article by Gillian from South Lanarkshire

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The reason I didn’t make class last Monday

(6^th September 2004)

First of all, I was off on Annual Leave.  Since I took a holiday my husband Vince and I decided to go off road mountain biking.

We drove to Peebles, where the outdoor biking centre is.  The Centre is popular with bikers from all over Britain, at the weekend it is very busy.  On Monday though it was reasonably quiet.

We parked the car and made our way over to the shop.  I have my own mountain bike but it doesn’t have a suspension fork To do off road cycling you need a good bike with suspension.  We hired a Giant bike for me.  It was very strange to ride as the centre of gravity is very low on the new bikes; this is so you can control your movements and speed.

First we had to cycle up this enormous hill; the gradient was about twelve percent.  This was pretty hard going but it was worth it when we got to the top, as the view over Peebles was amazing.

Vince started me on a blur run, for beginners; Vince went first telling me when to brake, lift my body weight forward then back, speed up and slow down.  I was very nervous and my body went rigid.  I think you can guess what happened next!  At the first corner I lost control and landed in a heap with the bike wrapped around me!  Vince came running up as he had heard the screech of my brakes.  I grazed one knee, tore a chunk out of the back of one of my calves and bruised my hand.  Great start to the day!  I got patched up with plasters and medi-wipes and on I went.

After that I took turns and bends more cautiously.  This paid off and after about an hour I felt like trying a new run.  I was really starting to take small risks and take the bike over jumps.  We went on the next run.  It had a wooden bridge at the start, that went straight up and dropped about ten feet on the other side.  My heart was drumming in my chest, but I thought, “If I don’t do this now, I never will” Vince went first then waited at the bottom for me, first aid kit at the ready.  I managed the bridge without falling off.  I was very proud of myself.

After we had spent about three hours on the tracks we decided to call it a day.  There is a run that goes all the way down to the Car Park.  I really enjoyed it as, by this time, I was more relaxed and quietly confident that I could do it, although I had never been on it before.

We made it to the car in one piece.  I had packed a cool box with sandwiches, fruit and tea; cycling is very hungry work.  We made short work of all the food.

Well I hope my teacher Kate forgives me for not making class.  As you can see I had a great time biking.  I thought the best way to explain why, was to write an essay which I hope Kate enjoys, as this is my homework for the last week.

Gillian Cochran

Webmaster replies

A poor excuse for missing class  Gillian.   Everyone knows there are on hills in Peebles- only kiddin'

Good use of the semi colon.

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