Ayr Roads Cycling Club is one of the few still with a club hut..and today was the annual first footing! It used to be used as a summer headquarters, with people staying there overnight to be able to go further afield than they could in one day..like a bothy.
It has a fire and a stove..and a log book!
Great to see those who could make it..some by car, others carefully by bike..some roads had ice where water had been running over roads.
In the centre is Dr. Tom and his wife Mhairi. He used to be the radio doctor in Scotland on a morning programme and was also race doctor for many races that Pirate organised.
They live just over the burn that the hut backs onto.
They are learning Gaelic on Duolingo too, despite being originally from Gaelic speaking areas...but the schools system knocked it out of many people... sometimes literally..and they moved away as their parents followed work and in turn their work kept them away.
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4 comments:
...we just got our first heavy snow of the season. This afternoon I saw two cyclists riding bikes with fat tires!
It appears your weather is perfect for cycling. With a new foot of snow on the ground, cyclists will be waiting for road plowing crews to push it aside.
Ah the past comes back. Yes, icy roads can be very dangerous.
That bothy must be a welcome sight in the current climate! Sad that our ancient languages and dialects are being lost, I think they should be taught in schools and are an important part of our culture - we seem to bend over backwards to embrace other cultures who are taking up residence here, yet are forgetting our own roots. My mothers family spoke Romany, I only remember little bits and it is largely lost to the next generation. Gaelic is so much a part of your heritage and who you are, I imagine that when it was knocked out of everyone in schools it changed communities greatly and distanced the elderly from the young. Betty
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