{"id":16,"date":"2019-12-29T16:33:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T16:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bendingtherules.co.uk\/home\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2026-01-01T12:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T12:44:00","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bendingtherules.co.uk\/home\/","title":{"rendered":"About us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Get in touch by email<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We both retired in the summer of 2017 and live in North Hampshire on the Berkshire border. We\u2019re active and keen cyclists. Bob used to take part in mountain bike off-road orienteering events and cycle commuted to work a couple of days a week, more in the summer. Karon cycled to work for years, every day, come rain or shine. While much of our spare time is spent on a bike, we also like to paint\/sketch, so take our watercolour kits and pads with us when we holiday or go on day trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cottages in Blewbury, by Bob Bending<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Karon has mixed connective tissue disease \u2013 an auto-immune disorder which damaged her pancreas, so she has been type 1 diabetic since age 16. Her own immune system also attacked her lungs and the lining of her heart, so she finds cycling (and even walking) up hill extremely hard. She uses an insulin pump to keep her diabetes as stable as possible, and tries to follow a low carb diet, which mainly means no bread, rice, potatoes or pasta. She tries to stick to meat or fish with green vegetables. When we are cycle touring, this can often make finding a lunch or evening meal difficult, as most fast-food comes loaded with carbs, so we tend to carry a few low carb items she can eat, just in case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Karon painting from a photo on her camera in Marrakesh, Morocco back in 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bob is the owner of a pacemaker (Dec 2018) which though it is adjusted as well as it can be, is a limiting factor when it comes to putting in sustained effort on a hill climb or sprint. And late in 2023 Bob managed to rupture his right quadriceps tendon (from front thigh muscles into the top of the knee). This had to be rectified with surgery with recovery aided by a leg brace. While the weak knee shows when negotiating steps, it doesn’t seem to affect cycling. As you can see, we are not the healthiest or fastest in our peer group, but I like to think we are still cycling fit! We don’t do huge daily distances, but we get there in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As our cycling abilities were quite disparate, we started tandeming in 2009 with a second-hand Thorn Explorer \u2013 just to see if it did the trick. After a couple of years we concluded that yes, it did, and looked to invest in a new tandem \u2013 one that fitted us \u2013 and, for a variety of reasons, decided on a Hase Pino. It has some advantages over a \u2018normal\u2019 tandem \u2013 it’s easier to communicate and a lot more comfortable for the stoker, which is good for Karon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our Hase Pino after the DIY addition of e-assist in 2019 and a second, rear-rack mounted battery added in 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Pino is our favourite, but we also have a second \u2018traditional\u2019 tandem \u2013 a Cannondale \u2013 which is nice and light and fast for the odd sportive or \u2018blast\u2019 around local lanes. In 2024 Bob added a Bafang mid-drive to this bike too, as it was spending too much time in the shed. We also have one or two solo bikes to add variety to our riding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Cannondale sporting a Bafang mid-drive motor. In the past, before it had e-assist, we rode some sportives on it, and even a few time-trials, for which it lost the extras like mudguards and rack.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As well as being keen on cycling, we’ve also done a fair bit of travelling over the years. In 2001 Karon won a cash prize at a work suggestion scheme. It was enough to allow us to take a three-week tour of Peru, Chile and Bolivia<\/a>! In 2004 we travelled to Egypt and in 2005<\/a> drove much of Route 66 in the USA<\/a>, taking our son Holland with us. Other trips include China<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a> \u2013 so take a look at our Holidays page<\/a> to see all the places we’ve been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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China in 2008.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A little closer to home, we’ve combined the urge to travel with the love of cycling and used the Pino to go on a few long cycle tours. In 2012 we rode the Pino from Land’s End to John O’Groats<\/a> via the Lizard and Dunnet Head. We were unsupported but stayed in B&Bs, pubs and hotels. Most of our travels have been with the Pino in the back of our car and just riding out from a base, but we celebrated retirement in 2017 by cycling from The Hook of Holland (leaving the car at Harwich) to the International Tandem Rally that year in Germany<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On our first Tweed Run in 2014.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We’ve participated in the London Tweed Run several times<\/a> and it’s always a grand day out. Of course, we are not averse to putting the Pino in the car and taking it abroad for some tandem adventures: to Germany for Tandemtreffen in 2018<\/a>, which we’ve repeated since (bar Covid years). In July\/August 2018 we drove to Sweden for the International Tandem Rally on \u00d6land<\/a>. In the summer of 2019 we cycled from home to the South of France, finishing a long and hot tour in Toulouse.<\/a> From there we went on to join the International Tandem Rally in Marciac.<\/a> We’ve since cycled from home to Harwich a few times now for tandem meetings in the Netherlands and Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin \u2013 on our way back from the International Tandem Rally in Sweden we detoured via Berlin and spent 4 days exploring the city and nearby Potsdam. Note the Pino in it’s pre-electric assist form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since retirement we’ve also been collecting ‘BCQs’ (British Cycle Quest<\/a>) \u2013 a national cycling treasure hunt, there are six clues in each major county or collective area (like the Western Isles) with 402 in total. We are not obsessive about it, but have collected all the clues local to us, within a ride from home. We took a mini tour from home in the summer of 2018, to the Isle of Wight<\/a>, collecting all the remaining Hampshire BCQs and those on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Combining some of the things that we enjoy: cycle-touring, collecting BCQs and popping in to a pub! Handy when all three come together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get in touch by email We both retired in the summer of 2017 and live in North Hampshire on the Berkshire border. We\u2019re active and keen cyclists. Bob used to take part in mountain bike off-road orienteering events and cycle commuted to work a couple of days a week, more in the summer. Karon cycled … <\/p>\n

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