The Revolution……

Since we came to Comrie my love of two wheels has increased year on year,  and since  my family came along it has increased tenfold. Biking with the family is such a great activity and our local area is fantastic for biking of any kind. I rode my bike whilst pregnant with both Jasmine and Harris, who were both put in bike seats before they could sit up properly.

Bike seats evolved to a double bike trailer, which I used to regularly tow between Comrie and Crieff to go to MacRosty Park. Jasmine was given a balance bike for her 2nd birthday,. This was my first experience of  balance bikes. They are amazing, such a simple idea. Jas took to it like a duck to water. We once towed her on her balance bike from Glen Ogle into Killin, and back, using a bungee! Jasmine was riding a pedal bike before she was 4 and Harris was even younger. As a family we love bikes, they are an integral and important part of our family life and the holidays we have,. If we go away in our campervan there are always bikes strapped to the back. Between the 4 of us we have 12 bikes;  Jasmine at the age of 8 has 2. I didn’t own 2 bikes until I was in my thirties!

Last year family cycling came into its own. Harris was 5 and a bit stronger, and both of the kids seem to have inherited our love of two wheels. One of the best adventures we had last year was a 20mile epic. We parked at Mhor 84 cycled to Balquidder, around the south side of Loch’s Voil and Doil and then back along the road to the car. It was very rough around Loch Doil, no path and bog-doom but the kids were brilliant and we had a great day, especially with the rewards of a Mhor dinner at the end!

The amount of enjoyment I’ve had from these wonderful machines can’t be measured, I’ve come to see bikes as something beyond the sum of its parts, something that brings so many benefits. I have spoken a lot to my friend Colin who thinks the same as me about biking, and also has a passion for sharing the benefits with others………..and so the idea of ‘Revolution Strathearn’ started to be formed.

Now I am not saying I know everything there is to know about bicycles and riding them, but what I do have is bags of passion and enthusiasm. I have the will and determination  and soon the time,  to drive Revolution Strathearn forward.

I particularly want to help empower girls and women to get on their bikes, to give them the skills and knowledge to go on bike rides, either on their own or with friends and be able to deal with a puncture or make minor adjustments to a bike with confidence……’Revolution Belles’.

Tonight is our first open community meeting to hopefully make ‘the Revolution’ a reality. I am pretty nervous but also excited as there has been lots of interest……watch this space!