Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 3, November 2014 | Page 42

MC 50 shades

The French
countryside, where
Marie-Anne now
finds herself riding
free.

Bedpans
and BICYCLES

By Marie-Anne Meijers

My sweet father had pumped the tyres and
cleaned the bike for me and I was ready
to ride out into the local forest. Luckily I do
know the area a bit from walking the dogs
there over the years. So up the hill and over
I went trying to get a feel for the bike. Hit
a bump and nearly lost it. Tyres had been
pumped to about 4 bar! Let some air out
and off I went again.

he telephone rang
late one evening.
The home phone this
late can only mean
one thing ... problem.
Usually it is one of the
kids who makes one’s
heart stop but this time it
was a call from France. My
parents live on a small farm
in an isolated part of the
Dordogne, a beautiful
area. My father had just
turned 80 and my mother is not far behind.
So with trepidation, I answered the phone
to hear a Dutch voice tell me my mother
had slipped in the town of Perigeux and
had broken her femur. She already has two
artificial hips!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, two days
later I flew to France, the country of The Tour
de France. (Pity the timing was out because
the Tour came very close to the farm this
year ...) And then it was hospital visits,
operation, feeding sheep, ducks, chickens
and dogs and looking after dad.
But in the barn, I found my dad’s bicycle.
It was covered in dust and quite a few

42

It was lovely to be

back on the bike. It
is not a MTB but a sort of
cross road/off-road bike.
So for forest paths it is
ideal.
Marie-Anne’s shadow along
the roads of the Dourdogne.

cobwebs, but I happily noticed off-road
tyres, front suspension and gears! So I
hauled it out for a better look. It also has
mudguards! Gear changes were done by
twisting a ring on the handlebars like revving
a motorbike, but it worked.
Now I needed riding gear, and who doesn’t
like shopping for French clothes! I found
padded shorts with matching shirt, helmet
and gloves. And, for the bike, some chain
wax. I’m sure the poor bike had never seen
that before.

ISSUE 3 NOVEMBER 2014 / www.moderncyclist.co.za

It was lovely to be back on the bike. It
is not a MTB but a sort of cross road/offroad bike. So for forest paths it is ideal.
And the forests here are stunning, dense
branches overhead, shoulder high ferns
and wonderful dappled light. For a girl
that has just come from a Gauteng winter,
the green almost hurt the eyes! One small
drawback were the midges, there are
millions of them. If you stand still, you can
grab handfuls of them just like that. They go
for your mouth, eyes and nose. I am not so
keen on extra protein when riding!
Dad took me round to show me some
nice routes and some serious hills, up and
down (one called L’Abyme). There are
plenty of routes to ride here as you can just