It’s the New Year, and I’m already looking forward to cycling, camping and the adventures that 2017 will bring. I love living a healthy lifestyle and I also enjoy writing it in a blog. Right now however, I would like your help! I need to know what you enjoy about my blog and what you…
Time to review With the New Year just days away, I thought I would write a review of 2016 and reflect on what a fantastic year I have had. Through health, fitness and outdoor sports, I have developed a lifestyle that really makes me happy and I want to inspire and motivate others to…
Health and Fitness I thought I would review a sports facility I use in Edinburgh to look at Disability Awareness. For many years people have thought about Disability Awareness as fitting ramps and accessible toilets. However, Disability Awareness is much more complicated than that. People’s attitudes and perceptions of disabled people is just as vital…
I have to Confess, I live on a budget at the moment and I don’t have money to burn on expensive kit, however this doesn’t stop me from enjoying and taking part in the outdoors. I thought I would write this piece to review a rucksack at the lower end of the market. I recently…
Beyond Boundaries East Lothian, or BBEL, is an organisation that helps to provide access to the outdoors and outdoor sport to disabled people. Founded in East Lothian about six years ago, BBEL has over 50 members but in the last year alone has reached over 350 disabled people and given them access to outdoor activities….
First Impressions I was quite excited when I took my new Lumos helmet out of the box and with good reason too. The first thing that struck me is it felt like a real solid piece of kit, very well made and a little more sturdy than an ordinary helmet. To look at, it is…
The Pentland Hills lie just past the city boundary on the south side of Edinburgh and are a popular place for people of the city to walk, get fresh air, and enjoy some time out of town at the weekends. This week a friend and I decided to do just that and on Saturday afternoon…
A long time ago, around this time of year, I remember chatting to a friend over coffee about our cycling and saying how difficult it was to get out in the winter. The days were grey and overcast, leaves on the road, daylight short, and no matter how many layers you put on, you always…
I wanted to start my reviews on a positive note because I think it is very important to show appreciation to organisations especially when it’s absolutely deserved. It is so easy to grumble, criticise and highlight where people fall short, so everybody should make more effort to show appreciation whenever they can. So, I was…
Nestled on the East Lothian coast, Aberlady Bay is a wonderful nature reserve with a staggering amount of bird life on it, and somewhere that plays host every year to tens of thousands of geese every Autumn. Aberlady Nature Reserve is a gem on the East Lothian coast providing miles of beach, bog land and a…
If you have been to my blog before you will know that I have recently cycled the Outer Hebrides and that this has been a big achievement for me as well as a lot of challenge and fun. I thought it was important however to round things off and try to summarise the trip in…
For a group of disabled people in East Lothain, any form or disability or impairment presents no barrier to enjoying outdoor activity and sport. Beyond Boundaries East Lothian, or BBEL, provides disabled people with the opportunity to experience and participate in outdoor sports including everything from cycling, to canoeing and gorge walking. I feel privileged to have been asked…
By far the best part of my cycling adventure was cycling over the mountains of Harris. Here is a short videos to try and show what is was like.
Cycling over Harris from Tarbert to Callanish was just wonderful, the weather was fine, the road was quiet and with a cross-tail wind most of the way cycling was not too difficult. Although the mountains of Harris were truly spectacular they, without doubt, presented the biggest physical challenge. Shortly after leaving Tarbert and passing through…
I have been lucky enough to get another guest blog post published, this time on the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op website. I have written a summary of my trip to the Hebridies and a little background about how I got into cycling in the first place. Hope you enjoy. https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/info/david-c-reilly-disability-cyclist/
By the time I stopped and it had dawned on me that I had probably gone too far and didn’t really know where I was, I was soaked to the skin and really starting to get cold. The rain had been coming down quite heavily but I hadn’t really realized it, I was just enjoying…
We had a comfortable night in Mrs McPhee’s house and really good breakfast to start the day. That was the first time for many years I had stayed in a B&B and it’s a strange experience. I found it odd being in someone else’s houses with their things around me, and their tastes of décor…
We had a comfortable enough sleep in the Dunard hostel that night although I was so shattered after the journey to get there I would have slept anywhere. The beds were a bit rickety and the mattress really soft so not recommended for a prolonged stay. The décor in the front room was a kind…
I was all packed and ready to go the night before when I received a text message from CalMac to say that the ferry was going to be delayed due to bad weather and that they would message again in the morning with an estimated time of departure. There had been a terrible storm over…
Glad to be home after my cycling adventure. Just a short video to say thanks to everyone who supported me, to Edinburgh Bicycle Coop who sponsor me and to everyone who took an interest. Looking forward to sharing my experience on my blog over the next days and weeks.
