By the end of 1996, my bike was needing several repairs. I then decided that it would be better to buy a new one instead of repairing my Ridgeback and so I got a Marin Sausalito.

Then another opportunity came for different places to explore as one of my daughters was studying at a university in Manchester, which is in the north of England. As she needed taking to Manchester with all of her belongings, it was a good idea to stay with her. This meant I could take my bike and travel around new places. Sometimes after taking my daughter to Manchester, I went to stay with one of my cousins who lives in the North of England. This gave me the chance to see a beautiful part of England called the Pennines, these are a range of hills stretching along the middle of the country.

Having enjoyed myself so much on these trips, I decided to go on a cycling holiday. In May 1997 I set out to ride the route called the C2C (the photograph on my cycling story is when I left home). It stretches from Workington and Whitehaven on the west coast of England, to Newcastle and Sunderland on the east coast. I travelled from the south of England to Newcastle by train, taking my bike with me.

At Newcastle waiting to meet me were two friends who helped me on the first stage of my journey. After ‘dipping’ my wheel in the North Sea, I travelled west. Passing through the Keilder forest, which is famous for a reservoir and being part of the Rally of Great Britain car rally. For the second night of my journey I stayed at a hotel in Newcastleton, which is just over the border into Scotland. From here my route took me to Carlisle on the west coast. I can still remember the thrill of seeing the west coast having ridden nearly 200 miles (320 km) from the east coast.

I then travelled south along the coast to the town of Whitehaven where I started on the actual C2C route. The scenery I rode through, the region called the Lake District, was beautiful. This part has England’s highest peak and although the time of year was late spring, there was still snow on most of the peaks. Riding through this part of the country, it is easy to understand why this is one of the most popular parts of England. After passing through the ups and downs of the Lake District, I had a flatter ride before starting to climb into the Pennines. Again the views were lovely as I climbed through this area before riding back down to the coast at Sunderland on the east coast again.

During this holiday, I travelled about 400 miles (640 km), climbed up many hills and saw fabulous views. I felt proud that I had carried all I needed with me on the bike, it was quite an achievement. Especially as three years before, I got out of breath climbing up stairs!

Read about my third bike.