Dave Kelly is a retired Physics and Mathematics Teacher. He wrote several A-level Physics text books and chaired the committee which produced the Report on Standards in Science Education at 16 & 18. In 2012 Dave was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease and took early retirement from his post as Deputy Headteacher. Dave was already a keen cyclist, during the previous summer, he took an old friend and an even older secondhand Daws tourer to France and cycled 420 miles alongside the Loire.
As Parkinson’s progressed Dave found it increasingly difficult to walk any distance. Cycling provided a way to get around and allowed him to retain some measure of independence. Crucially, cycling helped Dave fight one of the hidden symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Namely depression.
Dave and his wife Pam bought new hybrids, and took up cycling with a vengeance. They cycled across Devon, in the Outer Hebrides, Orkney , Shetland and France. As Parkinson’s progressed Dave bought Swytch Bike kits to help extend the range of their outings. Dave and Pam cycled in Austria, Germany, Holland, Belgium Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Parkinson’s started to affect Dave’s balance . Dave began to fall off too frequently. Almost always at low speed, but a brokenness thumb on one occasion and a couple of broken ribs on another , forced Dave to give up cycling.
Now the proud owner of a Tomcat Electric Bullet, Dave is back in the saddle.