injured, ‘permanently disabled’ (according to doctors). I smiled, content that I was already recovering.

I had achieved all that I had aimed to by this young age. Everyone should just stop for a moment, and reflect at what they have achieved in the past decade. 

Well done! Be happy with yourself! You have achieved so much in recent years. Yes, you may still have targets/aims ahead, but we ALL develop with time. It is mind-blowing to think what you didn't have ten years ago! But you managed, and progressed like EVERYONE ELSE.

Use the above Italics for yourself.

Be happy.

 

Happiness will reach you.

The good will out.

Yes, it is an incredibly difficult journey, but, life is difficult for everyone in different ways. I immediately knew that I must keep my mind content. I knew that I had lost so much, or alternatively… ‘I had lost very little, just ‘potential’ (which is actually nothing in the present)’. 

Everyone has potential, but what happens once they reach their potential? The difficult thing is, that I cannot know my future, but who can?

The good will come out.