The Screenshot It started a few years ago A screenshot to capture the special moment I've lost count now, it's become the norm And it's only sunk in recently The realisation that I’ll never be able to take a last-minute coffee Pop over for dinner Or enjoy a long comforting hug The realisation that our future children will never grow up playing together Multiple countries, all spread out around the world I’ve slowly had to accept the fact that my family may never agree on one country to settle However, with acceptance comes comfort Maybe we all have different destinies Life has a unique plan for us all So here I am, on my way to make my Cambridge heart route My mum and sister by my side Their faces not on a phone, but right here, next to me What I once took for granted, I now cherish with every inch of my being To be with them, and not through a screen, is the best birthday gift No longer a screenshot But here side by side Follow your heart
This July I was grateful to finally celebrate my birthday again with my beautiful mum and sister, and I knew exactly how I wanted us to spend it! Location Cambridge, England Bike hire: Rutland Cycling and Cambridge Bike Tours Heart route We arrived in Cambridge with the rain to greet us, so decided to take shelter and relax at the cosy Senate bistro and bar. After sipping our coffees and gazing at the map for several minutes, a heart shaped route slowly began to appear! Cycle your heart out Highlights: Inner Space Kings College River Cam Trinity College The Anchor Pub Jesus Green Midsummer common Spread the love Grateful to my beautiful mum and sister for giving me a birthday I'll never forget! Would you like to create your own heart route with your family? Click below to watch my 5 part video series.
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Follow your heart
After getting a taste for cycling in the city on my East London route, I decided to explore one of my favourite parks, and search for some squirrels! Location London's Hyde Park, England Heart route 5.42km Cycle your heart out This little heart route is perfect for anyone looking for a nice gentle traffic-free ride in London. The only thing you need to look out for is the squirrels! Spread the love Don't have a bike? Or maybe you don't fancy riding your bike into central London? Then pick up a hire bike like I did in the park. Click here for my tips on how to create your own heart route! 28/10/2012 0 Comments Cycle your heart out Tour and DrawFollow Your Heart To celebrate the lovely art initiative The Big Draw, my sister Helen and life long friend Josephine decided hop on our bikes for a heart shaped 'tour and draw'! Location East London Heart Route 7km all flat Cycle Your Heart Out You can join in if you want! Cycle a heart shaped route around your area and stop in 4 different spots. Spend a maximum of 15 minutes drawing whatever catches your eye! Spread the love For some great drawing tips check out World Sketching Tour Luís Simões ! Click here for my top tips on creating your own heart route Congratulations to Sustrans worker Clare Dowling for completing a fantastic heart shaped cycle route in her hometown!
Follow your heart I work for Sustainable transport charity Sustrans and we enable people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for everyday journeys. I am very passionate about my work, and when I saw this Cycle Your Heart Out challenge, I knew it was for me! I love where I live, it's a very green and tree-filled town with gorgeous local parks and a great network of cycling routes. I use cycling and walking as my main forms of transport around the local area, and in addition often cycle just for fun or exercise too. Cycle your heart out for ... Bracknell! Location Bracknell, England Heart route 4.5 miles Cycle your heart out I really enjoyed my little ride today around my local area, starting and finishing where I live. I passed gorgeous autumnal trees, dew-covered spider webs, foggy fields, cats on high walls and children playing in the park, cutting through the estates on cycle routes and pootling down traffic calmed streets. A good way to spend 30 minutes of my day! Spread the love Thank you so much Clare for sharing your story, I love your photos! Clare is also a photographer in her spare time and you can check out her beautiful photos on her website here. If you've been inspired by Clare's story and want to create your own heart shaped route, click here for my top tips! Follow your heart Sisters Davina (10yrs) and Damaris (7yrs) decided they wanted to cycle their hearts out and help raise money for their favourite children's charity, World Vision. Location Great Linford, Milton Keynes in England Cycle your heart out After sticking their heart map to their bike, they were off! Highlights of the route: "When we met mum, dad, our aunt and uncle at the rocks, smelling BBQS, overtaking our friend Nell, and being showered in the rain." Spread the love To Donate £10 text CYHO50 to 70070 or visit their Just Giving page "If you want to make your own heart route it's easy, fun and you'll enjoy yourselves! "- Davina Click here for my tips of creating your own heart route! Follow your heart Happy good Friday everyone! Following the same heart route as the snowy Breeze ride in February, we celebrated this Easter with a fun heart route around the lakes of Milton Keynes! Location Furzton Lake, Milton Keynes in England Heart route 5.5 mile Cycle your heart out Starting at Furzton Lake this gentle route took us through the parks of Shenley Brook End into Loughton and passed the fields of beautiful horses. We then cruised past Teardrop lake and followed parts of the great Millennium cycle route alongside the National Bowl. Spread the love At the end we had a little Easter egg hunt at Furzton Lake around the Triple Starhead Sculpture! Congratulations to Lauren for finding all the eggs in the fastest time and winning the tasty Golden Chocolate bunny! Click below to watch the video! Create your own heart route by clicking here for my top tips! If you live in England you can find a ride in your area organised by British Cycling's great Breeze initiative! Click here to find a ride in your area. Follow your heart For Richmond's 2nd Cycle Your Heart Out Breeze ride we were delighted to be joined by Richmond cycling champion, Councilor Katherine Harborne! Location Richmond park, London Heart route This lovely 7 mile heart route follows most of the off-road Tasman cycle path around beautiful Richmond park. Cycle your heart out "I think heart shaped ride are a brilliant way to inspire people to cycle their heart's out!" - Councilor Katharine Harborne Spread the love A huge thank you to all the lovely ladies that took part! To help spread the love I gave everyone their free ‘Fenton inspired’ Cycle Your Heart Out bag! The next ride with Breeze champions Alice and Andrea is Friday 13th April 2012 at 5.00pm! You can also visit the Breeze site, pop in your postcode and find a list of upcoming rides in your local area. If you would like to create your own heart route click here for my top heart making tips! Follow your heart
Despite the heavy rain and lack of sunshine, Richmond's first ever Cycle Your Heart Out Breeze ride was a huge success! The ride took us around one of the largest Royal Parks in London, with some deer spotting thrown in too! Heart Route 7 miles along the off-road Tasman cycle path Cycle your heart out For Theresa Hughes from Watford, this ride was quite special to her... "I lost both my mum and dad to heart disease, as it's St Patrick's and Mother's day this weekend, I thought this heart ride was a really nice tribute to my Irish mum" To help dry ourselves off we enjoyed a nice cup of hot chocolate at the cosy Roebuck pub overlooking the beautiful Richmond hill. Spread the love Congratulations to Breeze champions Alice and Andrea for organising their first Breeze ride and coming up with such a brilliant heart shaped route!A big thank you to everyone that joined, and also Theresa and Valerie for traveling all the way from Essex and Watford to take part. Everyone that came along received their FREE Cycle Your Heart Out Richmond bag! If you would like to have fun creating your own heart route click here for my top tips! If you live in England you can find a ride in your area organised by British Cycling's great Breeze initiative! Click here to find a ride in your area. Follow Your Heart On the 18th February Sean Conway will set off from London to attempt to break the world record for cycling solo and unsupported around the world in less than 100 days! He is also aiming to raise £100,000 for Solar Aid - a charity investing in solar power for schools in Africa. I was delighted to welcome Sean to Milton Keynes for a heart shaped Breeze bike ride to raise awareness for his adventure! Cycle your heart out... around the world! Location Milton Keynes, England Heart Route A flat 8km route, all off-road Cycle Your Heart Out Despite the cold weather there was a good show of support for Sean, who answered questions about his ambitious feat ahead! "Cycling with Sean made for a memorable weekend, it's great to get out and meet people who make the most of this world, such an inspiration. It's made me want to get on my bike more and make the most of every opportunity." - Rachel Baranska from Milton Keynes Spread the love Thank you so much to Sean for cycling all the way from London to cycle his heart out with us! To support his world record attempt, visit Cycling the Earth to donate to Solar Aid. You can also text ‘BIKE91 £10’ to 70070 for a quick and easy donation. Watch the video below and view the gallery to find out how the ride went! You can also click below for my tips on how to create your own heart shaped route! 11/2/2012 0 Comments Cycle Your Heart Out in the snow!Follow your heart
Me and fellow Breeze ride leader Karen decided to cycle our hearts out with our friend Rachel, and celebrate such a lovely snowy day! Location Furzton, Milton Keynes in England Heart route 5.5 mile Cycle your heart out This heart route is perfect for a relaxed cycle ride and follows parts of the great route 51. We cycled around the lakes of Furzton and Teardrop passed the open air concert venue 'The National Bowl' and on through the parks of Shenley Brook End. After a straight cruise along the redways, we entered peaceful Loughton and the fields of beautiful horses. Spread the love If you would like to have fun creating your own heart route click here for my top tips! If you live in England you can find a ride in your area organised by British Cycling's great Breeze initiative! Click here to find a ride in your area. 10/12/2011 0 Comments Cycle your heart out this ChristmasFollow your heart A huge thank you to all the lovely ladies that braved the cold in yesterday's Christmas Breeze ride! Despite the cold weather the sun shone brightly, and the tasty hot chocolate and mince pies were well and truly deserved! Everyone that came along received their FREE Cycle Your Heart Out goodie bag to help them spread that festive love! Click below to view the route, and find out what goodies were in the bags! Cycle your heart out… this Christmas! Location Milton Keynes, England Heart Route A flat 8km route, all off-road Cycle your heart out The Christmas heart route took us a lovely relaxed ride around Willen Lake and onto Ouzel river. We then cycled back in time passed the famous golden dinosaur, and onto a nice gentle incline for great views of the city at Campbell Park. It was then downhill all the way back to Willen where we all celebrated with some well deserved hot chocolate and mince pies! Spread the love A massive thank you to everyone who came on the ride, and all those that contributed to all the goodies in the bag! Lush, Peace One Day, Arena, Chaineys Cycles, Crafts to Inspire, Daniel De Waal and Cotton Craft! Scroll down to find out what went in the goodie bags! If you would like to have fun creating your own heart route click here for my top tips! If you also live in the UK you can find a local ride in your area organised by British Cycling's great Breeze initiative! Click here to find a ride in your area. Lush kindly donated the divine smelling 'Friends with benefits' massage bars! Not only do they smell like chocolate orange, but they are also made with fairtrade cocoa butter!
Cotton Craft in Milton Keynes did an such an amazing job with the bag printing! The bags they provided are all fairtrade & made by the fantastic organisation 'Whatever it Takes' who have had celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Lilly Allen & the late Amy Winehouse design for them. In August I organised a heart route called 'Midnight Peace ride' to help raise awareness for Peace One Day's annual day of peace. They have kindly donated some funky wristbands and badges! Belly dancer Arena kindly made beautiful charm bracelets for each bag! I absolutely love the little bike and heart charms! Arena is currently Biker Girl of the week! My local friendly Bicycle shop in Shenley Church End, Milton Keynes kindly donated some puncture repair kits! Brazilian designer Dene Edwards created these beautiful Christmas decorations to hang on the tree! South African soap King Daniel De Waal made these beautiful organic lavender heart soaps and lip balms. |
Hi I'm Sarah the Heartful cyclist, author and poet
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