"....I think I invented a new one today. Downhill wheelchair sledging. Mr KC wanted us to go for a family mooch to blow the cobwebs away etc, so in the falling snow, we headed for a local nature reserve (an old coal mine that was filled in and left to Mother Nature). It also happens to have some jolly steep sledging hills. In total, from home, down the frozen/gloopy/disgusting public footpath, around the nature reserve (uphill and down dale), then back home the long way round (on tarmac), we covered 2 miles.
It felt like double that. Pushing my wheelchair through slushy snow, thick mud and negotiating the lack of dropped kerbs, avoiding dog poo and pavement parking was hard work. I've found compacted snow and ice is okay to push on, but obviously hard to stop on. Impossible downhill (hence the sledging).
I'd just like to take one moment to remind folks why some people are so upset about the inability to exercise indoors (gyms, swimming pools, sports halls etc). Today's mooch on foot would have taken an adult with two functional legs under an hour and wouldn't have taxed them in the slightest. With appropriate footwear and a big coat, they'd have wandered around, warm and dry and returned home with a bit of mud on the boots.
Almost immediately upon getting up my driveway, my gloves were sodden with frozen/muddy water (this impacts grip on the rims of the wheelchair). By about 5 mins in, the freezing water had breached the splash guards and my jumper, two t-shirts, thermal vest, trousers and knickers were wet. The seat cushion upon which I sit therefore became wet too. Upon returning home, my gloves contained more mud and water than threads of fabric. I had to remove every item of sodden, muddy clothing in the kitchen and am now in the bath to thaw out.
I usually enjoy the challenge of doing what many people think is impossible by wheelchair. Ascending and descending snowy hills and the like. I enjoyed seeing my daughter happy in the snow. But it was fucking miserable for me. I hate being stuck at home with little to do but I also hate the fact that the winter weather, coupled with inconsiderate parking and crappy public realm design, mean any outdoor exercise is more like a form of torture at the moment.
I want to go for a swim. I want to lift weights in the gym, 2m from the next person on a freshly sanitised inclined bench. I want to play socially distanced wheelchair basketball, doing a circuit of drills more than 2m from my teammates, with my own ball. But I can't.
So, the next time someone moans about gyms and indoor sports centres closing, just think before you say "stop moaning, just go for a walk/run" and think about people who are getting unhealthier and increasingly depressed because they struggle to get outdoors in snow, ice and rain in the winter."
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They should invent a wheelchair sledge. Snowmobile.
Hope you're warm again now. Xx
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