I really thought that I was finally going to be put out of my misery when the man pulled me out of the weeds and loaded me in the truck with a bunch of other decrepit bikes and worn out parts... it was such a sad end for those blokes.

I figured that my days of being a garden ornament were finally going to be over and must say, I welcomed that as I was not born to gather rust and serve as a trellis but was made to carry proper gentlemen around in style and comfort.

There was also a pretty French girl that must have been going somewhere else as no-one in their right mind would ever toss such a fine looking girl in the tip... or so I thought.

We did not spend too much time travelling and stopped at a nice house and to my surprise the French girl and I were set in the drive and no sooner had this happened that the garage door opened and I saw many old bicycles... some of them were even older than I and to my delight I saw that many of them were also English !

And there were also a few very beautiful French girls that have told me that they were almost sent to the tip and I have to tell them over and over they are far too beautiful for that to happen.

So rather than be tossed in the tip, the French girl and I now live with a bunch of equally old and rather interesting bicycles and I have become a bit of a local celebrity... we can rarely go out without people stopping and asking questions which are usually about how old I am.

I love taking him down to the shop where I am always happy to take people for rides while he ministers to the needy and I am very happy to be useful once again.

Very few people here have ever seen the likes of me and I seem to get along quite well with the young Dutch kids and those sensible folks that ride them.

I was born in England in 1948, my maker's motto was "Rudge it, don;t trudge it" and claimed we were the world's finest bicycles.

I have been feeling pretty fine of late.. it's amazing what a little fresh oil and a little polish can do to lift one's spirits and must say at 60, there is nary a creak from my frame and I am as smooth as I ever was.

Cheers!