A Fun Saturday Adventure

Yesterday, we woke early – well before 6am when our Saturday alarm usually rings.  We arose and prepared for parkrun as usual.  With extra time, we decided to cycle further than our usual Brunswick or Coburg parkrun.  Instead of 2-5 km, we cycled 9-10 to Maribyrnong Parkrun.  We left home at 7am and we were there in plenty of time.  Google Maps prediction of 30 minutes was about right.

Antigone walked well.  Since the two strokes a month ago she has walked very little.  The half kilometre or so she walked during parkrun was a similar distance to the previous whole month.  Support worker Janey seems to bring out the best walking in Antigone.

We also made a discovery which may be useful.  Antigone often leans forward when walking with a walker.  This is a common issue.  Lowering or raising hand grips helps some people, but it doesn’t seem to help Antigone.

I was concerned about how little support Antigone would have if she tripped or fell.  To shift her forward and closer to the wheels, I thought of pivoting the U-rail she holds to a forward position.  Its range stopped about 30 degrees forward of vertical.  I wasn’t hopeful but we tried it.  Not only was Antigone closer to the wheels and supports; also, her posture changed to a more upright posture.  Wonderful.

Maybe we can engineer a similar posture improvement by modifying Antigone’s everyday walker.  I’ll see what I can do.

It was a glorious morning.  After parkrun, we decided to go home via the scenic route: Maribyrnong River to Yarraville, Footscray Rd elevated veloway, Moonee Ponds Creek Trail to Flemington Bridge Station, then Upfield Path. 

It was fun.  (This 26 km ride is the furthest we have cycled towing the trailer.)