I had done some cycling touring as a student in NZ but a busy life working, married with four children, lots of volunteering and living in a hilly town meant that I had hardly been on a bike in thirty years. Hill walking was my passion.

When diagnosed in 2020 age 55 the consultant did actually say I should exercise. I replied that was OK as I swam several times a week (to keep a healthy heart) but he said that was the wrong sort, it should be intensive (how did he know I didn't thrash my way up and down the pool?) Anyway I went out and bought a spinning bike and have sweated my way through 15,000km since in my new morning routine, alongside my swimming and a variety of other exercise groups and classes way exceeding the recommended weekly prescription dose of 30 mins five times a week. Anything to slow progression even though I wasn't a lover of exercise generally. Swimming and Scottish country dancing alongside hill walking had been my exercise pre PD.

So actually the idea of cycling to Barcelona in terms of fitness wasn't going to be a problem. The more I pondered the more I relished the idea of spending time with other people with Parkinson's which in day to day life was rare. Online forums and the occasional meet ups were great but day to day, though the people we are close to are sympathetic to our condition, it is only those who live with it who can fully empathize and understand better. It was for this reason I signed up in May 2022 with a year to prepare, including getting a suitable bike as the one I had buried in the garage didn't fit the bill! In the meantime I started training on my daughter's road bike. I remember the first ride having to send an SOS text 'how do I change gears the other way?'! I hadn't encountered such gears before. Over the subsequent months with advice and support from more experienced cyclists both on the Bike to Barcelona team and locally I became more confident and competent on my own new bike. Sadly circumstances meant I could no longer cycle with the Brighton team but being the determined person I am when I have set my mind to something I linked up with Janet Kerr and moved from the world of supported distance cycling to bike packing.

As a Parkinson's pair we became ABCD dos amigos (A Barcelona Cycling Duo). Our journey is more than a ride from Plymouth, down the Atlantic coast of France, across to the Med and into Spain, it is an opportunity to share a lived condition and all that we have experienced with it, good and bad including sadly, discrimination. It will be an encouragement and of course an opportunity to raise awareness of Parkinson's. Even before we set off we like others on the Bike to Barcelona journey across Europe have seen knowledge of PD grow.

 
My only regret is that I haven't had time to frequent the hills for my beloved hill walking., But I will return.

Gill Shaw is from England and was diagnosed with Parkinson's aged 55 is cycling with Janet Kerr from Scotland, diagnosed in 2016 age 46, as a self supported Bike to Barcelona duo team. They are bike packing from Plymouth, down the French Atlantic coast before cutting cross to the Med Nd into Spain. Not stopping at Barcelona they will join the Spanish team which includes Janet's husband Gary and friend Gillian for the grand arrival into Barcelona.
For more information about Bike to Barcelona check our page.

Ideas and opinions expressed in this post reflect that of the author(s) solely. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of the World Parkinson Coalition®