For the first few weeks after my retirement at the end of July 2018, I spent several hours sorting out my company pension. I received a formal offer on 1st August but I then had to go and speak to someone at Pensionwise to hear their advice. This was mostly a formality and by mid-August, I had completed all the forms and was waiting for approval which thankfully went very smoothly and I started receiving my pension on 31st August. It will be almost seven years before I can claim my state pension which made me feel very sorry for my dad. He had to work until he was 65 before he could retire and even then, the small state pension formed the bulk of his money – he barely had any private pension. I remain extremely grateful to him for his sound advice many years ago. He told me from a very early age to save up for a deposit on a house – he always recommended buying rather than renting – and to ensure that I always put money into a pension scheme as soon as I could.
Before I retired, and thinking of ways to pass my time, I had seen a notice somewhere from Epic Events who were seeking volunteers to assist in the running of triathlon races. I looked at the schedule and saw that in August there were two fairly local races that I could sign up to, one in the Yorkshire Dales and one in Ormskirk. I put my name down for both events feeling sure that I would enjoy the involvement. The first race was a half Iron Man, with a swim in Semer Water followed by a ride and a run through the Dales. Very soon I received instructions from the organiser who told me that I needed to be at the start in Hawes very early on Sunday morning, so I set off at 5am, arriving at about 6.30. I probably arrived a little earlier than necessary, but when I got there, there were already plenty of people milling around. I found someone who appeared to be in charge and introduced myself, but after that I was very much ignored. Other people were arriving and being greeted by name – these were clearly the regular helpers – before given brief instructions, but I just stood around waiting to be given some information. I had guessed that it would always be a bit chaotic at the start of such an event, but by the time the swimmers had left I expected things to calm down. For quite a while I just sat in the car sheltering from the rain before eventually someone took the time to say hello. I was then shown into a marquee and told to watch over the equipment that was stored there (mainly signage, marshals’ jackets and food snacks) while everyone else went off to do other more important tasks. There was one other guy there in a similar position to me, so I latched onto him, but all we did was grumble to each other about the confusion.
Eventually, at about 9.30, I was given a yellow jacket and instructed to go to a road junction near Sedbergh and to direct the riders to turn left. This information seemed a bit sparse to me, and since no-one seemed to know when the first riders were expected to come through, I thought I’d better get on my way. So even though I didn’t have a list of the riders (so I’d no idea how many to expect) I drove half an hour to the right spot and waited patiently. Eventually the first participant came through and I pointed him in the right direction and saw him on his way. I stood on that street corner for three hours until I estimated that all the riders had passed me. Because I was given no road signs to help the riders make the right turn, I didn’t feel that I was able to leave my post and so when I needed to answer a call of nature, I had to do it very discreetly while hoping that no rider came by and missed the turn during that time. Apart from shouting encouragement to the riders, I spoke to no-one whilst on the junction.
I then drove back to the base at Hawes and handed back my jacket. No-one thanked me, or asked how it went. Once more, the other volunteers were chatting amongst themselves and just ignoring me. When I eventually collared someone to ask what happened next, I was simply told that I was free to leave.
The whole episode was a really bad experience and so I decided then that I wasn’t going to attend any future events although I had still signed up for another triathlon a week later. The person who’d invited me to the Hawes event later copied me on a standard form email to everyone thanking them for their support, but I didn’t think this was sufficient. It is basic courtesy to be friendly towards volunteers, especially the newbies, and I also felt that it was essential for me to be given some basic information before I started if only to make sure I knew where to stand and when to leave.
A week later I was once more reporting for duty, this time at Edge Hill College in Ormskirk. Whilst much closer to home, once more it was an early start since I was still required at 6.30am. This time, however, the organiser knew what he was about. All the marshals were greeted personally and ticked off a list. We were shown where to get refreshments and the location of the toilets and asked to report to different people depending on whether we were helping with the swimming, cycling or running. We were then given very clear instructions about our roles and all the cycling marshals were driven round the course to get our bearings and each marshal was dropped off at his/her position. I was given a point very close to the end, in fact directing riders back into the campus. I knew the numbers of riders taking part and I knew the number of laps they needed to complete, and so I felt much more confident.
I stood there all day until someone came round to inform me that I could leave, and the whole organisation was very slick. Admittedly, the Ormskirk triathlon was over a much shorter distance, but there were many more participants. That said, the Hawes event appeared to go smoothly but I suspect that this was more due to good fortune than anything else.
I’ve marshalled at many bike races over the years, and even organised a few events so I know what’s required. Apart from the vital practical element of instructing volunteers on their roles, it is also very important to keep them happy, especially if you want them to keep on helping. This usually only requires a smiling face, a few words of encouragement (and perhaps a few energy bars) along with appropriate thank-yous afterwards. Omit any of these at your peril.
Subsequently, I was repeatedly asked if I wanted to help out at future events but I always politely declined. I was very keen to give feedback on my experience, but no-one cared to ask. So my part-time hobby as a race marshal ended after just two weeks.
I began working in the bike shop immediately after finishing at BAE Systems, just covering Thursday afternoons. The shop was usually quiet then, so there were only a few distractions while I worked on various repairs that Martin asked me to do or to assemble new bikes. I enjoyed building new bikes – it was a clean job and there were never any surprises, unlike repairs, which were just the opposite.
I actually predicted what subsequently began to happen. I had proved myself to be trustworthy, competent with the tools and friendly with the customers and so I began getting requests to “just open up the shop, would you?” or “could you just pop in for a couple of hours on Monday?” Gradually, I found myself working more and more hours which wasn’t a problem, especially with winter approaching. I was learning new skills and becoming more confident when working on different bikes. I was always confident when doing minor repairs on my own bike, but when working on other people’s bikes, I was constantly aware that if I did anything wrong, there could be serious consequences. I have always been a careful worker, but suddenly, the urge to double check everything became paramount. Did I properly secure those brakes before handing the bike back to the last customer? was a question I never wanted to ask myself. Over time, I developed a routine whereby I always did a final check on any bike that left my care, even checking that crucial nuts and bolts were tight even if knew that I’d never touched them.
I really enjoyed the work, and I discovered that although I’m a reasonable bike mechanic, I’m not a good salesman. People would come into the shop not knowing what they wanted to buy, and if Martin was present, within no time, the happy customer would walk away having purchased a bike appropriate to their needs. However, if someone asked me for advice, I was at a loss; my only reference point was road cycling as an enthusiastic amateur. I felt unable to offer advice on mountain bikes, BMX bikes, gravel bikes, commuter bikes, ebikes, hybrid bikes or even kids’ bikes. And that’s without mentioning turbo trainers. I don’t think I actively lost any sales, but I always felt that I should have done more. My fallback position was to take the customer’s details and then ask them to return when Martin was in. Thankfully, Thursday was usually a very quiet day for new bike sales; my clients mainly wanted a puncture outfit, a new lock or a set of lights. Even with the latter, there were questions to be asked; do you want front lights to help you to see or to help you to be seen? Do you want alkaline batteries or rechargeable? Fixed or removable? There are so many different types of lights which serve different purposes and whilst I already knew this, I hadn’t appreciated that most customers often didn’t.
Jim, one of my cycling buddies, had sort-of retired already, and so when he heard that I’d be free from August, he began suggesting trips away. He was very keen on cycling in warmer climates during the winter, but I was hesitant. Instead, I proposed a tour round Fife in September (someone once told me that the Fife climate is very similar to Southern Spain). He agreed to this, and so I organised a five-day excursion to visit many things I’d long wanted to see, particularly the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies. We also got to see many other things I didn’t plan, such as the 517-metre Innocent railway tunnel beneath Holyrood Park, the marvellous Union canal, the newly opened V&A museum in Dundee and West Sands beach in St Andrews where the opening scenes of Chariots of Fire was filmed. In addition, the geek in me also wanted to cycle over the Tay and Forth Road Bridges but thankfully, Jim likes these things as much as I do, so it was a great trip. We even got a glimpse of HMS Prince of Wales (the new aircraft carrier) docked in Rosyth shipyard.
An aside. BAE Systems were commissioned to make two new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers which were assembled at Rosyth although sections were built at various sites across the country. The f9irst ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, launched in 2014, was undergoing sea trials in the North Sea in 2016 when I was flying up to RAF Lossiemouth to take part in an event there. The aircraft made a loop over the sea just before landing on the coastal RAF base and as we banked over, I found that I was looking directly down onto HMS Queen Elizabeth. I was quite thrilled to see this. A few months earlier whilst on a visit to Govan shipyard to chat with an apprentice there, I’d watched one of the two navigation bridges being manoeuvred out of the yard before making its way to Rosyth to be assembled onto the HMS Prince of Wales which was subsequently launched in 2017.
After the success of the Fife trip, I began planning many more cycling trips to make use of my new freedom. Often, these were just a night or two away in a youth hostel, but I’d also planned a trip to Mallorca in May with a group of friends and I’d arranged to cycle up to Prestwick before taking part in the annual Prestwick Cycle Challenge charity ride. In addition, Jim and I had also planned to ride the 185-mile Hebridean Way cycle route which had opened in 2017 and traversed ten of the islands in the Outer Hebrides.
Before any of those major trips, however, Jim asked if I wanted to accompany him on a tour through Southern Spain. He’d done this type of thing many times before when he took his own bike on a plane to Spain before cycling for a few days then flying back. He only gave me a few days’ notice before he was flying out, but, despite the many reservations I had, I decided to grasp the opportunity and go with him. I remember being in a youth hostel in Staffordshire when I nervously booked my flights for me and my bike less than two weeks hence. My natural inclination is to think about things for ages before acting, and such impulsive behaviour didn’t sit well. My first experience in international touring turned out fine, but I must admit that I really didn’t enjoy taking my bike just wrapped in a see-through plastic bag through airport security, especially returning on my own through Málaga. This and many other cycle tours are recorded here.
The UK trips had another purpose which I need to relate. There is a website called Veloviewer which was initially developed in 2012 as a hobby by a Sheffield cyclist and computer software developer. Ben Lowe took all the data held on Strava and enhanced it in several fascinating ways. Each time a cyclist (or any athlete) logs a ride on Strava, that information is plotted on a map and all the data about the ride is stored. Ben makes these data more accessible in extraordinary ways and for someone towards the nerdy end of normal (me!), this provides hours of post-ride pleasure. I can see immediately all the roads I’ve travelled (since 2012) and once this information is overlaid on a matrix of ’tiles’, I have a graphical representation of how much of the world I’ve travelled. Each tile is roughly one mile square and there are now many cyclists whose hobby is to see how many tiles they can cycle through. To date, I cycled in over 16,000 tiles out a possible 276,000,000, so I’ve plenty to go yet. Another variation of tile hunting is to see how large a cluster of tiles can be reached (a cluster, in simple terms, counts how many tiles are contiguous).
So late March and early April in 2019 were very busy times for me. I had to return early from the Spanish trip (leaving Jim heading towards Portugal) so that I could come home before travelling to Galway for a family event. Immediately after this trip, I’d organised a special birthday party for me and seventy guests, so I had no time to spare.
After that diversion into geekiness, I will now explain my reasons for taking certain cycling trips in 2019. After I’d returned from the Hebridean adventure, I could see that if I were to cycle up to Prestwick to ride the annual Prestwick Cycle Challenge (which that year was heading to Skye) I could show that I’d ridden a continuous line from Liverpool to Lewis in 2019 alone. These probably seem crazy things to get excited over, but for me (and many others) it makes for hours of cheap entertainment. You may need to splash out on a 65” 4K smart TV with surround sound speakers to get the same level of pleasure I get from a ten quid annual subscription to Veloviewer.
My 60th birthday party was very special. I don’t usually go in for birthday parties as an adult. I remember having a 21st birthday party at my parents’ house which was a very sober affair. For my 30th I hired the village hall in Brindle for a party although I don’t remember much about this, nor who else I invited apart from my family. My 40th was another quiet family event held at home on Easter Sunday (the day after my birthday). This was memorable in that we were having a new kitchen fitted at the time, so the old units had been removed and we were trying to serve guests on a pasting table. I didn’t do anything for my 50th, so I thought I’d make my 60th special. It just so happened that I’d retired by then and it became a double celebration, although the party was arranged before I knew about my retirement.
I’d booked Brindle Community Hall and decided that I wanted to have live music. Henry Priestman had previously played with the group The Christians and he’d written all their early hit songs and when I asked whether he would play at my birthday party, I was delighted when he accepted. To add to the mayhem, he also brought along his current singing partner, Les Glover and we had a wonderful night. Seventy people attended and as we got started in the evening, Henry asked the audience how each group came to know me – they had naturally separated themselves into clusters around the room. He then conveniently divided the room into five categories: family (12 people), friends (17), neighbours, whom he named “the Brindle Massive” (12), work colleagues (15) and cycling chums (14) and got them all involved right from the start. It was a fantastic evening, but I wish I’d had the foresight to record the singing parts. I only have about three photographs of the entire evening, and these were what I had taken myself in very poor light.
When planning the night, I started with a long list of a possible 169 guests, and I eventually invited 106 to attend. Of those, 9 couples didn’t even have the decency to reply to the invitation which upset me. They were almost all work colleagues which told me something about who were really friends and who were simply people that I worked with. Those who turned up enjoyed a great night, but for me, the highlight was being invited on stage to play a cajón drum alongside Henry and Les. Prior to the evening, it was lovely to spend time with them since they came to our house a couple of hours earlier to have something to eat before we all left for the Community Hall.
After the party, the rest of the spring and summer passed in a whirlwind of activity including many cycling trips, weekends away with Geraldine and meals out. We even managed to fit in buying a new car.
On Friday 30th August, Geraldine worked her final shift as a commercial lawyer and took retirement. She continues to work as a wedding celebrant today, a role she has carried out since 2010 with well over 1,100 ceremonies performed to date. In 2019 though, she had no time to speculate upon the reality of retirement, since two days later, she left for a week’s holiday with her close friend, Elizabeth who had retired a short time earlier.
So now, we are both retired! How on earth did that happen to people so young?